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Aviation History
1956
1956 - 0831.PDF
833 The great bomber seen ofcove with two Mig-17s is one of the four-turboprop machines known in the Allied nomenclature code as Bear. In all, four of these flew past. On the right are Mi-4 helicopters departing from their mobile cargoes after an assault landing. A.O.C-in-C. Bomber Command; A.V-M. W. G. Cheshire, A.O.C.No. 13 Group, Fighter Command; A.V-M. K. B. B. Cross, A.O.C. No. 3 Group, Bomber Command; A.V-M. G. Silyn-Roberts,S.T.S.O., Bomber Command; G/C. F. E. Rosier, Fighter Com- mand Planning Staff; and G/C. L. M. Hodges, O.C. R.A.F.Marham, Norfolk (the Valiant bomber base visited by Mr. Bulganin and Mr. Krushchev when they were in England). Representing the Ministry of Supply and the British aircraftindustry was a party led by Dr. W. Cawood, Director-General of Scientific Research (Air), Ministry of Supply, and including Dr.A. E. Russell and Dr. G. S. Hooker, directors of the Bristol Aero- plane Co., Ltd.; Mr. George Edwards, managing director ofVickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft), Ltd.; Sir Arnold Hall, technical director of the Hawker Siddeley Group; Mr. G. W. H. Gardner,Director of the Royal Aircraft Establishment, and Mr. D. W. G. L. Haviland, Under-Secretary, Ministry of Supply. Mr. ReginaldMaudling, Minister of Supply, had been invited, but was not able to accept owing to pressure of Ministerial business. The American contingent was led by General Nathan Twining,U.S.A.F. Chief of Staff, who was accompanied by nine officers, including Lt-Gen. Donald L. Putt, Deputy Chief of Staff forDevelopment, and Lt-Gen. Thomas S. Power, Commander of the U.S. Air Research and Development Command. The Americansflew in a Douglas C-118 and Gen. Bailly, French Chief of Staff, also came by the old (piston-engined) means.Sunday's proceedings were sounded in with the Soviet national anthem and a salute of guns, and were in three phases. The firstof these opened with the appearance of Yak-12 liaison aircraft carrying the banners of the 16 Soviet Republics and streamersspelling out "Glory to the Soviet people"; these were followed by 76 Yak-18 trainers, spelling "Glory to the C.P.S.U." (CommunistParty of the Soviet Union), the arrival of which was the announcer's cue to read a poem which could be translated as: — With every minute the sounds of engines are approaching,Experienced pilots maintain precise formation, With a harmonious engine, Rapidly move the planes . . •In them are our pilots. They are declaring in the sky: 'Glory to our Party!'We are dedicating our life, every day and every moment to her, In her we always find strength and inspiration.The planes are flying in a formation, The words resound: 'Glory be to the Party!' •••••'. ; And we follow them with our eyes, And in the sky read what we have in our hearts.The banners and streamers being clear, DOSAV, the ail-Union sports organization, took over with light aircraft, gliders and para-chutists. Aerobatics included a Soviet favourite, the follow-my- leader continuous loop, by 21 Yaks.A jet fighter of unspecified type, flown by Major Lapshin, opened the second phase with more aerobatics, to be followed by a similarperformance by Lt-Col. Iosif Pavlov; then a box formation of four jet fighters contributed more manoeuvres, concluding witha series of cross-overs from the four points of the compass. At length came the bomber and fighter streams with a single turbo-prop Bear, escorted by a pair of Mig-17 fighters, in the lead. The main formation included four more Bears, three of the great four-jet Bisons, and nine twin-jet Badgers (Badger being the bomber counterpart of the Tu-104 transport). Sixty Farmer single-seatfighters, flying in fives, and 50 Flashlight twin-jet all-weather fighters, again in fives, comprised the fighter stream. Behindthem came a Tu-104 transport, which received a great ovation and called forth the announcement that it is now being "mass-produced, and will soon find its way on to the international routes." Last in this dramatic phase came "new Soviet aeroplanes,designed by Antonov, Tupolev, Yaklovlev, Mikoyan and Sukhoi," first among them being the Antonov twin-turboprop assault trans-port, later described by General Twining