Chapter 257 All the Good Things Are Used

"Our pilots have conducted more than 20 training sessions on the Nitka," Tukhasky said. "Now, the 20 pilots in the first training phase have mastered the essentials of take-off and landing on the deck. They are just waiting for the Minsk to be modified and conduct sea trials, so that they can conduct real take-off and landing training at sea."

Taking off and landing on an aircraft carrier are extremely difficult, and only the best airmen can be trained with sophisticated techniques.

The take-off and landing are done together, first landing and then taking off. After the MiG-23K landed on the deck, it slowly glided to the take-off point under the command of the deck guidance personnel.

The original flight deck of the Kiev aircraft carrier was 195 meters long. Now, in order to take off and land the MiG-23K, the angled deck has been lengthened. The modified flight deck is about 220 meters long. The front take-off line is also divided into two. The short take-off line is 105 meters, and the long take-off line almost extends to the landing area at the rear, which is 180 meters.

And now, this lightly loaded MiG-23K is in the take-off area on the short take-off line. The rear spoiler has been deployed, and the flame at the tail of the MiG-23K has become bigger. It is obvious that the pilot has turned on the afterburner and is preparing for a short take-off.

Following the guide's instructions, the MiG-23K began to taxi on the deck, speeding up. When it approached the take-off deck, Andre couldn't help but sweat. Could it fly at this speed?

The fighter plane rushed onto the take-off deck, then tilted upward, and then the wheels left the runway!

At the moment of leaving, the fuselage seemed to fall a little, but it did not affect the fighter's takeoff! Dragging thick black smoke, the MiG-23K still successfully took off from the runway!

"When it comes to taking off and landing on an aircraft carrier, the aircraft carrier itself has its own speed, as well as wind speed. Now we can take off from here. Theoretically, there is absolutely no problem taking off from the deck of an aircraft carrier," Tuhaski said.

This set of NITA is stationary, while the aircraft carrier is moving. When taking off the carrier-based aircraft, the aircraft carrier will accelerate to the maximum, making it easier for the carrier-based aircraft to take off.

Andrei nodded, looked at the MiG-23K flying into the sky with a trail of black smoke, and murmured: "This engine, can it be RD-33?"

In later generations, whenever there was a flight show, other fighter planes would just stroll around leisurely, but the MiG-29 would always be like the Black Mountain Demon, trailing billowing black smoke as it came and went.

Looking at the MiG-23K, Andre couldn't help but think of the MiG-29. Last year, the MiG-29 achieved its maiden flight, and the RD-33 has also matured. Now, seeing that the rear of the MiG-23K has been modified to have two engines, Andre couldn't help but think of it.

"General Andrei, you are amazing." Tuhaski, who was standing by, immediately admired Andrei very much. It was said that General Andrei was knowledgeable, and it was true! He knew the model of the engine just by taking a look!

"This plane uses two RD-33 engines." Hearing this, Andre also opened his mouth wide. Wow, no wonder!

After watching the takeoff and landing of the Nitka training system, Andrei gained confidence in the takeoff and landing of the Minsk. Marshal Gorshkov and others came to the hangar again, where several MiG-23Ks were undergoing maintenance.

"For land-based fighters, they can still parachute or make an emergency landing if the engine fails. However, the situation at sea is complicated, and it is quite dangerous to make an emergency landing at sea or parachute. Therefore, naval fighters generally adopt a twin-engine layout. The MiG-23 can be improved to a twin-engine one, which is the most suitable choice." Andrei said to Gorshkov on the side.

Just look at the American carrier-based aircraft, twin-engine aircraft are definitely the mainstream. Andrei's words also caused Gorshkov to nod in praise.

The MiG-23K seemed to appear in the Soviet Union in an instant. This carrier-based aircraft, which has never been in service in history, is now too fast. You know, it takes a lot of work to improve a land-based fighter to a sea-based one, especially for this MiG-23K, which also has a modified rear fuselage. However, Andrei knew that the appearance of the MiG-23K was a historical necessity.

At the beginning of 1972, the Soviet Union decided to develop a new class of 1160-type Eagle nuclear-powered aircraft carriers with a displacement of 80,000 tons. At that time, the only suitable carrier-based fighter was the MiG-23. Although the Mikoyan Design Bureau wanted to develop a new carrier-based fighter, unfortunately, time was limited. At the end of 1972, the development work began in full swing.

Up to now, six or seven years have passed, and the appearance of the MiG-23K is a natural progression, while the appearance of the MiG-29K and Su-27K will take at least another ten years to fill this gap. Moreover, the development of the MiG-23K will accumulate a lot of experience for the improvement of the MiG-29K of the Mikoyan Design Bureau. Maybe the MiG-29K will be selected for future large aircraft carriers.

There is not much information in later generations. Andrei only knows that the MiG-23K uses two engines with a thrust of 123 kilonewtons, which seem to be turbojets. After all, the MiG-23ML used in large quantities in the Soviet Air Force is only a Tusmansky R-35-300 turbojet engine with a thrust of 130 kilonewtons. And now, the engine model is actually the RD-33 that was just successfully developed! The thrust of this engine is 50 kilonewtons per unit! And after the afterburner, it is 80 kilonewtons! Two engines together, it is 160 kilonewtons!

Such thrust is enough to make up for the weight increase caused by the improvement of the aircraft carrier structure, the strengthening of the landing gear, the addition of the landing hook, etc.! It seems that the Mikoyan Design Bureau paid great attention to this carrier-based fighter and used all the good things.

"Can I go in and take a look?" Andre was eager to try. Even if he couldn't fly the fighter plane himself, it would be nice to feel it on the ground.

"Of course," Tuhaski said.

So, Andrei climbed up the ladder and climbed into the cockpit with great interest. The instruments inside were still of the simple and crude Soviet style, somewhat similar to the cockpit of the MiG-25. However, when Andrei sat in, he immediately found some differences.

"What is this interface used for?" Andre asked, pointing to an interface on the seat.

"This is the interface for the helmet sight."