An Aeroflot Mil Mi-26 at Farnborough, 1984. (MilborneOne)
2–4 February 1982: Over a three-day period, several flight crews set a series of Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) payload-to-altitude world records at Podmoskovnoe. They flew an OKB Mil Design Bureau Mi-26 heavy lift helicopter.
Летчик-испытатель Г.Р.Карапетян в кабине вертолета Ми-26. (Test pilot GR Karapetyan in the cockpit of the Mi-26 helicopter.)
On 2 February, Gurgen Rubenovich Karapetian and Y. Chapaev flew to 6,400 meters (20,997 feet) with a 10,000 kilogram (22,046.2 pound) payload.¹
The OKB Mil Design Bureau’s Mi-26 is the world’s largest helicopter. It is a twin-engine, single main rotor/tail rotor helicopter with fixed tricycle landing gear. It is normally operated by two pilots, a navigator, flight engineer and flight technician, and can carry as many as 90 passengers.
The Mi-26 has an overall length with rotors turning of 40.025 meters (131 feet, 3.8 inches) and height of 8.145 meters (26 feet, 8.7 inches). The main rotor has a diameter of 32.00 meters (104 feet, 11.8 inches). The helicopter has an empty weight of 28,200 kilograms (62,170 pounds) and maximum takeoff weight of 56,000 kilograms (123,459 pounds).
The eight-blade fully-articulated main rotor system turns clockwise at 132 r.p.m. (the advancing blade is on the left). A five-blade tail rotor is mounted on the right side of a pylon in a pusher configuration. The tail rotor turns clockwise as seen from the helicopter’s left side (the advancing blade is below the axis of rotation).
Power is supplied by two Lotarev D-136 turboshaft engines producing 8,500 kW (11,399 shaft horsepower), each.
The cruise speed of the Mi-26 is 255 kilometers per hour (158 miles per hour) and maximum speed is 295 kilometers per hour (183 miles per hour). The hover ceiling, out of ground effect (HOGE), is 1,800 meters (5,905 feet), and the service ceiling is 4,600 meters (15,092 feet), though on 2 February 1982, test pilot Gurgen Karapetyan, who flew with Grishchenko at Chernobyl, flew an Mi-26 to 6,400 meters (20,997 feet) carrying a 10,000 kilogram (22,046 pound) payload.¹ The maximum payload is 20,000 kilograms (44,092 pounds). The helicopter’s range, carrying an 18,000 kilogram (39,683 pounds) payload is 670 kilometers (416 miles).
The Mi-26 first flew in 1977. Production began in 1980. The helicopter remains in service with both military and civil operators.
Gurgen Rubenovich Karapetyan, Hero of the Soviet Union.
Gurgen Rubenovich Karapetyan (Гурген Рубенович Карапетян) was born 9 December 1936 in what is now Ekaterinberg, Sverdlovsk, Russia. He learned to fly a Polikarkpov Po-2 (NATO identifier, “Mule”) at the Sverdlovsk flying club at the age of 15.
Karapetyan served in the Soviet Air Force from 1956 to 1963. His rank was first lieutenant. An uncle advised him to attend the Moscow Aviation Institute, and he graduated in 1961. He worked as an engineer at Mil Design Bureau and then attended test pilot school. From 1962 to 1993, Karapetyan was a test pilot for the Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant, becoming the chief test pilot in 1974.
Gurgen Rubenovich Karapetyan
In April 1986, along with Anatoly Demyanovich Grishchenko, Gurgen Karapetyan flew a Mil Mi-26 helicopter dropping loads of sand and wet cement on the wreckage of the Chernobyl Reactor Number 4, which had been destroyed by an explosion. Carrying 15 ton loads suspended from an 800-foot (244 meters) cable, they made repeated trips while flying through the radioactive gases released from the plant. Grishchenko later died as a result of radiation exposure.
On 24 January 1993, President Mikhail Gorbachev named Karapetyan a Hero of the Soviet Union. He was twice awarded the Order of Lenin, and is an Honored Test Pilot of the Soviet Union.
Gurgen Karapetyan has set 10 world records in helicopters. He has flown more than 5,500 hours in 39 helicopter types.
