MAKS 2003

[Vic]

Hey, anyone here going to the MAKS 2003 airshow? Its the largest airshow in the world and it is taking place here in Moscow from August 19th to 24th (Open to public from 22nd to 24th) Sorry if I seemed to advertise, but I just wanted to get the word out a bit, so basically, its an anual exposition of Aircraft, Weapons, and Space Technologies. They also have science conferences there. This year they have a bunch of countries coming and its larget than the 2001 MAKS (its every 2 years) So this year countries that are featuring their own manufactured aircraft at the expo are U.S., Russian Federation, and the European Union. It is a pretty large event and it will have several new aircraft shown for the first time, check out their site at http://www.airshow.ru/etable.htm
P.S. I am not working for them  ;)

[Ivan]

The usual load of Sukhois... MiG seems to be knock-out a little bit

[Vic]

Well MiGs are also coming but its just that they got every modern Su over there  ;D I cant wait to see the Su47 in action!

[Ivan]

It's the Canard-wing aircraft, iut only got promoted to a Su- designation. S-xx is a prototype, Su-xx is something which could be or is a production machine (or is based on one)

[Mr. Bones]

the BIGGEST show in the world?!?  ???  ::)

[Craig.]

wont be going, cant afford it and prob wouldnt go if could, as i am not a fan of russian aircraft

[Mr. Bones]

same here...i'd go to an US show if i could afford it!  ;)

[Vic]

Well russian aircraft have proven to be superior, except for the SR71, but even the americans have admitted that the Su-37 is superior to any American fighter. And yes, the Canard winged Berkut will be there, its called the Su-47 or the S-47. Its wings face forward. It has extreme manueverability, but the speed is only 1.47 MACH. And american fighters will also be there, and static displays, also the russian and american helicopters will be present.

[Ivan]

The Su-47 is going to be the primary carrier fighter for russia... only they don't seem to have any carriers in active service at the moment. they sold the Varya to india, and the Kusnetsov is in a bad state

[Craig.]

has nothing to do with who is superior, just a personal preferance, and to be quite honest with you, if i was up there flying, i would rather have a squadron of F-14's/15's protecting me anyday

[Mr. Bones]

i've read only 200 aircraft will be at the show...in Paris where i was they also got this number of aicraft...and at Fairford they had more than 400 aircraft  ;)  :P

[Vic]

Well actually, there are aircraft carriers that are not officially listed, the Kuznetsov is pretty old and will most likely be replaced soon, there is the Admiral Gorshky which is the flagship of the Pacific fleet, and Sevastopol which is flagship of baltic fleet (atleast I think its baltic) so there are ones that are not officially listed but if you look into it you will find them, ie. get a friend in the armed forces  ;D. And personally, I dont like the Su-47, it depends purely on the computer to be controlled, without the onboard computer it would be nothing and would barely be able to fly. My favourite is the Su-37 which has those 3D thruster controls  8) Dont even try to outmanuever him  ;) And the MAKS airshow is the biggest not in the sense that it has the most aircraft on display or in flight, but its very big for the aerospace community with all the physists and scientists coming, because if you look at the schedule, its pretty much one press conference and debate after another in the Main Pavillion. And you are welcome to go inside (allthough I dont think you can throw in your idea's that easily to those scientists . And as for the scientists, a group is representing NASA and there's Boeing's ussual. Rosaviakosmos, Tupolev, and ofcourse Sukhoi, then there are a bunch of small ones I wont even get into  :P cause im reading it from the official paper so if it interests you just go to the site  ;D. And I would feel incredibly safe if I was defended by a squadron of Su-37's...Id take those over any other fighter (F-15/14's, MiG29's, Su-27 or even Su-47's) Anyday, ESPECIALLY the Eurofighter  :(

[ozzy72]

It used to be US spy satellites that circled above the once top-secret Soviet air base, but this week F-15 fighter jets and a B-52 bomber will slice through the skies over Zhukovsky airfield during the Moscow international air show, which opened yesterday.
For the first time, the US Air Force has brought some of its combat jets to the Russian show, held at what was once one of the Soviet Union's most tightly guarded facilities for testing new military aircraft.
"For us this is a very important opportunity to show the cooperation and the ever-developing ties between our two nations. This is the way forward," said Major General Edward LaFountaine, of the US air force.
President Vladimir Putin was one of the first to tour the show, which runs for six days and also features some of Russia's sleekest fighter jets and helicopter gunships, as well as a display of civilian planes.
After the tour, Mr Putin was treated to a display of air power kicked off by a MiG-29. Next up was a lone F-15 fighter jet, whose roar and vertical acceleration had Mr Putin leaning out of his chair. But it was the low-flying Russian Sukhoi fighters that stole the show, drawing applause as they rocketed past the grandstand.

[Mr. Bones]

at www.af.mil/news i read an article about the B-52 that arrived at...how do you call that airfield?

the site has a nice shot of the nose art of that plane...i...the 'bomber-nose-art-freak'...must say it's a very cool photo!  ;)

[ozzy72]

ZHUKOVSKY is pronounced zu-kov-ski. It was one of the top Soviet aircraft secret test bases.

Mark