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MiG-35

I was not supposed to fly the MiG-35. About a week or so prior to that I had flown a sortie on the MiG 29UB trainer at the Gromov Flight Centre at Zhukovski near Moscow. On that occasion, I had asked for permission to be given a sortie on the UB since the pictures I would collect would make a huge difference to my story. Which it did.

The Russians were obviously impressed and they approached me about the possibility of a MiG sortie at Yelahanka and asked me to pen in a request. I DIDN'T do this since, frankly, I was not certain my editors would be too keen on yet another `Vishnu goes flying' story on air. Besides, I would already be flying the F-16.

Anyway, about a day or two prior to the show beginning .. MiG got in touch with me confirming the possibility of a sortie. I didn't want to look a gift-horse in the mouth ... and since Ratan Tata's sortie had generated enough attention ... I felt that it would be possible to do this story as well. Just about. As it turns out ... we aired the story on the day Tata flew the F-16. So at 8 pm, we had two back to back stories ... `Tata flies high' and `Vishnu flies high !!'

At the onset ... let me tell you ... and this is true ... that while the MiG 35 sortie was a high ... having the opportunity to sit down, eat lunch and have a couple of drinks with the great test pilot Pavel Vlasov (a Hero of the Russian Federation) ... and Mr. Byntin, the Chief Designer of the MiG 35 was wonderful. In fact ... I had had the opportunity to meet Pavel in Moscow as well, also at a lunch shortly after he flew the MiG-29KUB at its media debut (incidentally, the actual first flight of the KUB of which I have footage) took place two days prior to the media debut ... so the Russians, no fools, knew the thing flew before they brought in the international media.

Anyway ... lets fast forward to Yelahanka. My pilot would be Mikhail Belyaev who spoke reasonable English .. though with a heavy accent. We both realised the importance of keeping our conversation to a minimum ahead and during the flight so that we could get the pre-flight basics right. Later on, I would discover that Belyaev was an absolute clown ... supremely confident as a pilot with a sense of humour to match.

For starters the g suit. BRfites will be happy to know that after all these sorties ... I am confident about strapping onto a g suit all by myself !! But even before we got started with the g suit ... there was a problem ... flight overalls .. the Russian flight overalls were too small for me ( I am about 6'3) ... so ... we went to plan b ... I pulled out my own Boeing provided flight overalls ... and voila we were set to jet off. Alas, the MiG guys didn't provide me a pair of proper flight boots ... so my formal pair of black shoes remained. I am a bit of a sticker about uniforms ... and it just didn't feel right. Anyway.

As we approached the Fulcrum ... a senior Communications person at Boeing (who I have worked with extensively on my Hornet sortie last year) came up to be a touch irritated. "Vishnu, you'll fly just about anything won't you?" she asked. She had obviously noticed my Boeing flight overalls (which didn't of course say `Boeing' anywhere). I let go a sheepish grin ... she already knew the answer ... and for those of you out there who don't ... in one word, the answer is `Yes.'

We were now next to the Fulcrum ... and I was given my bone dome ... and a cloth head cover (typically Russian) just before I got into the jet. A couple of points here ...

The Russian pilots helmet is the real deal. This one was obviously compatible with the IRST system. It was considerable heavier that the American/French/British helmets I have worn in the past. It was also, much, much, much more comfortable. In the American helmets, the sun visor is attached to the outside portion of the helmet. On the Russian ones, it is located inside ... and you need to push a release on either side of your eyes with both your hands to bring it down. It fits perfectly with the oxygen mask ... and the clarity is perfect. Belyaev later told me ... "We take our helmet to American .. and tell them ... `this is helmet for fighter plane. Your helmet meant only for small scooter." I must also confess, the Russian flight gloves (black leather) are far trendier than the heat resistant and loosely fitting American flight gloves but I am being superficial.

Russian step ladders to their jets also have a small upward facing brush (just like a broom brush) attached to the lowest step. This is meant to dust off snow from ones boots prior to boarding the jet.

The MiG 35 cockpit is considerably larger than the F-16 cockpit. Getting into the rear of the F-16 is quite difficult ... and as my pilot Paul Randall had told me .. there is no graceful way of getting in. Not so in the Fulcrum, you step off the ladder to the LERX just away from the gun exhaust and step right in ... one leg at a time. Guys, I am not wasting words here ... the act of stepping in and out of a fighter, as I have come to realise ... is a major issue.

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