Originally Posted by y_p_w
Originally Posted by edyvw
We had some MI-8's. I mean every single one MI8 had different cockpit. It is like every shift had its own way of assembling helicopters. We got UH-1, and first comment of my friend was: ah, each one is the same
How does that work. I've certainly heard about how pilots just get whatever aircraft is assigned to them out of a pool of serviced aircraft. There's the known name of a particular pilot (and perhaps radar operator) stenciled on the plane, but that supposedly means nothing as to who gets to fly a particular aircraft. It's got to be a huge pain to get something different each time.
Now I have seen US military aircraft, and some are absolutely ancient. I toured a KC-10 once. It kind of depressed me that the pilot was so much younger than me and probably younger than then plane. But there were dials and gauges everywhere. I wonder what his transition would be if he wanted to be an airline pilot since almost no airlines have planes without modern controls. I do remember seeing an open cockpit door once when boarding a Southwest 737 and that thing must have been 25 years old with gauges and dials everywhere. I thought they would have retired it by then.
These were smuggled ones from Ukraine when USSR collapsed. Things you could get from there at that time
. I think Croatia smuggled 40 MIG21's on trucks through Romania and Hungary in 1993. Also, in case of Mi8, they were different than MI8 that ex-Yugoslavia was using and than Serbia flew after collapse (those were much better). The fit and finish was horrible, some gauges were placed in different spots. For us was not a problem because we had 4, so everyone knew how certain helicopter operates, when it operated. But one begs the question about their operability during USSR and how all that functioned.
Sometimes later, way later after I left the country, Bosnian air force sent newer models, including MI17 that were acquired from Russia as part of debt settlement from 70's and 80's to Ukraine for upgrades. They got back worse helicopters than they sent. They have kept fuel tanks dry, which cause almost disaster etc. etc.
As I said, Russians can make some really good stuff, but system overall was rotten. The fact that they collapsed should not surprised anyone.
One fact that illustrates how bad it was. Yugoslavia was flying F84 and F86's in 50's that were donated and purchased after Tito broke up with Stalin. So, sometimes in 1958 Nikita Khrushchev wanted to make things better with Tito, so ges to Belgrade to apologize. So, Tito to open Easter market for Yugoslavian economy decides that air force could buy some stuff from USSR. Russians offered 80 MIG21's for 10 million pair of shoes!!! My late friend who was one of the first to go for training there, told me how they took them to city to show them people waiting in line to get shoes from Yugoslavia. That is at the same time when Russian space program was at its peak. Unreal.