Canadian Mig Flights

By Major Harold A. Skaarup

This book is a collection of "there I was" stories highlighting the experiences of Canadian Forces pilots who have had the opportunity of a lifetime to fly in the combat aircraft operated by former adversaries. Technical descriptions of key Soviet-built fighter jets such as the MiG-15, MiG-21, MiG-23, MiG-25, MiG-29, Sukhoi Su-22 and Su-27 are included for general reference.

The Canadian Fighter pilots mentioned in the story have generously provided their observations and comments on their specific experiences of flight in aircraft such as the MiG-29 (NATO codenamed Fulcrum), Sukhoi Su-22 (codenamed Fitter) and Su-27 (codenamed Flanker), both in Canada and overseas. The stories as told first hand by the pilots who contributed them should provide interesting reading for aviation enthusiasts of all ages.

An Annex listing aircraft known to have been brought to the West by defecting pilots since 1949 is also included. The Annex briefly describes pilots and aircraft and the circumstances that brought the various defectors to the west, including the MiG-15 flown to South Korea by Lieutenant No Kum-Sok and the MiG-25 flown to Japan by Lieutenant Viktor Belenko. Brief details of Soviet-built aircraft later flown in NATO opposition force flight test programs are also included.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Jun 4, 2008
• ISBN: 9780595621385

Major Harold A. Skaarup

Major Harold A. Skaarup, CD2, BFA, MA in War Studies, is a Canadian Forces Army Intelligence Officer with an interest in Military History. He has served overseas with 4 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group ( 4 CMBG) in Germany, with the Canadian Contingent of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Nicosia, Cyprus (CANCONCYP), with the NATO-led Peace Stabilization Force (SFOR) in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, with North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD) and United Sates Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and with the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), Kabul Multi-National Brigade (KMNB) in Kabul, Afghanistan. He is currently the Deputy Operations Officer at CFB Gagetown, and lives in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada.

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Contents

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgements

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER I

CHAPTER II

CHAPTER III

CHAPTER IV

CHAPTER V

C HAPTER VI

CHAPTER VII

C HAPTER VIII

ANNEX A

ANNEX B

ANNEX C

ANNEX D

AFTERWORD

Abbreviations

Bibliography

This collection of aviation stories is dedicated to all members of the Canadian

Forces.

Because what we do makes a difference.

Suddenly the squadron commander called out, bandits coming in from the right.

RCAF Flight Lieutenant Omer Levesque, engaging MiGs over Korea.

Foreword 

It’s always a pleasure to encourage those who are inspired to record for future generations the fascinating tales of aviation in Canada. Hal Skaarup’s military intelligence background leads him to focus on aspects of our history which others might overlook. As one who served almost entirely in the Cold War era, I find that the mix of anecdotal material and specific data which he has gathered offers a firm reminder of one of the last century’s greatest success stories—how the darkness of the post-World War II period finally gave way to light. The solidarity of the NATO alliance and its high professional standards underpinned the power of free societies to bring us to the point where our pilots could enjoy the camaraderie of their former opponents as they explored the limits of their newest fighter technology. It is really impressive to read the accounts of Bob Wade and John Bagshaw, not just for the evident skills which our training and their talent bring out, but also for the confidence which they inspired in their Russian counterparts. A large void in mutual understanding, bred of decades of mistrust and disinformation, was seemingly filled through the briefest of exposure to each other. Or perhaps they were all just crazy fighter pilots with a shared love of spectacular aircraft.

Of course, in the process, that light has been allowed to shine in many nations of the world whose freedom had been lost, and in others which were being used as proxies in the contest of ideologies, so that military prowess is no longer the predominant yardstick which it was. Nevertheless, in the context of this book, these nations have the opportunity to select the equipment which suits them, and their pocketbooks, best, so that the knowledge vacuum which was being filled by agents, accredited personnel, defectors and industrial espionage, not to mention the occasional war, has become almost a free market. We have former Warsaw Pact nations flying Western aircraft, Russian aircraft equipped for NATO interoperability, neutral and non-aligned nations participating in our tactical exercises and thus much less scope for preserving technical data if one wishes to sell equipment. However, while the parameters of the game have become much tighter, there is no sign that its essence will soon disappear, and we are indebted to Hal for reminding us where we have been. We can hope that we are not destined to repeat its more chilling aspects.

Lieutenant-General (Retired) David Huddleston Shelburne, Nova Scotia 23 April 2008

Preface 

Canadian MiG Flight History

The collection of flight reports and technical data found in this book has been derived from a great many pilots as well as other sources and agencies. The author can only claim a partial role as writer and editor of this reference work, given the extensive number of valued contributors to the story.

