Low Passes Are Always Cool. This Time It’s The Turn Of A Russian Navy Su-33.
In the recent past we have published several videos showing pretty dangerous low passes: a Su-27 flying really low over a group of people after performing a low approach at an airbase in Ukraine; a Su-25 Frogfoot buzzing a group of female soldiers posing for a photograph; another one performing a low passage along a taxiway of a military airfield in northwestern Ukraine; a Mig-29 overflying pro-Russia separatist blocking rails, an Ilyushin Il-76 buzzing some Su-25s and Frogfoots returning the favor while buzzing the tower; an Mi-17 helicopter flying among the cars on a highway and another fully armed Mig-29 Fulcrum in the livery of the Ukrainian Falcons aerobatic display team flying over an apron at an airbase in Ukraine.
However, Russian Air Force and Naval Aviation pilots love flying low and be filmed in the process too. Not only with the Su-24 Fencer, the type shown buzzing cars on a highway in a video that went viral few years ago causing military prosecutors to investigate flight records and safety measures carried out at military airfields. This time with a Su-33 Flanker-D.
The Sukhoi Su-33 is an all-weather carrier-based highly maneuverable air defence fighter based on the Su-27 “Flanker” and initially known as Su-27K. It has larger (folding) wings, upgraded engines, twin nose wheel, strengthened undercarriage for blue waters ops.
The Su-33 equips the only Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov and, as reported last year, a Russian Navy Su-33 Flanker carrier-based multirole aircraft crashed during flight operations from the carrier at its inaugural combat cruise in the Mediterranean Sea, to support the air strikes in Syria, on Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016.
According to the report, the combat plane crashed at its second attempt to land on the aircraft carrier in good weather conditions (visibility +10 kilometers, Sea State 4, wind at 12 knots): the arresting wire snapped and failed to stop the aircraft that fell short of the bow of the warship.
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The pilot successfully ejected and was picked up by a Russian Navy search and rescue helicopter.
The Chinese Shenyang J-15, equipping the refurbished ex-Soviet Kuznetsov class carrier Varyag now “Liaoning” is also extensively based on the Su-27 and Su-33.
Anyway, the following video show a Russian Navy Su-33 at some airbase in Russia, performing a couple of really low passes buzzing the cameraman. Cool footage, probably not too safe.