as "pretty fast, and compared by him to the Chase (Fairchild) C-123 of the U.S.A.F. (though the C-123 is piston-cngined). This new Antonov has ahigh wing and is reported to be armed. The Tu-104 having put in a second appearance, the fighter pro-totypes approached. "Here comes a strange-looking aircraft," proclaimed the commentator. "It looks like a glistening steeltriangle, and it is followed by new jet aircraft led by the test pilot Grigory Alexandrovich Sedov. . . . Glory be to the Sovietdesigners who have created the best aviation equipment in the world." Contradictory and garbled as are available reports, it is clearthat the new deltas—of which there were three, ascribed to the designer Sukhoi, varying, it appears, in nose design—are extremelyadvanced aircraft indeed. Salient features are seen in the photo- graph on the opposite page. Note particularly the form of theintake; the nose cone, which might house all-weather radar; the retention of a dorsal aerial mast; the troughs in the fuselage sidesnear the wing roots; the "probes" in the nose, on the wings and on the tailplane; and the great diameter of the tailpipe^ indicatinga very powerful turbojet with afterburning. Two more new fighters are described as enlarged versions ofthe Farmer (Farmer itself is unofficially reported to be designated Yak-25); and the parade of new types was completed by twodevelopments of the all-weather Flashlight, one having a modified fighter-type nose, and another a transparent nose-cone, possiblyindicating adaptation for the light-bomber role. The third, concluding, phase of the proceedings consisted ofparachute descents and the landing of airborne troops. Among the parachutists was Lt-Col. Ovysyannikov, who was that day makinghis 730th jump, and Maj. Sukhinin, who was making his 684th. Some of the Army parachutists were using small, rapid-descentcanopies for increased accuracy. Forty helicopters—four massive twin-rotor Yak-24s and 36Mi-4s—made closely spaced mass-landings in spite of the gusts. They disgorged 22 lorries, which towed 12 field guns and fourmultiple anti-aircraft guns. One hundred and seventy-five steel- helmeted men were also deposited by this impressive assault force. The flying display ended after 90 minutes.That evening distinguished visitors were entertained to a dinner at the Soviet Army Club, attended by Marshal Bulganin and Mr.Krushchev. The following are some remarks attributed to various interested parties: — Mr. Krushchev (replying to Mr. Birch's remark that the Soviet leadershad seen more bombers at Marham than had been shown that day): "Ah, but you tried to scare us. You plan where and whom to bomb.We plan our defences. . . ." [See also a leading article in this issue.] "I assume that the Air Force visitors are eager to see Russia's rocketmissiles. The Soviet Union would also like to see such weapons. We like things to be realistic, and we do not want to play a game of hide-and-seek. The leaders of the Soviet Government decided they would show you some planes. Show us your planes and we shall show you ourrocket missiles." Mr. Nigel Birch: "We liked your air show. ... I thought that theformation flying was wonderfully good, particularly considering how difficult the weather was. I was also very impressed by the helicopterdisplay at the end, and I thought that some of the modern types of aircraft looked very good for their job indeed."Air Chief Marshal Sir Ronald Ivelaw-Chapman: "A magnificent demonstration of organization and timing."Gen. Twining: "The finest-organized show I have ever seen. Timing was excellent and the skill of the pilots yery superior."Mr. G. W. H. Gardner: "Beautiful flying. The Russians have obvi- ously got some very fine aircraft."On the following day, at Kubinka Airfield, 40 miles from Moscow, the Western visitors were taken in cars past a line-up ofevery type of Russian operational military aircraft. Not previously seen were a twin-jet, swept-wing bomber of about Canberra sizewhich, the Russians claimed, was supersonic. Another new type was a single-jet ground-attack aircraft, with armour plating underthe fuselage. There was also a naval machine with extensive provision for external stores, and powered by one turboprop.
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