Russian Knights

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This article is about the aerobatic team. For historical Russian knights, see bogatyr.

Russian Knights 237 TsPAT (237th Centre for Display of Aviation Equipment)
Su-27s of Russian Knights and MiG-29s of Swifts in formation at Kubinka
Active	April 5, 1991 - present
Country	Russia
Branch	Russian Air Force
Garrison/HQ	Kubinka (air base) Moscow Oblast, Russia
Colors	Red, White and Blue
Insignia
Identification symbol
Aircraft flown
Fighter	4 - Sukhoi Su-27P's 2 - Sukhoi Su-27UB's

Su-27 low pass

Su-27 on landing

The Russian Knights (Russian: Русские Витязи, Russkiye Vityazi) is anaerobatic demonstration team of the Russian Air Force. Originally formed on April 5, 1991 at the Kubinka Air Base as a team of six Sukhoi Su-27s, the team was the first to perform outside the Soviet Union in September 1991 when they toured the United Kingdom. On December 12, 1995, disaster struck as three team jets flew in-formation into a mountainside near Cam Ranh, Vietnamduring approach while en route to home from a Malaysian airshow during adverse weather conditions. Despite this tragedy, the team now performs with four Su-27Ps and two Su-27UBs.

Contents   [hide]  1 History 1.1 Team tragedies 2 External links 3 References

[edit]History

The Kubinka air force base located 60 km west of Moscow is well known both in Russia and abroad. For years, it has been known as the Air Force installation used for demonstrating advanced combat aircraft to national and foreign leaders. Kubinka AFB's personnel were the first Soviet pilots to fly jet fighters in solo and group aerobatics; as early back as on May 1, 1946 Kubinka aces made their overflight of the Red Square as part of air parade formation.^{[citation needed]} Nowadays, Kubinka AFB is known as the best aerobatics school where the Russian Knights and Swifts aerobatics teams are stationed. Meanwhile, Kubinka is a major base of the Russian Air Force in the Moscow region.

Since 1935, it has hosted the 82nd aviation detachment (separate), joined in 1938 by the 11th and 24th air regiments. Personnel of these units field-tested the advanced Yak-1 and LaGG-3 fighters and defended the Soviet capital during the second World War. After WWII, Kubinka AFB was the home base for the 324th Svirskaya fighter air division. In November 1950, it was redeployed to Korea in full, with the base being taken over by the 9th fighter air division. Since 1952, the 234th fighter air regiment - predecessor of the present-day 237th Aircraft Demonstration Centre - has been stationed in Kubinka.^{[citation needed]}

In May 1989, the 1st squadron of the Centre (then designated as the 237th composite air regiment) received Su-27 fighters. The pilots familiarised themselves with the new materiel and soon flew their first training sorties in pairs, troikas and, then, in four-aircraft diamond-shaped formations. The leader of the first "diamond" was Anatoly Arestov, his left and right wingmen were Aleksandr Dyatlov and Ivan Kirsanov respectively, with Vladimir Bukin becoming the Tail-End Charlie. The Su-27 proved to be much harder to control when manoeuvring as part of a tight formation, compared with the MiG-29. There were several reasons: the fighter's heavier weight, larger dimension, inertness, peculiarities of its fly-by-wire control system and, perhaps counterintuitively, its superior aerodynamic characteristics. The pilots wanted to fly the same aerobatics previously flown in Kubinka by the MiG-19, MiG-21, MiG-23 and MiG-29 fighters.^{[citation needed]}

Early in 1991, the six-aircraft aerobatics team was set up. The leader was Vladimir Basov, left wingman - Aleksandr Dyatlov, right wingman - Sergei Ganichev, tail-end charlie - Vladimir Bukin, outer left wingman - Vladimir Bazhenov and outer right wingman - Aleksandr Lichkun. The first foreign tour was to be made to the UK. A decision was made to find a designation for the new unit, devise an emblem, have flight suits made and devise the paint job for the fighters.

Thus, on April 5, 1991, the Russian Knights came into being. As early as September 1991, the Russian Knights flew to the United Kingdom. Then came the tours of Malaysia, the US, France, the Netherlands, Canada, Slovakia, Belgium, and Luxembourg.^{[citation needed]}

[edit]Team tragedies

Russian Knights salute in memory of Igor Tkachenko, leader of the group, who tragically died during practice a week earlier.

On December 12, 1995, when approaching the Cam Ranh airfield (Vietnam) in adverse weather for refueling, two Su-27s and an Su-27UB of the Russian Knights team flew into a nearby mountain while in-formation, due to a misinterpretation of approach-pattern instructions.^[1] Guards Colonel Boris Grigoryev, Guards Lieutenant-Colonels Nikolai Grechanov, Nikolai Kordyukov and Aleksandr Syrovoy were killed as a result of the crash. The pilots were buried at the cemetery of the Village of Nikolskoye (vic. Kubinka AFB).^{[citation needed]}

It was not certain that the Russian Knights would resume flying. A new diamond of four Su-27s sporting a new paint job and flown by Aleksandr Lichkun, Vladimir Kovalsky, Sergei Klimov and Vladimir Bukin performed in September 1996 during the Gelendzhik '96 hydro-aviation air show. In 1997, a six-aircraft formation took to the air. Igor Tkachenko became the left outer wingman, with Ivan Kirsanov becoming the right one. In June 1997, following an 18-month break in their tours, the Russian Knights flew abroad again.^{[citation needed]}

On August 16, 2009, two Su-27s rehearsing acrobatic maneuvers collided near Moscow, killing one pilot and sending the jets crashing into nearby vacation homes. The dead pilot was identified as the Russian Knights' commander, Guards Colonel Igor Tkachenko, a decorated air force officer.^[2]

dikutip dari=en.wikipedia.org