How Soviet Pilots Drank Alcohol From Planes

[@PaperSkiesAviation]

Get Nebula using my link for *40% off an annual subscription* : go.nebula.tv/paperskies

[@Cancun771]

40% alcohol?!

[@tamasmihaly1]

I love your channel, but you really should clarify "Fuck Russia" with "Fuck the Russian government... I've got no problems with the Russian people. The people never have any say in shit like this. You know that.

[@John-yf8qh]

Hello there! You’ve already done a video on this very topic, old top. Why are we revisiting old ground? I ask as a curiosity rather than a grumble.

[@Magikarp-4ever]

I do not understand the relationship with alcohol and the Russian people as a whole, could you do a full long explanation please! It would get many views from America ♥️

[@TheWatz05]

⁠@DavidStickneymaybe if you had to deal with another country oppressing your lifestyle and people until the fall of Soviet Union. Then constantly being screwed with since Putin once he took over. Then just randomly decides to de-nazify your country just to look better before an election.

[@gimzod76]

Suddenly my grandad's tales of gifting soviet bomber crew's whiskey and getting a bottle of vodka in return takes on a new meaning.

[@purpleldv966]

Yeah, he got ripped off! And God knows what toxic compounds and metals were in that "vodka"... :D

[@volo870]

@@purpleldv966 Soviet aviators were very respectful to American counterparts. Love of flight is the same, regardless the borders. I doubt that they would present anything they would not be happy to consume themselves.

[@alexturnbackthearmy1907]

@@purpleldv966 Nothing. Its a pure ethanol, literally nothing else.

[@p.strobus7569]

@volo870 Given the quality of what they were happy to consume themselves, this is not as shining an endorsement as one may think.

[@leovang3425]

​@@volo870 Unless you really like everclear, it's a bad trade.

[@AdmiralScheer28]

One of the stories I have to think about regarding soviet soldiers and alcohol is the one by Michael Schlosser. He was an East German citizen who wanted to flee to West Germany. He builds a homemade aircraft to fly over the inner German border for that purpose. But he had to test if the plane was even capable of flying. So, in 1983, we went to a Soviet military base north of Dresden on a Sunday because he knew most of the personnel there were off duty then. Well, he arrives there with his disassembled plane in his truck, and suddenly, seven red army soldiers come out of the woods and, of course, ask him what the fuck he is doing. But he brought something with him: two bottles of vodka. They instantly become more friendly after receiving this welcome gift. He gives them some made-up story about testing the plane for a TV show, and they help him assemble the plane. He did a short test and took off with the plane just two meters, but that was enough to know he could fly with it over the border. Meanwhile, the soldiers sat on the grass, drinking the vodka and congratulating him on the successful test. Finally, they disassembled the plane with Schlosser, said goodbye, and returned to their base. Ultimately, one of his colleagues reported him to Stasi, and he was arrested, but the soldiers never reported the incident. The story's moral is that if you do illegal things on a military base, always bring alcohol with you.

[@oqo3310]

the fact that it ends up with the stasi coworker reporting him is how you know this is an authentic east german story

[@andrewhammel8218]

It's "inter German border". Not "inner German". It was the border between the two Germanies that existed at the time (so it was 'inter German').

[@brianfarley2388]

​@@andrewhammel8218 oof, to be so sure you are right and yet be so very wrong. Why don't you go ahead and Google "Inner German Border." Here, I copy pasted some for ya: "The inner German border (German: innerdeutsche Grenze or deutsch-deutsche Grenze; initially also Zonengrenze) was the frontier between the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) and the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG, West Germany) from 1949 to 1990. "

[@jdreyes3745]

Not gonna lie, I immediately broke out into uncontrollable laughter when you mentioned how the MiG-29 which your father eventually picked was actually made by "Sukhoi" or dry with regards to its alcohol. I don't think I'll ever get away with mentioning the Flanker, Felon, and company without thinking of that translation anymore. (The Dry D-27 Flanker, the best fighter in the Soviet Union, everyone!) I still am blown away at the absolute wealth of first-hand experiences both you and your father had with regards to aviation in general, particularly at how your father flew highly-advanced fighter jets for a living. Like, come on; just receiving enough booze to fill up entire *bathtubs* and a jar collection filled on top of all that without paying several figures for it is virtually unheard of outside the Union! Definitely gonna look out for Comrade Kroupsky when he appears.

[@090giver090]

> I don't think I'll ever get away with mentioning the Flanker, Felon, and company without thinking of that translation anymore. An actual declassified nomenclature of soviet military aircrafts: Dry, Demi-sec, and Brut 🤣

[@veganmonter]

Picking a plane because of how much alcohol it typically holds, is another level of alcoholism I hope to never be at.

[@eias3230]

it's galaxy brain mindset lol

[@dickwellington8578]

That’s some high level functioning alcoholism right there. If only we all could be that lucky lol

[@mowtow90]

Its not about alcoholism. In Soivet times alcohol had more value then the ruble. It was currency. Even up to mid 2000s a bottle of vodka or wiskey can get you a good care in a hospiral for example. This is what happens when the population is poor. Bartering and bribes takeover.

