Povitryanykh Syl (KhNUPS, Kharkiv National
Air Force University) in late June of that year.
To cut costs, increase efficiency and reduce
the time required for graduates to reach trained/
qualified combat pilot status after graduation, the
PS Command organised a large-scale training
event, pooling all available resources for the task.
After successful completion the attendees would
receive a pilot 3rd class qualification, enabling
them to begin training for and subsequently
take part in regular unit combat operations –
including QRA duty and air-to-ground sorties.
Having a complete squadron of MiG-29s
overhauled in the last five years and combat-
proven instructor pilots (IPs), it was logical
to choose 114 brTA to host this important
training event at its home base. At the end
of October 2016 all the young MiG-29 pilots
from all three Fulcrum units gathered at Ivano-
Frankivs’k to mark a new era of pilot training
in the PS. In addition to existing 114 brTA
assets, 40 and 204 brTA provided more MiG-
29 IPs and four MiG-29s (three MiG-29UBsand a 9.13 aircraft). Heading the event was Col
Oleksandr Kukharenko, an experienced MiG-
29 pilot and chief of aviation at PvK ‘Zakhid’.
The training process was intense as it included
all the basic skills required for an aviator to
qualify as pilot 3rd class – aircraft handling
and navigation (including basic aerobatic
manoeuvres) plus combat employment (air-
to-air combat and air-to-ground sorties, with
dogfighting and other important combat
manoeuvres). Young pilots practised these
tactics in different weather conditions,
including at night, either as a single aircraft
or as part of a group (formation flying in pairs
or flights). All this was completed within a
month – instructors displayed all the required
manoeuvres in a two-seat trainer, at the same
time evaluating the skills attained by each of
the young pilots. After reaching the required
level, the young flyer was allowed to perform
all the required operations in a single-seater.
The finale came at the end of November 2016.
All attendees who had qualified for the 3rd classand a portion of the aircraft (four 9.13s and
four MiG-29UBs) moved to the Luts’k reserve
air base for the final stage of the training: use
of live weapons in the air-to-ground role. This
was carried out from November 24 to 30 at the
nearby Povurs’k aviation range primarily using
P-50T practice bombs and 80mm (3.15in) S-8
unguided rockets fired from 20-shot B-8M pods.
As in all real-life events involving intensive
flying, some of the young aircrew also had the
chance to handle real emergency situations in
the air as pilots in the front cockpit, including
at least one on the L-39C and one on a MiG-
29UB trainer (the latter including mid-air engine
failure). Thanks to their training, in both cases
the young pilots remained calm, returning the
stricken aircraft back to base. The defects
were taken care of by the highly skilled ground
crews, who returned all the aircraft back to
the training process as quickly as possible.
This process was repeated last year, with
the ‘Class of 2017’ from KhNUPS – again
led by Col Kukharenko and with 40 and 204‘Resurrection’ of the Crimean MiGs
The five aircraft that the 114 brTA received in 2016
(Ukrainian sources usually quote the number as four,
since ‘71 White’ was ready at LDARZ by the end of
December 2015) originally served with the former
161 IAP at Limans’ke air base. When the unit was
disbanded in 2002 its aircraft were redistributed
among other MiG-29 units, 114 brTA included (‘04
White’ is one of them). However, these specific
five aircraft are actually former stored 204 brTA
aircraft that had been evacuated from Bel’bek
air base in the Crimea by early June 2014.
Due to their worn-out appearance, the stored MiG-
29s at Bel’bek were frequently pictured by Russian
media during the annexation of the Crimea (often
being referred to as ‘junk’ or ‘scrap metal’!). Russiareturned all stored Crimean MiG-29s to Ukraine (a
total of 52 aircraft), mistakenly believing they would
not be brought back to operational service in the
very near future. However, as early as late July 2014
the first two evacuated aircraft were restored to
service by the 204 brTA at Kul’bakino while others
were sent to LDARZ for overhaul, the first example
(‘45 Blue’) returning to the unit by September 2015.
It should be noted that some of the newest MiG-
29 9.13 aircraft that Ukraine inherited in 1992 were
originally part of the 114 IAP inventory, including a full
squadron of aircraft of the 53rd and 54th production
batches, manufactured at the end of December- Most of these were later redistributed to
other units and only a handful still remain with the
114 brTA (three of them are still active – ‘54 Blue’,
‘55 White’ and ‘58 White’). Five became Ukrainian
Falcons display aircraft (‘101 Blue’ to ‘105 Blue’) and
were stored at Kirovs’ke air base in the Crimea. The
five were also evacuated to Kul’bakino in 2014 and
were delivered to LDARZ for overhaul: the first three
arrived there in December 2015 and the remaining
two followed in March last year. It remains to be
seen whether any of these have ultimately returned
to their original unit, the aircraft arriving in 2017 (‘74,
77 and 78 White’) being the most likely candidates.
Each MiG-29 aircraft that undergoes overhaul
at LDARZ receives a service life extension of an
additional 700 flight hours or eight years of service
(see MiG Modernisation in Lviv, January 2018, p82).114 brTA
92 // JUNE 2018 #363 http://www.airforcesmonthly.comSix of the former Ukrainian Falcons display aircraft (‘101 Blue’ to ‘105 Blue’, plus ‘108 Blue’) stored at Kul’bakino air base in 2015, not long before the fi rst
three were disassembled and trucked to LDARZ for overhaul. The seventh aircraft (‘106 Blue’) was parked on the opposite side of the apron.Above: One of the borrowed MiG-29UB two-seat trainers, ‘90 White’ (c/n 50903024156) of 40 brTA,
prepares to take off from Ivano-Frankivs’k with a young pilot in the front cockpit. Note the emblem of
the 1st squadron of 40 brTA below the cockpit and the instructor’s periscope in the extended position.
Right: Two-seat MiG-29UB ‘10 White’ of 114 brTA deploys its braking parachute after returning to Ivano-
Frankivs’k from a training fl ight where the young pilot in the front cockpit fl ew as part of a pair with
another MiG-29UB. Note the yellow-blue ‘swallow’ emblem below the cockpit and 1,500-litre PTB-1500
auxiliary fuel tank between the engine nacelles.