Walkaround MiG-25 the last operational foxbat in the world. The end of a legend

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Walkaround MiG-25 the last operational foxbat in the world. The end of a legend

I love air planes, I like walk around videos and this ended up on my feed. The guy has a channel of plastic scale models and he's showing all the cool little details.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XevNx632-3g[/ame]

I like MiG 25s and MiG 31s, they just look, cool!
 
Rudi said:
Very cool. IIRC, didn't a Soviet pilot defect with a brand new one back in the day? Flew it to Japan.
Click to expand...

Viktor Belenko IIRC. The intel weenies crawled all over it for about three days. It had a lot of steel in its construction so was heavy. The electronics were still largely tube, although the miniaturization of that technology was beyond anything the West had ever done.

VERY interesting feature in the intakes. Is it some kind of mass airflow sensor?

Edited to add: According to Wikipedia, the MiG-25 was in US hands for 67 days!!
 
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LVSteve said:
Viktor Belenko IIRC. The intel weenies crawled all over it for about three days. It had a lot of steel in its construction so was heavy. The electronics were still largely tube, although the miniaturization of that technology was beyond anything the West had ever done.

VERY interesting feature in the intakes. Is it some kind of mass airflow sensor?

Edited to add: According to Wikipedia, the MiG-25 was in US hands for 67 days!!
Click to expand...

Mig Pilot was his story. Well worth a read.
 
Rudi said:
Very cool. IIRC, didn't a Soviet pilot defect with a brand new one back in the day? Flew it to Japan.
Click to expand...

Yes. A fellow from my office was part of the team which went to Japan to examine it. The Russians made all kinds of diplomatic requests for the return of the aircraft. After a few months, the plane was returned to the Russians. After a through examination of the aircraft, it was shipped back to the Russians in about 5 or 6 wooden crates.
 
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LVSteve said:
Viktor Belenko IIRC. The intel weenies crawled all over it for about three days. It had a lot of steel in its construction so was heavy. The electronics were still largely tube, although the miniaturization of that technology was beyond anything the West had ever done.

VERY interesting feature in the intakes. Is it some kind of mass airflow sensor?

Edited to add: According to Wikipedia, the MiG-25 was in US hands for 67 days!!
Click to expand...

I believe that’s an airflow stabilizer. Its purpose would be to reduce vortices and streamline air flow to the fan/engine inlet. I’ve seen them used in engine test cell operations within the FOD screens but I haven’t seen them used in operational aircraft. They would be a FOD hazard in and of themselves for a combat aircraft…
 
LVSteve said:
Viktor Belenko IIRC. The intel weenies crawled all over it for about three days. It had a lot of steel in its construction so was heavy. The electronics were still largely tube, although the miniaturization of that technology was beyond anything the West had ever done.

VERY interesting feature in the intakes. Is it some kind of mass airflow sensor?

Edited to add: According to Wikipedia, the MiG-25 was in US hands for 67 days!!
Click to expand...

He died just recently.
 
When I was a boy, my favorite fighter jets were the F-111 Aardvark and the F-14 Tomcat. I have always had an interest in military aircraft. There is some very interesting few fighters and bombers in service today! When in the area of Offutt Air Force Base, the first year of Donald Trump’s presidency, I witnessed these fighter jets coming from the base and turning straight up vertically, like a rocket! One after another that day. Pretty awesome!
 
Rusty, I took this picture some years back at an airshow at the Little Rock Air Force Base. I'm inclined to agree with you and your dad, the F-86 is a sexy looking machine.

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fordson said:
I believe that’s an airflow stabilizer. Its purpose would be to reduce vortices and streamline air flow to the fan/engine inlet. I’ve seen them used in engine test cell operations within the FOD screens but I haven’t seen them used in operational aircraft. They would be a FOD hazard in and of themselves for a combat aircraft…
Click to expand...

My first thought "Wow! FOD much?" One would hope that part was built and attached in the old Soviet robust manner. IIRC the F-18E/F has some kind of device in the intakes, allegedly to break up the radar signature of the compressor face. Somebody at Aviation Week or a similar publication got a picture quite early in that type's introduction.
 
LVSteve said:
My first thought "Wow! FOD much?" One would hope that part was built and attached in the old Soviet robust manner. IIRC the F-18E/F has some kind of device in the intakes, allegedly to break up the radar signature of the compressor face. Somebody at Aviation Week or a similar publication got a picture quite early in that type's introduction.
Click to expand...

Our Depot (NADEP JAX/FRC-SE) repaired and “overhauled” (a bad word in the maintenance community) F-18A to D models Hornets. As far as I can remember, those models did not have that kind of device in the intakes. I’m not familiar enough with the Super Hornet to comment but it wouldn’t surprise me if that device was there given the shape of the inlets.
 
Belenko's story fascinated me, I read it decades ago. The part I found most interesting was after they finally convinced him that they were not trying to b.s. him into thinking that everything they were showing him was just propaganda and that there really were stores you could walk into and walk out in a fitted suit, or grocery stores on every corner with every kind of meat, vegetable and fruit. His remark was "If the people of the Soviet Union knew this was what America was truly like, you couldn't keep them away."
 
LVSteve said:
VERY interesting feature in the intakes. Is it some kind of mass airflow sensor?
Click to expand...

No jet engine can intake supersonic airflow - at least not for long.[emoji32] It’s likely a shockwave generator to slow the airflow down. The excess airflow is vented away through various means. Western aircraft do this a bit more elegantly, but it has to be done somehow.
 
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Kinman said:
Belenko's story fascinated me, I read it decades ago. The part I found most interesting was after they finally convinced him that they were not trying to b.s. him into thinking that everything they were showing him was just propaganda and that there really were stores you could walk into and walk out in a fitted suit, or grocery stores on every corner with every kind of meat, vegetable and fruit. His remark was "If the people of the Soviet Union knew this was what America was truly like, you couldn't keep them away."
Click to expand...

Slightly off topic, but my wife, who is from Cuba, told me she was amazed when her uncle took them to a Wal Mart in Houston after their flight from Mexico. She said it was the "fanciest" store she had ever seen. She said she couldn't believe how many choices there were and that anyone could buy anything in the store. She was 15 when they came here. They had to fly from Havana to Mexico City before they could come to the US. It was illegal to fly direct from Cuba in those days.
 
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TX-Dennis said:
Slightly off topic, but my wife, who is from Cuba, told me she was amazed when her uncle took them to a Wal Mart in Houston after their flight from Mexico. She said it was the "fanciest" store she had ever seen. She said she couldn't believe how many choices there were and that anyone could buy anything in the store. She was 15 when they came here.
Click to expand...

Witness something like that for yourself. Turn on the closed captioning if you don't speak Spanish.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBA41QgIty8[/ame]
 
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