Re: frame grab/movie of plane I observed at Groom


Message posted by gunny on November 05, 2001 at 19:56:00 PST:

Nice catch. The Mig 29 is to the Su27 like the F16 is to the F15. Su27 nearly twice the gross weight and +10 feet in span, +13 feet in length and +7 feet in height. At this distance, the conical probe extending aft bewteen the engine nacelles would be a indicator of the Su27/35. Best bet is the Moldova -29's getting ready to bed down. Cash is now flowing.

The -29's were taken to Wright Patterson following their purchase from Moldova 11/97. They were to undergo technical analysis and the AF was to come up with an operating plan to deploy and sustain at least 15 of them in an agressor squadron at Nellis. The limited range of the 29 also led to speculation that they would base them at Tonopah to reduce refueling tasking which is already at a premium for visiting squadrons.

Two years would be a good timeline to complete that assessment, especially given how cash strapped the blue suiters have been. Perhaps we are seeing the reformulation of the Red Eagles with newer Russian gear - the -23's/27's are tired. The Moldova birds were equiped with A11 Archers and helmet mounted sights.

Has anyone seen any other aircraft fitting this desription over the range recently? Anyone with some time on their hands can research Aviation Week/Space Tech mag. They had an excellent article back in '97 on this program. What you got here was my 4 year old memory going into overdrive.


In Reply to: frame grab/movie of plane I observed at Groom posted by Steve Hauser on November 04, 2001 at 18:18:33 PST:

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