What a great interview! Watching the Cheetahs fly always made me want to be a fighter pilot. Sadly, that never happened though. I really hope the Cheetah will be added to DCS some day.
small correction: 709 is not a Su-32 but it is actually a Su-27M (Su-35) It is a modernised single seat Su-27 with canards but NO thrust vectoring (711 got the thrust vectoring engines and was redesignated Su-37). The Su-35 designation got reused for the modernised Su-27 variant that is being produced today.
Ask Cobus about the SAAF Mirage F1 fitted with a Russian Klimov RD-33 engine.... The French said it was not possible to fit this engine into a Mirage F1 frame...
The Russian engine MTBF was too short. After 800 hrs it need an overhaul. I was doing n avionics course for the Cheetah D when the Russians were working at the Atlas factory. Those guys drunk a lot....the empty bottles were outside their rooms every morning. Good times.
I know three pilots is this picture far left, next is Rankin and thirt for left look like Capt De Beer. Col Johan Rankin was our OC at 87 CFS Pietersburg.
So depressing how far the SA defence forces have fallen. We used to be top, top class.
Guest pilot: "But what if something goes wrong?"
Pilot who signed the plane out: "Don't worry - ejection seat very effective..."
🤣🤣🤣
This was a nice interview, so great to see how different can achieve in working together to advance our technological footprint 🔥🙌🏾
Cheers
What a great interview! Watching the Cheetahs fly always made me want to be a fighter pilot. Sadly, that never happened though.
I really hope the Cheetah will be added to DCS some day.
Excellent interview, can you add subtitles please?
small correction:
709 is not a Su-32 but it is actually a Su-27M (Su-35)
It is a modernised single seat Su-27 with canards but NO thrust vectoring (711 got the thrust vectoring engines and was redesignated Su-37).
The Su-35 designation got reused for the modernised Su-27 variant that is being produced today.
yep...but the Su-35 is not the "modernized" Su-27, it is a completely new AC - Su-35BM.
Ask Cobus about the SAAF Mirage F1 fitted with a Russian Klimov RD-33 engine.... The French said it was not possible to fit this engine into a Mirage F1 frame...
The Russian engine MTBF was too short. After 800 hrs it need an overhaul. I was doing n avionics course for the Cheetah D when the Russians were working at the Atlas factory. Those guys drunk a lot....the empty bottles were outside their rooms every morning.
Good times.
I know three pilots is this picture far left, next is Rankin and thirt for left look like Capt De Beer.
Col Johan Rankin was our OC at 87 CFS Pietersburg.
Su-32 was part of the Su-34 programme and was a side by side two seater, not a single seater.
can't blame him for the wrong designation, the su-27 family designations requiere a book by itself.
Too bad he didn't mention the score. It was supposedly 4:0 for Pugachov :))