A Mig Flies Under Bridge, A-4 Taking Off From A Submarine, Fake or Real?

Photoshop was not around in 1965 but the author of this image did a decent job.
United Fuel Cells

Flying over a bridge crossing a fjo...
Flying over a bridge crossing a fjord

Photoshop was not around in 1965 but the author of this image did a decent job.
Photoshop was not around in 1965 but the author of this image did a decent job.

While surfing Facebook we came across  an interesting post showing a Russian website which had published this picture above. We let you decide whether this picture is real or fake…It seems a clear fake however what interesting is that the website история в фотографиях (Story in Pictures in Russian) contauns a description of the picture. We used Google to translate the text and this is what we got, we intentionally left the translation the way Google produced it.

“On June 4, 1965 the Russian pilot  Velentin Privalov  flew underneath the  central span of the bridge over the Ob river. The day was hot and sunny ,on the river’s shore vacationers, among whom were officers of the district headquarters, and suddenly the roar of the aircraft and the silver arrow rushes in front of everyone under the bridge, then suddenly soaring upward, lifting the huge wave of the Gypsies. The distance between the supports of the bridge 120 m, height 30 m span aircraft went into this “window” at the speed of 700 km / h At that speed, even a slight touch of the control knob changes the pitch of the aircraft by the meter. Airplane flying just feet above the water surface. The circumstances were complicated by the fact that only at a distance of 950 meters from the Municipal bridge downstream of the railway bridge ZapSib major highway and it took part. The pilot was only 5 seconds to catch soar up without hitting the bridge. Privalov threatened the tribunal, but the then Minister of Defense Marshal Malinovsky decided to keep the pilot in the ranks. Privalov, then served in Kubinka.”

We did a little research and we could not  find anything about this episode, but this is not surprisingly. We did come across a comment on itmexpo.ru,a Russian travel expo website , which says: “And those who are interested in the aircraft history, should visit the Communal Bridge over the Ob river — in 1965, pilot Valentine Privalov flew his plane MiG-17 under this bridge. This feat has never been repeated by any other pilot.”

This stunt supposedly happened on the river Tisza near town Szolnok (Hungary).
This stunt supposedly happened on the river Tisza near town Szolnok (Hungary).

Another famous picture is this one of the Hungarian Air Force L-29 flying underneath a bridge. The flaps in landing position put few doubts about the authenticity of this pictures which is posted on many websites. The Aero L-29 Delfín (English: Dolphin, NATO reporting name: Maya) is a military jet trainer aircraft that became the standard jet trainer for the air forces of Warsaw Pact nations in the 1960s. It was Czechoslovakia’s first locally designed and built jet aircraft.

In aviation history all kind of of experiments and tests were performed throughout the years so sometimes we should be surprise to see pictures like this one.
In aviation history all kind of of experiments and tests were performed throughout the years so sometimes we should not  be surprised to see pictures like this one.

One of our favorite pictures is the one of the a RAAF A-4 Skyhawk taking off from a sub. The picture was published on the website of the A-4 Association, which is a non-profit organization founded by former Skyhawk Pilots which is open to anyone with an affinity for the A-4 Skyhawk. The picture labeled “Royal Australian Navy – Submarine Aircraft Carrier – 1970” and the caption had a real funny description: “The Royal Australian Navy Skyhawk, being an all-purpose aircraft, was the subject of a 1970s experimental sea trial of an A-4 on board a Royal Australian Navy submarine. There was no objection from the aviators to operating the Skyhawk from the somewhat limited deck space of the submarine. A problem with the Skyhawk’s turbine cavitating while underway submerged was overcome. The diesel catapult worked just fine. However, the experiment was abandoned when the submarine’s XO objected to the jet blast burning the paintwork off the sail.Photograph courtesy of the Australian Naval Aircraft Museum: Mark Clayton, Director;, Windy Geale, Curator”.

Well…we have some fun today, we hope you appreciate the humor.

1 Comment

  1. Hi there! Just wanna mention that “Итория в фотографиях” adopted correct translation will be “History in pictures” in Russian, depending on context word “история” can mean both – story/history
    Regards.

Graphic Design, Branding and Aviation Art

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