[@Nyx_2142]

@@mowtow90 "Its not about alcoholism." Lol. Yes, it is. And it was currency they would drink. Cope.

[@Angry.CMB.Elite.]

@@Nyx_2142Hell, you could compare it to an economy based on chocolate. While yes it’d be a currency, it’d be an edible currency and then get stomach issues because of it.

[@MostlyPennyCat]

_My_ father was Royal Navy, _old school_ Royal Navy. He remembers being paid in alcohol each morning and the crew spending each day pretty shit-faced 😂 Rum and grog for breakfast. And it was used as currency too, with tots and it's sub divisions being traded for favours and other luxuries. (cigarettes, etc)

[@MostlyPennyCat]

Decades after the practise ceased, I was about 10 to 12 years old at the time, my father and an old navy friend secured one of the bottles of the remaining Pusser's Rum, left over after "Black Tot Day", the last day of the Navy Tot. It tasted incredible, I'd never tasted anything that good before and I never will again (unless I buy one of the _very_ expensive remaining bottles) Indeed it was very moreish, I can see why they stopped.

[@MostlyPennyCat]

Yep, looked it up, £800 a bottle.

[@jonathanvandermark5950]

​@@MostlyPennyCatI thought pusser rum was still making rum or is it a different formula now?

[@MostlyPennyCat]

@@jonathanvandermark5950 There is a company that still makes it to the original recipe, yes. Doesn't taste like that original bottle I tried though. No idea why.

[@dustinbrueggemann1875]

@@MostlyPennyCat Age. Old ship booze was bulk stored in live wood barrels, because that was just what they had available to store it in. Science now knows that booze stored for long times in live wood barrels gets fucking ***good***.

[@82726jsjsufhejsjshshdjso]

Love your family films. What a treat

[@andrewkelley9405]

you know you're a paper skies fan when he mentioned the tupulev and you immediately remember the booze carrier episode before he brought it up.

[@alastairward2774]

Those words went straight through my head as soon as I saw the thumbnail.

[@Jon.A.Scholt]

I was afraid this was just a reupload! Paper Skies is such a great channel.

[@user-xu2pi6vx7o]

The moment I read the title, I thought this was an addendum episode to that.

[@mondodimotori]

14:25 that's always a good reminder. Now moving on trying these drinks myself...

[@MrTheblackopsdude]

My dad was at Checkpoint Charlie from 1986-1987. He used to trade alcohol and cigarettes with the East Germans. From my understanding, by this time, the East Germans really didn’t care anymore. The American personal could go into East Germany during the day as long as they were in uniform and followed set rules. He said Soviet cigarettes were terrible and their vodka was often watered down. He kept some of the bottles.

[@TenositSergeich]

Beyond hand-made stuff that originally was there, Soviet cigarettes were divided into bad and not as bad, depending on who's making them. A joke my father told me: The director of 'Dukat' tobacco factory comes to director of 'Yava' tobacco factory and asks: "Why people want to buy your cigarettes?" "What do your cigarettes have?" "Well, we do the usual - we use ground bay leaf, stale coffee, factory dust and shredded old paper." "So, what we are doing, is that we take ground bay leaf, stale coffee, factory dust and shredded old paper, and throw a grasp of tobacco in there." "You're actually putting tobacco in there?"

[@Shaker626]

@@TenositSergeich I'm starting to get the feeling that that missing Kholkoz tobacco would somehow end up in hand-rolled cigarettes. Call it seizing the means of production.

[@ryelor123]

You know your authoritaian government is about to fall when alcohol and cigarettes - the two things keeping people from overthrowing their oppressive government - are being watered down. In the book 1984 mentions such problems. People misunderstand who the book is geared towards and don't realize it was written to tell wannabe technocrats and authoritarians that their society will fail once they find out its easier alienate and punish honest reformers rather than make painful reforms.

[@josephnavin4451]

Heavy drinking in the remote and bleak duty stations reminds me of being stationed in Fort Riley, Kansas. There was nothing to do but drink and get DUIs.

[@MarcPagan]

Russian aviation reminds me of a classic Ronald Reagan joke that he heard from Russia/USSR. "There's only four things wrong with Soviet agriculture: Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall."

[@TenositSergeich]

For your record, the joke is absolutely real, though I heard it about DDR. A joke I know is "sordidly for kolhoz, a winter has suddenly started"

[@undeadd666]

@@TenositSergeich haha. This joke is still a thing, but now about city services. You know, each winter it snows, surprisingly, and they are never prepared for it.

[@nneeerrrd]

😂👍

[@chrisearles4836]

Absolutely facilitating video

[@anzaca1]

Were those actually Paper Skies' family videos? If so, very cool.

[@zeroelus]

There's other videos in this channel where he references that his dad was a pilot and shares family pictures, so I have no reason to doubt these pictures.

[@IronSink]

2months already passed Withdrawal comsumes me from the inside

[@NeverlandSystemAngel]

The MiG-29, imho, was an amazing fighter... that's a cool jet.