Gurgen Rubenovich Karapetyan died 6 December 2021 at the age of 84 years.
General Dynamics YF-16 Fighting Falcon 72-1567, 2 February 1974. (U.S. Air Force 071202-F-9999J-029)
2 February 1974: Test pilot Philip Francis Oestricher made the first test flight of the General Dynamics YF-16 Light Weight Fighter prototype, 72-1567, at Edwards Air Force Base, California. During the 90-minute flight the airplane reached 400 knots (740.8 kilometers per hour) and 30,000 feet (9,144 meters).
A prototype General Dynamics YF-16 nears completion, 1973. (General Dynamics)
Built at Fort Worth, Texas, the prototype rolled out 13 December 1973. It was loaded aboard a Lockheed C-5A Galaxy heavy-lift transport and was flown to Edwards. During high-speed taxi tests on 20 January 1974 the YF-16 began to oscillate in the roll axis, threatening to touch the wingtips to the ground.
Philip Francis Oestricher, General Dynamics test pilot. (Photograph courtesy of Neil Corbett, Test and Research Pilots, Flight Test Engineers)
To prevent damage, Phil Oestricher lifted off to regain control and after six minutes, touched down again.
The airplane had sustained damage to the right horizontal stabilizer. Engineers determined that the airplane’s roll control was too sensitive, and that the exhaust nozzle was improperly wired, resulting in too much thrust at low throttle settings. The YF-16 was repaired and was ready for its first test flight on 2 February.
The first prototype YF-16, 72-1567, during a test flight, March 1974. Edwards Air Force Base is visible under the airplane’s left wing. (Lockheed Martin)
The two YF-16 prototypes competed against the Northrop YF-17 for the role of the Air Force and NATO light weight fighter program. The YF-16 was selected and single-seat F-16A and two-seat F-16B fighters were ordered. The YF-17 was developed into the U.S. Navy’s F/A-18 Hornet.
General DynamicsYF-16 72-1567 and Northrop YF-17 72-1569 prototypes. (U.S. Air Force)Phil Oestricher in the cockpit of the first General Dynamics YF-16 Light Weight Fighter prototype at Carswell Air Force Base, Texas, December 1973. (Lockheed Martin)
The F-16 was designed to be a highly-maneuverable, light weight air superiority day fighter, but it has evolved into a multi-role fighter/fighter bomber with all weather attack capability.
The F-16 (now, a Lockheed Martin product) remains in production, with more than 4,600 having been built in the United States and under license in Europe. The United States Air Force had 1,017 F-16s in service as of 2021,
A U.S. Air Force F-16C Block 50D Fighting Falcon, serial number 91-0405, of the 52nd Fighter Wing, Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany. This F-16 is armed with four AIM-120 air-to-air missiles and two air-to-ground AGM-88 High-speed Anti-Radiation Missiles (HARM). It carries external fuel tanks and an electronics countermeasures unit. (U.S. Air Force)
The F-16C is a single-seat, single-engine Mach 2+ fighter. It is 49.3 feet (15.03 meters) long with a wingspan of 32.8 feet (10.0 meters) and overall height of 16.7 feet (5.09 meters). It has an empty weight of 20,300 pounds (9,207.9 kilograms) and maximum takeoff weight of 48,000 pounds (21,772 kilograms).
The fighter is powered by one Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-229 or General Electric F110-GE-129 afterburning turbofan engine which produces 17,800 pounds of thrust (79.178 kilonewtons) each, or 29,100 pounds (129.443 kilonewtons) with afterburner) (F100), or 29,500 pounds (131.223 kilonewtons) (F110).
Lockheed Martin F-16C Block 30H Fighting Falcon 87-0292, 121st Fighter Squadron, 113th Operations Group, District of Columbia Air National Guard (Lockheed Martin)
The Fighting Falcon has a maximum speed of Mach 1.2 (913 miles per hour, or 1,470 kilometers per hour) at Sea Level, and Mach 2+ at altitude. The fighter’s service ceiling is higher than 50,000 feet (15,240 meters). Maximum range is 2,002 miles (3,222 kilometers).
