Pilots' stories

Even before the war there was a rule that a pilot must know everything.

By "everything" I mean not only aerobatics or navigation, everything is much deeper.

For example, every six months we are to pass some tests to engineers, which include knowledge of the aircraft's structure and systems, electrics, radio, weapons, etc. Well, it is clear that we are all humans and we can't remember everything.

So, here is an interesting situation: before the war, we learned how to prepare the plane for re-flight on our own. For example: refuel, weapons reload, etc., in case we land on an unprepared airfield and have to do it all by ourselves. No one ever took it seriously. But when the war started, guess what?

Yes, it happened

My cossacks from the 40th Tactical Aviation Brigade at the beginning of the war had tasks in the South of Ukraine, so they worked hard and were forced to land here. I won't say where the airfield was, but at most there were refueling vehicles and some soldiers

And the guys used everything, even false thermal targets (FTT). That means, they had to prepare the plane by themselves.

And what to do? They called technicians and ask what and how to do. Ofc they explained. There were no problems with refueling.

However, how to insert the FTT into the BVP-30-26, the FTT-shock boxes swelled from moisture at the airfield, but they must be inserted.

The cossacks didn't lose their enthusiasm, took a hammer and hammered them into the BVP.

Many people here won't understand, so I will say it briefly - it's the same as hammering a grenade.

It won't explode, but it will burn, and trust me, the burning temperature there is too high

So there was a chance not only to get injuries, but also to burn the plane down.

In the end, everything worked how it should, the task was completed, the planes were prepared for flight and returned