The stories are primarily written for those of us who have an interest in Canada’s aviation history, but they should also open a window for the interested reader on Canada’s Air Technical Intelligence history.

As an aviation enthusiast, I’ve always been fascinated by the technology that went into the design, development and production of various military aircraft, particularly the combat aircraft which I saw dispersed on various Canadian airfields in Germany. I grew up as an RCAF dependant, and therefore often had the chance to see Canadian warbirds on the Flight line at CFB Borden, CFB Trenton, 1 (F) Wing Marville and 2 (F) Wing Grostenquin in France, 3 (F) Wing Zweibrucken and 4 (F) Wing Baden-Sollingen in Germany, CFB North Bay, CFS Gander, and CFB Chatham and of course, in the air overhead at CFS Gypsumville. I joined the Canadian Forces as a Reservist in 1971 and in 1977 I became a member of the Canadian Forces Parachute Team, the Skyhawks, which gave me the chance to participate in a great number of air shows. I transferred to the Regular Force at the end of a two-year tour in Germany with Canadian Forces Europe (CFE), still fascinated with military warbirds. The visits to countless air museums and numerous Air Shows (along with more than 1,700 skydives) only enhanced my interest in military aviation, and of course, as an Intelligence Officer, the more I learned the more I wanted to know about the subject. This led me to produce a number of handbooks on how to find the preserved warbirds that exist in Canada and other countries.

As a member of the Canadian Aviation Artists Association, and the Canadian Aeronautical Preservation Association, I have had wonderful conversations with veteran military and civilian flyers of old and new warbirds. I am very interested in seeing examples of each and every warbird ever flown by

Canadians preserved and restored, and this led me to research the subject of just what exactly our servicemen and women have been flying since the Silver Dart first took flight on 23 February 1909.¹

I am not a pilot, although I have taken turns at the controls of our old Douglas DC-3 Dakotas and De Havilland DHC-3 Otters while transiting from Air Show to Air Show as a Skyhawk parachutist. My primary interest is in the intelligence history aspect (and I love old warbirds and spend a fair amount of time looking for them).

From 1999 to 2003 I served with the North American Aerospace Defence (NORAD) team working out of Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado Springs , Colorado, where I had the opportunity to monitor Canadian McDonnell Douglas CF-188 Hornet and American McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle fighter intercepts of Russian Tupolev Tu-95 Bear bombers skirting our airspace from time to time. We compiled exercises and training scenarios for NORAD, with Russian Tupolev Tu-22M Backfire and Tupolev Tu-160 Blackjack long-range strategic bombers as the adversary for our fighter interceptors.

The Cold War has not faded out of memory completely, and the resurgence of these Russian flights approaching our airspace often makes one wonder if the forces of mutual deterrence have really understood that times have changed. Are the aircrews of these former adversaries really so different? What if we had a chance to do an exchange? Would we discover that professionals in the military have more in common than not, as we did with our Arms Verification Inspection teams? I took part in a number of these inspections, including examining F-15 Eagles based at Keflavik, Iceland in 1991, as a test in preparation for similar reciprocal visits from the USSR (now Russia), not so long after the Berlin Wall had come down. My colleagues noted during their reciprocal inspections to Russia and the nations of the former Warsaw Pact that, once the initial trepidation and mistrust had been dispelled, the former adversaries got along famously. As for operating foreign aircraft and equipment, it would not be the first time Canadians had engaged in this activity.

Image5153.JPG

* Photo 1. Russian Tupolev Tu-95 Bear bomber intercept by USAF McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle fighter off the northwest coastline of North America. (USAF photo).

During a Canadian military history convention that was held in Colorado Springs, I heard about a couple of test pilots who had served as bomber pilots during the war, and wanted to continue flying before returning to Canada. I put together an article on RCAF pilots Squadron Leader Joe McCarthy and Squadron Leader Ian Somerville who were posted to the Royal Aircraft Establishment’s Foreign Aircraft Flight, Farnborough, in the United Kingdom in May 1945. At Farnborough, they were given specific orders to visit former German Luftwaffe airfields, and to find and fly back any aircraft they deemed worthy of evaluation. With my research project based on listing all military aircraft ever flown by Canadian servicemen and women, this information not only intrigued me, it also meant I had to include all the captured war prize aircraft flown by the RCAF, and so the list has grown.

