willedoo

Most likely an SA-16/18. The battle damage was in the Georgian/Russian/South Ossetian conflict in 2008. It's amazing what damage some aircraft can sustain and still fly. Reminds me of some of those WW2 photos of Wellingtons and B-17s badly shot up that managed to make it home.

Photo of a Sukhoi Su-25 Frogfoot damaged by a Georgian manpad.

Fyodor Konyukhov has set a new hot-air balloon record. He's the same bloke who rowed from Chile to Mooloolaba a couple of years ago. https://www.rt.com/news/330113-konyukhov-world-record-balloon/

Colombia seems to have a fair bit of success using Tucanos against FARC rebels. The drug cartels might be in the too hard basket.

You can see in a couple of shots that the bloke on the ski is not wearing any gloves. Must be a bit cold.

I can understand the bean counters making the decision to retire aircraft when they reach an age where it is not economically viable to keep them in the air, or there is no longer that type of role required. Unfortunately some are retired out when there is still a big need for that type of aircraft and no replacement is in sight. There's some good examples of breathing life into old designs, like the F-15 Strike Eagle and proposed Silent Eagle, the MiG-21 Bison and the MiG-31/Su-27 family upgrades. I think the Bronco would still be very handy today. Cheers, Willie.

Apologies if this is off topic, but there's talk that due to recent world events, the A-10 Warthog might be kept in service for a few more years and not retired as planned. Another classic warplane like the Bronco.

I guess that's why they got the name presstitutes.

Retired test pilot and engineer Phil Oestricher, 84, the first person to fly the YF-16 prototype, passed away in Fort Worth, Texas, on Friday, Dec. 18. Phil’s first flight in the YF-16 technology demonstrator aircraft earned him a lasting place in aviation history on Jan. 20, 1974. The aircraft unintentionally became airborne during a high speed taxi test at Edwards Air Force Base, California, and he made the decision to keep flying rather than risk catastrophic damage in a crash landing. His excellent flying skills and quick reaction saved the prototype from destruction, which could have resulted in an early end to the F-16 development program. Phil contributed to the development of several F-16 versions as a test pilot and helped establish safety protocols that have benefited the worldwide F-16 pilot community. He also flew all models of the F-111, the fighter-bomber that preceded the F-16 on the Fort Worth production line. He was proud to have flown the F-4D Skyray with the U.S. Marine Corps. Before his Marine Corps service, he worked at heritage company Consolidated Vultee as an aerodynamics engineer on the B-36, which was the first true intercontinental bomber. Since his retirement, Phil was active in the Lockheed Martin-Fort Worth retirees association and was an avid builder and flyer of radio-control model aircraft.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWveLHVG7mo

Soyuz docked above a typhoon:

But what does it mean, Phil - that it's ok for two red people who like each other to cross the road together, or is there some deeper meaning? Cheers, Willie.

Sukhoi Su-15, Ugolny Airport.

Nice photos, FT. It gives an idea of the size of the Tu-160 in comparison, at 10 metres wider, 10 metres longer and 3 metres higher than the B-1. It will be interesting to see how the size of the planned Russian and U.S. 5th. Gen. stealth bombers will compare.

Yes, Marty, they do look very similar in concept. The Tu-160 is a lot bigger and faster, but the B-1 can operate a fair bit higher. There's talk of resuming production of new Tu-160's soon, and all the old ones are being refurbished, until the new stealth bomber comes on line.

Interesting PR footage of Tu-160 bombers launching KH-101 cruise missiles over the Mediterranean Sea. The 101 is the conventional, non-nuclear variant, claimed to have an error probability of less than 10 metres and a range of 9,000 klm +.

The body of the Russian pilot, Oleg Peshkov, has been repatriated, flown home with an honour guard of fighters. The 'moderate opposition forces' that allegedly shot him dead under his chute canopy must have handed his body over to Turkey, and home from there. That's nice of them; good old moderates - let's give them more guns. Here's an account of the rescue mission to retrieve the navigator: https://www.rt.com/news/323527-details-su24-pilot-rescue/

S-400's arriving in Syria via An-124:

Link to a slideshow of the S-400 batteries deployed to Hmeymim air base after the shooting down of the Su-24. One of the photos has a An-124 parked in the background. http://sputniknews.com/photo/20151127/1030836346/s400-hmeymim.html

I guess Crimea is a bit off topic to the thread, but I could never figure out some of the press reports at the time. We were hearing all about a Russian 'Invasion' as if Russian troops were pouring into Crimea. They were already there under the military base lease agreement with Ukraine. I forget the figures, but there was something like 16,000 in the Crimea with a maximum of 20 something thousand allowed under the agreement. I guess if they left their bases to operate in Crimea at large, that could be seen as an invasion by some. Krushev should never have taken it off Russia and given it to Ukraine in the first place.

The newspaper today said the Americans believe the plane was hit on the Syrian side of the border, going by their heat signature analysis. The missile was possibly launched in Turkey, but with the Turkish territory being only 4 klm or so wide, it seems like some very bad judgement by the Turks. It will be interesting to see the results of the UN investigation into the incident. The rescued navigator, Captain Konstantin Murakhtin, is adamant that he had control of the flight path at all times and they were never inTurkish airspace. He claims the F-16 invaded Syrian airspace to shoot them down, and that the Turkish pilots issued no warnings. I wonder how hard it would be to determine the actual flight path. Interview with the Navigator:

Obama shot himself in the foot today in a statement supporting Turkey in shooting down the aircraft. He said 'Every country has the right to defend it's territory and airspace'. So 'every country' would include Syria having every legal right to fight all armed insurrection within it's borders, whether foreign backed or not. But hang on, hasn't Obama spent the last four years telling us Assad is very, very, naughty for doing just that. They must think we're completly stupid.

The mob that killed the pilot were identified by their accents as Syrian Turkmen, who are supported by the Turkish Government and associated with Al Quaeda. It's a tangled web we've woven. Putin's always adept at sending strong messages. The missile cruiser 'Moskva' has anchored of the coast of Latakia and they've sent S-400 anti-air missile batteries there as well. The cruiser has the Naval version of the S-300 anti-aircraft missile, so I guess the message is, do it again and we'll blow your F-16's out of the sky. Also, all missions will have fighter escort from now on, which probably should have been the case from the start. It seems a stupid reaction to 17 seconds of straying into the airspace, especially given Erdogan's performance when the Syrians shot down the Turkish F-4 Phantom under similar circumstances.

Apparently the crew member rescued was the navigator and the pilot was killed. Along with the marine killed in the Mi-8, all three have been awarded the Star of Hero of the Russian Federation, the nation's highest honour. News reports show the chopper being hit by a U.S. supplied TOW missile fired by the so called 'moderate' free Syrian Army. Whether that's true or not is another thing. Cheers, Willie.

I guess they think civilians are press ganged into driving the trucks and they want to give them a chance. It's not NATO. It's a coalition of countries and close to half of them just happen to be NATO members. As far as I understand it, it's a US led coalition, not under the umbrella of NATO. https://www.rt.com/news/323262-putin-downing-plane-syria/