SU-25 hit and damage

[Dave Siciliano]

https://youtu.be/5bP6XjBR3Ew

[Tom Charlton]

https://youtu.be/5bP6XjBR3Ew

Hi Dave,
Hmm . . . I see they compare the SU 25 to our A-10. Wonder what our resident Warthog guy’s thoughts would be on this.

Regards,
Tom Charlton

[B.Butler]

Looks like it got him home.

[Terry Carraway]

The Su-25 is sort of a cross between an A-10 and an A-17. High subsonic, but armored. Somewhat swept wing versus straight wing.

In Afghanistan, they lost a bunch of them to Stingers when the Stinger would take out one engine, and pieces of that engine would take out the second engine. So they put armor between the engines, and the end result is as you see, the airplanes made it home.

I got to fly an Su-25 in Ukraine in 1996. It was actually a 2 seater that had been modified for carrier use with a hook. You had to watch to avoid going over 900 KPH (560 knots, 0.73 Mach). And that was maneuvering at low altitude, so nose low, but not an extended dive. Fastest I ever saw in an A-10 was 365 knots on a cold day at about 300 feet over Delaware Bay.

[Tom Charlton]

The Su-25 is sort of a cross between an A-10 and an A-17. . . .
I got to fly an Su-25 in Ukraine in 1996.

Hi Terry,
Most excellent. My impression is the russkies make some very interesting aircraft. Perhaps also a markedly different design philosophy. Less concern as to fit n finish, more toward works in the dirt.
M-16 vs AK-47?

I’ve certainly never flown nor even rode in any Russian aircraft. That said: I do believe I’d love to fly an AN-2 round the patch a couple of times. What a beast! <grin>.

Regards,
Tom Charlton

[Scott Dyer HPN/NY]

Perhaps also a markedly different design philosophy. Less concern as to fit n finish, more toward works in the dirt.
M-16 vs AK-47?

That's for sure, Tom. In the mid-70's I was to ride in a TU-124 in an internal USSR short range flight. We boarded, inside there wasn't a hat shelf but an old strung out area above the seat for hats and chickens. Before leaving the hard stand, the crew said we had to deplane for a while due to an engine change (!). So we did, back out on the cold (January) ramp and into the Turmoil (as Randy would say). inside of 3 hours, all done on the ramp, we loaded back up and the engine worked all the way to Moskva. And that's all I cared about.

Reason for the story is that they can, and did, change an engine outside in less than 3 hours. Ultimately field maintainable.

At least I think it was a TU-124. Could have been a Tu-104 (bigger but much the same).

[Terry Carraway]

Hi Terry,
Most excellent. My impression is the russkies make some very interesting aircraft. Perhaps also a markedly different design philosophy. Less concern as to fit n finish, more toward works in the dirt.
M-16 vs AK-47?

I’ve certainly never flown nor even rode in any Russian aircraft. That said: I do believe I’d love to fly an AN-2 round the patch a couple of times. What a beast! <grin>.

Regards,
Tom Charlton

I also got to fly the AN-2. That was cool. We can discuss at the GIG.

They do fit and finish where it matters. Like canopy bow is cast. Machined smooth on the exterior, but not on the inside.

Flush rivets the first 2/3, but not last 1/3 as the flow is already turbulent.

[Terry Carraway]

That's for sure, Tom. In the mid-70's I was to ride in a TU-124 in an internal USSR short range flight. We boarded, inside there wasn't a hat shelf but an old strung out area above the seat for hats and chickens. Before leaving the hard stand, the crew said we had to deplane for a while due to an engine change (!). So we did, back out on the cold (January) ramp and into the Turmoil (as Randy would say). inside of 3 hours, all done on the ramp, we loaded back up and the engine worked all the way to Moskva. And that's all I cared about.

I have flown as a passenger in Tu-134 and Tu-154. Very interesting.

[Dave Siciliano]

Since we don’t have a thread on Ukraine war, I’ll post this here. Might be of interest to a former red leg

’As a senior adviser to General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, commander of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, noted, ‘anti-tank missiles slowed the Russians down, but what killed them was our artillery. That was what broke their units’.

here’s a link to a very good article: link at the bottom of page.

https://rusi.org/explore-our-researc...erial-delusion

[B.Butler]

I have flown as a passenger in Tu-134 and Tu-154. Very interesting.

In the late 80s, at the time of Glasnost and the Goodwill Games, a colleague and I were assigned as FAA reps for cultural exchange involving Russian aircraft participating in Seafair, along with The Blue Angels. Lots of good stories from this:

Colleague (a car collector) and I had occasion to tour a Tu-154 on the ramp at Boeing Field. He took one look around the analog cockpit and exclaimed: "Looks just like my Studebaker!"

[Dave Siciliano]

helo landing and off loading. I count 11 dismount and steep angle departure

https://mobile.twitter.com/WillJMeddings/status/1518125964525461508

[Dave Siciliano]

Great overview of the Ukraine air war

https://youtu.be/YYDnspMWdaM