As a Canadian Army Intelligence officer I served with NORAD in Colorado Springs, and have put a few handbooks together on where many historic aircraft may still be found. I had been permitted to sit in the cockpit of a MiG-29

Fulcrum at Nellis AFB, Nevada, and found another at Tyndall AFB, Florida. While doing so, I wondered how many Canadians had flown in the MiGs and Sukhois brought west by visiting airmen or defecting pilots during and after the Cold War—only a handful as you will learn here. It therefore seemed to be a very logical follow-on story to RCAF War Prize Flights² to write about Canadian Forces pilots who had flown MiGs and Sukhois for both our Intelligence Branch Journal and Airforce Magazine.

Very little exists on the subject, as the experiences of the pilots who had the privilege of flying former Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact aircraft are only just being told. I found their stories to be fascinating, and hope that by sharing them with you, in the words of the pilots that had the experience, you will find it interesting as well.

I have always found the personal stories told in the words of those who had actually been there far more interesting than something reported second-hand. My father served in the RCAF and CF, retiring as a Warrant Officer at CFB Chatham in 1973. For his 70th birthday, he built his own Challenger Ultralite and learned to fly, accumulating several hundred hours of flight before he decided to sell the aircraft last year at the age of 85 because the flying time was interfering with his skiing time. His time in this life is fading rapidly, but he has lived well, and his experience while serving in the Air Force is what his stories are mostly about, even now.

What drew me to the MiG flight story is the apparently abundant situational awareness and use of common sense these aviators consistently exhibited in the face of difficult situations. They appear to have learned, either by training or instinct, to observe their environment, orient themselves to face the situation, decide what to do, and then act on it—what we in the Army call the OODA loop, with consistently positive results.

In the first-person accounts that follow, you will find a number of examples where the OODA loop is called into play. Major Wade’s assessment of the situation of the visiting MiGs flying in from Alaska clearly finding themselves off course and the action he takes to ensure the flight safety of fellow pilots is one clear and obvious example. Or it would be, if more people knew such practical and intelligent decisions were taking place as a matter of routine throughout the Canadian Forces now just as much as they did in my father’s day.

Those of us still serving in the Canadian Forces with such high calibre people have never been more proud to wear the uniform. For my colleagues and fellow aviation buffs, both retired and still serving, I hope you are writing your memoirs, for as I have found in writing military history, if we don’t tell our story, no one else will.

Cheers,

Major Hal Skaarup 3 ASG G3 DCO

CFB Gagetown, New Brunswick

Ex Coelis, E Tenebris Lux, Per Ardua Ad Astra

(From the Skies, Out of Darkness—Light, Through Adversity to the Stars)

Acknowledgements 

The author is indebted to his Canadian Forces colleagues, both serving and retired for the information and stories found in Canadian MiG Flights. The pilots have provided much of the information found here, along with interested aviation enthusiasts who have forwarded their stories, observations and comments based on their career experiences within the Canadian Forces. It would be difficult to name all of them, but I would particularly like to thank those who offered valuable advice or shared the specific stories that you find in the pages that follow:

Lieutenant-General David Huddleston, Major-General Scott Eichel, Brigadier-General Claude R. Thibault, Lieutenant-Colonel John Bagshaw, Lieutenant-Colonel David Bashow, Lieutenant-Colonel D.S. Pig Constable, Lieutenant-Colonel Dan Dempsey, Lieutenant-Colonel R.J. Waldo Martin, Lieutenant-Colonel Doug Levi Stroud, Lieutenant-Colonel Eric Volstad, Major Hank Hankster Blasiak, Major Doug Dewey Clements, Major B.W. Dolan, Major B.L. Noodle Eichel, Major Darcy Granley, Major Robert Wade, Major M. Ruggy Wolter, Capt Ron Russell, Chief Warrant Officer Olivier Emond, Sergeant Patricia McNorgan (Deputy Air Force Historian—Muse/O, Office of Air Force Heritage and History, 1 Canadian Air Division), Warrant Officer Vic Johnson (Airforce Magazine), Paul A. Hayes, David Jones, and Bryan Nelson with the Canadian Aeronautical Preservation Association.

INTRODUCTION 

Canadians Flying Foreign Aircraft

The flight testing of former enemy aircraft is not new to Canadians. Both Lieutenant-Colonel (later Air Marshal) Billy Bishop VC, and Lieutenant-Colonel William Barker VC, flew Fokker D.VII fighters brought to Canada after the Great War.³

Two RCAF pilots, Squadron Leader Joe McCarthy and Squadron Leader Ian Somerville, provided the Air Force with a great deal of Air Technical Intelligence through test flights