The F-16C is armed with one General Electric M61A1 Vulcan 20 mm 6-barreled Gatling gun with 511 rounds of ammunition, and can carry a wide range of air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles and bombs.
The first production F-16A made its first flight December 1976. The U.S. Air Force inventory 1,017 C/D (2021) More than 4,600 have been built, serving with 25 air forces world wide.
The F-16 Block 70 remains in production at Greenville, South Carolina . Lockheed Martin has a backlog of 117 Block 72 aircraft as of 31 January 2025.
Lockheed Martin F-16 under construction at Greenville, South Carolina. (Lockheed Martin)
The first prototype YF-16, 72-1567, is now on display at the Virginia Air and Space Center, Hampton, Virginia.
The first of the two General Dynamics prototype YF-16 Fighting Falcon lightweight fighters, 72-1567, on display at the Virginia Air and Space Center, Hampton, Virginia. (Rtphokie via Wikipedia)Philip Oestricher, 1948
Philip Francis Oestricher was born at Orlando, Florida, 26 September 1931. He was the first of four children of Albert Raymond Oestricher, a chiropractor, and Henriette Hyacinthe Dodane Oestricher.
He attended Orlando High School, where he was a classmate of his future wife, Patricia Ratti. Both graduated in 1949.
Oestricher then attended the University of Florida at Gainesville, Florida, where he majored in engineering. While there, he was associate editor of Florida Engineer, and a member of the Institute of Aeronautical Sciences, Automotive Engineering Society, Sigma Tau (ΣΤ), an engineering honor society, and Phi Kappa Phi (ΦΚΦ), also an honor society. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical engineering, 8 June 1952. Oestricher continued post-graduate studies and earned a masters degree in engineering in 1953.
Miss Patricia Ratti
Philip Francis Oestricher married Miss Patricia Maria Ratti, then a senior at the University of Florida, at 10:00 a.m., 27 December 1952, in a ceremony held at the St. James Roman Catholic Church at the corner of Orange Avenue and Robinson Street, in downtown Orlando, Florida. They would eventually have four children.
Oestricher worked for the Convair Division of General Dynamics Corporation at Fort Worth, Texas, in 1953–1954.
Convair Division of General Dynamics Corporation at Fort Worth, Texas, circa 1954.
Having enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, Private First Class Oestricher entered the USMC Officer Candidate Course at Quantico, Virginia, 12 April 1954. He graduated as a Naval Aviator and was commissioned a second lieutenant in July 1954. He attended flight training at NAS Pensacola, Florida, in 1955. He continued with advanced flight training at NAS Corpus Christi, Texas, and was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant, 2 January 1956. On 27 January 1956, 1st Lieutenant Oestricher was cited as the outstanding fighter syllabus graduate from the Naval Air Advanced Training Command.
A flight of four Grumman F9F-8 Cougars of VMF(AW)-114, circa 1957. (USMC A135160)
Lieutenant Ostricher was assigned to Marine All-Weather Fighter Squadron 114 (VMF(AW)-114, “Death Dealers”) flying the Grumman F9F-8 Cougar and Douglas F4D-1 Skyray. The squadron deployed aboard the Midway-class large aircraft carrier USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CVA-42). The carrier had just completed the SCB-110 refit and emerged with a new angled flight deck deck.
Three Douglas F4D-1 Skyrays of VMF(AW)-114, prepare to launch from USS Franklin D. Roosevelt, CVA-42. (Sgt. Harold (“Woody”) Woodrom, USMC)
Following this tour at sea, Lieutenant Oestricher left active duty, but remained in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, eventually rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel.
Phil Oestricher returned to Convair as an aeronautical engineer. He was assigned work on the B-58A Hustler, a Mach 2 strategic bomber; the Model 54, the U.S. Air Force NX-2 CAMAL ¹ nuclear-powered bomber prototype; and the RB-57F, a specialized strategic reconnaissance aircraft.
