Mig crash at Michigan airshow

Mig 23 crashed at the airshow today. From the video it didn't appear to be having a problem, but I done know enough to be able to tell.
Pilots eject moment before crashing into building near Willow Run airport during Michigan air show

• An MiG-23 aircraft, a third-generation Soviet jet fighter produced from 1967 to 1985, was performing at the Thunder Over Michigan
• Video looks to show at least one of the pilots of the plane ejecting over Belleville Lake
• According to a spokesperson for the show, the MiG-23 craft crashed but the pilots were able to safely eject moments before and have since been found

By STEPHEN M. LEPORE FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

PUBLISHED: 17:19 EDT, 13 August 2023 | UPDATED: 18:20 EDT, 13 August 2023







A fighter jet crashed during a performance at an air show in Michigan after it had completed several maneuvers.

An MiG-23 aircraft, a third-generation Soviet jet fighter produced from 1967 to 1985, was performing at the Thunder Over Michigan air show at Willow Run Airport in Ypsilanti Sunday.

The aircraft appeared to crash just off of I-94 Service Road and Beck Road in Michigan.




Video looks to show at least one of the pilots of the plane ejecting over Belleville Lake.

Photographer Scott Belanger captured the moment the plane began to catch fire in mid-air.

Image Unavailable, Please Login
A fighter jet crashed during a performance at an air show in Michigan after it had completed several maneuvers
636x382_MP4_1906538854546948817.mp4

 

Sounds like the pilots are both ok and that the plane didn’t hurt anyone. That’s all good news.

 

Just missed an apartment complex. Thankfully, just missed.

 

I used to love airshows, but I can hardly stand them anymore. Stories like this are more and more frequent.

 

Looked like she was shedding engine parts before the crew ejected.

 

Stories like this make the news. "Airplane lands safely after aerobatics" is not a headline.

What I'm hearing elsewhere is engine failure.

 

From the video they were at a very low altitude. They punched out and let the plane crash, wherever.

 

O/T

I read information which claims the late model MiG-21 is a better airplane. The 23 was a widespread failure.

Foreign air forces seem to agree.

 

That Mig 23 was at Oshkosh last month. I have been to Willow Run and luckily it is not as close to the main more densely populated Detroit metro, although still part of the metro.

 

I was amazed it crashed where it did. As you said Metro Detroit or even Metro International Airport are not very far away.

 

Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

The MiG-23 was just about the fastest accelerating aircraft through the Mach in the world (except maybe an F-111F) back in its heyday. Much quicker accelerating from subsonic to supersonic than an F-15C or an F-16C. Mach penetration with swept-back wings gave way less drag than its fixed wing contemporaries. Did not turn as well because of higher wing loading. Usually had a higher top speed because of the low drag and even higher wing loading with wings fully swept. Great for an interceptor, not for a dog-fighter.

Like all fighters, some advantages, some disadvantages because of configuration.

 

Disadvantages being garbage parts and worse maintenance?

 

Disadvantages being lack of maneuverability, heavy controls, low life engines also fitted to other fighters, and blacksmith avionics. Designed to be maintained by relatively untrained personnel, they tended to be pretty tough. The low life engine bit this one.

 

Could be. From a few contacts that have had Mig knowledge engine life seems to be a pattern. So much so many were designed for very easy engine changes. Also apparently American operated Migs I am aware of don't even bother to fix them because crate engines from Mother Russia are or were pretty cheap.

Avionics. You mean like a sextant and hand held compass? And a plum bob for a turn coordinator.

 

Brian- A little more advanced than that, but then we had a lot of steam gauges in most models of the F-111, too.

 

They were very lucky that it missed the apartment house and didn't start a wildfire in the adjacent woods.

If I were ever to get a Russian jet, I'd want one with two engines like the MiG-19.

 

I fear in that case it would just mean twice the chances of an engine failure . . .

 

Exactly what I was thinking. Engine fire x 2.

There is a reason the ocean floor is littered with Russian subs.

 

Have landed quite a few times with one engine in idle or shut off. As long as she does not catch on fire from the engine failure, a second engine can be a handy thing. Even the P-38 guys in the PTO thought that.

 

But you were flying an aircraft that did not have a reputation for uncontained engine failures or fires. Complex Russian equipment seems to spontaneously fail in every way known to man.
Its one thing to fly one of their airplanes with pretty good ejection capability. Can you imagine strapping yourself into one of their space craft or slamming the lid on a submarine built by them and going deep? They are brave. I'll give them that.

 

Brian- Their ejection seat technology was way better than ours for quite a while. Their attempts with hydrogen peroxide oxidizer torpedoes definitely made USSR/Russian subs exciting. We tried to use 98% peroxide in small rocket engines, but it kept melting the injectors. Ran out of money and injectors before we solved that one. Peroxide is a green propellant, but it is definitely not spring water.

 

I have heard you say that.
They were not really the worlds leaders in reactor safety either. I have 2 friends who were sub commanders. One told me he was aware of technology we found a way to allow them to get that was done so only because they were on the way to development of something very hazardous and seemed not to know it. I got the distinct impression it was in the area of reactor safety but may have been anything.

 

Good chairs.
Image Unavailable, Please Login