Artists rendering of the Convair Model 54, a proposal for the U.S. Air Force NX-2 nuclear-powered bomber. (Convair)General Dynamics RB-57F Canberra 63-13291. (U.S. Air Force 061031-F-1234P-021)
Phil Oestricher attended the U.S. Navy Test Pilot School (Class 44) at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, in 1966. The course included 420 classroom hours, and about 150 flight hours. Oestricher flew 15 different aircraft types. He graduated as his class’s outstanding student.
“He stood out as an exceptionally capable test pilot in all respects. We are proud to list him as a graduate of our school,” said D. Z. Skalla, acting director of USNTPS.²
“TEST PILOTS—Graduates of Class No. 44, U.S. Naval Test Pilot School, inspect F-111A close up during a recent tour of Fort Worth division. Some will be flight-testing F-111Bs in the days ahead.” Phil Oestricher is sixth from right. (General Dynamics News)
Lieutenant Colonel Oestricher commanded VMF(AW)-112, the Marine Corps’ largest reserve squadron. At the time, the squadron was flying the Chance Vought F8U Crusader. Colonel Oestricher retired from the Marine Corps in 1973.
Phil Oestricher was a design safety engineer on the General Dynamics F-111 program. As a test pilot, he flew all models of that aircraft.
He made the first flight of the F-16B 8 August 1977.
In 1979, Oestricher was awarded the Iven C. Kincheloe Award of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots for “outstanding professional accomplishment in flight testing.”
Phil Oestricher worked for General Dynamics as an engineer and test pilot for 33 years. He was the Director of Flight Test for 11 years. He retired in July 1992.
General Dynamics YF-16 LWF prototype 72-1568 with pilot, Phil Oestricher, May 1974. (Code One Magazine)
Lieutenant Colonel Philip Francis Oestricher, United States Marine Corps (Retired), died at Benbrook, Texas, 18 December 2015. He was 84 years old. His remains were interred at Woodlawn Memorial Park, Gotha, Florida.
¹ Continuous Airborne Alert, Missile Launching and Low-Level Penetration
² GENERAL DYNAMICS NEWS, Wednesday, 30 November 1966, Page 6, Column 2
Convair F-106A-100-CO Delta Dart 58-0775 of the 71st Fighter Interceptor Squadron with a Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker, circa 1970. This is the same type aircraft flown by Lieutenant Gary Foust, 2 February 1970. (U.S. Air Force)1st Lt. Gary E. Foust
2 February 1970: At approximately 9:50 a.m., three Convair F-106A Delta Dart supersonic interceptors of the 71st Fighter Interceptor Squadron, 24th Air Division, based at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana, were engaged in an air combat training mission.
1st Lieutenant Gary Eugene Foust was flying F-106A-100-CO 58-0787, an airplane usually flown by the squadron’s maintenance officer, Major Wolford.
During the simulated combat, Lt. Foust entered into a vertical climb with his “opponent,” Captain Tom Curtis, who was also flying an F-106, and they both climbed to about 38,000 feet (11,600 meters) while using a “vertical rolling scissors” maneuver as each tried to get into a position of advantage.
Diagram of Vertical Rolling Scissors Maneuver. (Predrag Pavlovic, dipl. ing. and Nenad Pavlovic, dipl. ing.)
Lt. Foust’s interceptor stalled and went in to a flat spin. Captain Curtiss described it: “The aircraft looked like the pitot tube was stationary with the aircraft rotating around it. Very flat and rotating quite slowly.”
Foust tried all the recovery procedures but could not regain control of the Delta Dart. With no options remaining, at about 15,000 feet (4,572 meters), Foust ejected from the apparently doomed airplane.
Convair F-106A Delta Dart 58-0787 made an un-piloted belly landing onto a snow-covered farm field near Big Sandy, Montana, 2 February 1970. (U.S. Air Force)
After the pilot ejected, the F-106 came out of the spin and leveled off. With its engine still running, -787 continued flying, gradually descending, until it slid in to a landing in a wheat field near Big Sandy, Montana. Eventually the airplane ran out of fuel and the engine stopped at about 12:15 p.m.
Lieutenant Foust safely parachuted into the mountains and was soon rescued.
58-0787 was partially disassembled by a maintenance team from Hill Air Force Base, Utah, and loaded on to a rail car. It was then transported to the Sacramento Air Logistics Center at McClellan Air Force Base, Sacramento, California, where it was repaired and eventually returned to flight status with the 49th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, 21st Air Division, at Griffiss Air Force Base, New York.
After the Convair Delta Dart was retired from active service, 58-0787 was sent to the National Museum of the United States Air Force, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.
Convair F-106A Delta Dart 58-0787 sits in a snow-covered Montana farm field, February 1970. (U.S. Air Force)
The Convair F-106A Delta Dart was the primary all-weather interceptor of the United States Air Force from 1959 to 1988, when it was withdrawn from service with the Air National Guard. It was a single-seat, single-engine delta-winged aircraft capable of speeds above Mach 2.
The airplane was a development of the earlier F-102A Delta Dagger, and was initially designated F-102B. However, so many changes were made that it was considered to be a new aircraft.
The F-106A is 70 feet, 8.78 inches (21.559 meters) long with a wingspan of 38 feet, 3.5 inches (11.671 meters). The total area of the delta wing is 697.83 square feet (64.83 square meters). The angle of incidence was 0° and there was no dihedral. The leading edges were swept aft 60°. The top of the vertical fin was 20 feet, 3.3 inches (6.180 meters) high. The Delta Dart weighs 24,028 pounds (10,899 kilograms) empty, and has a maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) of 39,195 pounds (17,779 kilograms).
Convair F-106A Delta Dart three-view illustration with dimensions. (SDASM)
The F-106 was powered by a Pratt & Whitney J75-P-17 afterburning turbojet engine. The J75-P-17 was a two-spool axial-flow turbojet engine with afterburner. It used a 15-stage compressor section (8 high- and 7 low-pressure stages) and a 3-stage turbine section (1 high- and 2-low pressure stages). The J75-P-17 had a maximum continuous power rating of 14,100 pounds of thrust (62.72 kilonewtons), and military power rating of 16,100 pounds (71.62 kilonewtons) (30-minute limit). It produced a maximum of 24,500 pounds (108.98 kilonewtons) with afterburner (5-minute limit). The engine was 3 feet, 8.25 inches (1.124 meters) in diameter, 19 feet, 9.6 inches long (6.035 meters), and weighed 5,875 pounds (2,665 kilograms).
Convair F-106A Delta Dart 58-0787 sits in a snow-covered Montana farm field, February 1970. (U.S. Air Force)
The interceptor has a cruise speed of 516 knots (594 miles per hour/956 kilometers per hour), and a maximum speed of 1,153 knots (1,327 miles per hour/2,135 kilometers per hour) at 35,000 feet (10,668 meters). The F-106A had a maximum rate of climb of 41,400 feet per minute (210 meters per second) at Sea Level. It could climb to 50,000 feet (15,240 meters) in 5 minutes. The service ceiling was 52,700 feet (16,063 meters). Its combat radius was 426 nautical miles (490 statute miles/789 kilometers) with maximum internal fuel (1,514 U.S. gallons/5,731 liters). The maximum ferry range was 1,571 nautical miles (1,808 statute miles/2,909 kilometers), when carrying an additional 454 gallons (1,719 liters) in two external tanks.
A Convair F-106A-135-CO Delta Dart, 59-0146, of the 194th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, California Air National Guard, launches an AIM-2 Genie air-to-air rocket. (U.S. Air Force)
The Delta Dart was armed with four GAR-3A radar-homing, or -4A (AIM-4F, -4G) infrared-homing Falcon air-to-air guided missiles, and one MB-1 (AIM-2A) Genie unguided rocket with a 1.5 kiloton W-25 nuclear warhead. The missiles were carried in an internal weapons bay. In 1972, the General Electric M61A1 Vulcan 20mm cannon was added to the rear weapons bay with 650 rounds of ammunition. (The number of gun-equipped Delta Darts is uncertain.)
Convair built 342 F-106 interceptors. 277 were F-106As and the remainder were F-106B two-seat trainers.
Convair F-106A-100-CO Delta Dart 58-0787 in the collection of the National Museum of the United States Air Force, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. (U.S. Air Force)