[@dmdrosselmeyer]

I've had the misfortune to drink straight backwoods moonshine on a few occasions (I was a very stubborn young man lol) and it makes my stomach turn every time I think of Soviet aviators drinking straight ethanol or ethanol and glycerine out of plastic cups🤢 I do not wanna know what that hangover was like...

[@bartoszrybinski29]

Slavs are just built different when it comes to ethanol. I've read somewhere that genetically they have bigger quantities of liver enzyme responsible for dealing with alcohol. I've personally seen some of them drink lethal doses of alcohol in western standards, with no serious consequences apart from hangover

[@charlesc.9012]

It is one of the main reasons why russian men have an average lifespan in the 50s, as if they are stuck in north Korea or the Kingdom of Wessex

[@Tom_Cruise_Missile]

​@@charlesc.9012Fr it's not like they don't suffer for it

[@Sniperboy5551]

I’m sure they diluted it with water or juice or something, but that glycerin drink sounds disgusting

[@morthiumcz1204]

@@bartoszrybinski29 Yea in town 10 mins away police stopped somoene trying to drive with like 7 or so promile

[@TheAnalogKid65]

Brilliant content. THANK YOU!

[@briansarah2745]

I can listen to these stories all day everyday forever

[@rafman016]

Brilliant video - thank you!

[@Del_S]

14:20 Yep, Ruck Fussia.

[@Sgt.MarkRoe]

Another outstanding episode from Paper Skies, and one which touched me personally. During the late 1970's to mid-80's I was an Intelligence Analyst in the U.S.A.F. and as such had a very high security clearance (Top Secret SCI, SI or "codeword") and I worked Soviet Air Defense Forces (IA-PVO) for my entire career. I was stationed at Misawa AB, Japan with the 6920th ESG from 1981-1982. We were the unit that collected the intel during the terrible tragic shoot-down of Korean Airlines flight 007. Although I was not on duty when it happened, I did have access to all the raw data and reports from that night, and, years later, would read the final, very highly classified report issued by the NSA on that event. That was a long time ago, long enough for much of it to be declassified. I don't know if it's been a long enough time to joke about it, but when I heard the narrator describe the SU-15 interceptor as the "...infamous Boeing Killer" I literally laughed my ass off. Heck, I'm still laughing. Well done. Well done, indeed. Thank you.

[@ARI-ks1vj]

12:12 pretty sure that's a sabre?

[@louis-philippelacharite7201]

Wow a New DCS trailer and à New Paper skies video on the same day. I'm really happy 💪💪💪

[@BrandonWernette]

I know I’m late, but I didn’t subscribe until you mentioned the second channel and as a fellow Soviet American I subscribed solely for the purpose of leaving the following comment: Make that second channel. The fangs are all friends among one another 🤙🏼

[@iggdawg]

The family footage was really cool. Thanks so much for sharing.

[@newnamesameperson397]

The history of alcohol in Eastern European countries is just sad

[@suckersupreme4380]

I hope you don’t hesitate too much on the new channel, I adore hearing your explanations and opinions on history

[@LugborG]

I heard a joke a long time ago that back in the Soviet Union, a traffic stop involved the officer trying to determine how much blood was in the driver’s alcohol stream, instead of the other way around.

[@ЮрійКирпиченко]

Гей, друже, давно тебе не чутно... Сподіваюсь, у тебе все добре!

[@memeofwheat]

I loved to hear about your connection to your passion for Soviet aviation, really cool to hear that you're father was a Soviet Pilot

[@DavidNaval]

where did u go bro?

[@johnlander4635]

So this guy drops in Viktor Pugachev like its nothing.

[@tomdumb6937]

I worked with a Russian engineer who told me that they used french bread to filter brake fluid from tanks. Cut off both tips and pour away.

[@TonyEmond]

They used to say that Soviet pilots had a particular way to do cheers so that their passengers would not hear the clinking of glasses.

[@Heokleis]

Best way to start 2024 is a new paper skies video!

[@NovaAndtheSteve]

Nice work👍love there's story's 🖖

[@fingpolak]

Cheers! "the only one not drinking in russian aviation is autopilot"

[@rufusgillespie9940]

Love your vids broski

[@scrink9117]

I love these videos so much, keep itup!

[@keithpennock]

Paper Skies, Could you please do a video on the classes that existed in the Soviet Union that you referred to with your “nomenclatura” comment as it is a mistaken notion in the West that all people were treated equally within the USSR.

[@SD-rs6qn]

I love your videos, please make more and more often!

[@kamikazeviking3053]

I've heard first hand accounts of US army soldiers in Iraq pulling out the internals of TOW missiles and filling it with beer. It'll be warm by the time they got to their posts but beer is beer.

[@jessISaRicePrincess]

Thanks for the glimpse of the Paper Skies family archive comrade

[@OldMan_PJ]

If the pilots were drinking that much it makes me wonder how much the ground crews were drinking with their access to the supplies?

[@ComfortsSpecter]

Incredible lessons Amazing History Wonderful Funni juice Figuratively and physically Beautiful how simply Humanistic this Culture is So Childish and so serious

[@arturchakhvadze6446]

Забавно что самые лучшие документальные видео о Советской авиации выходят на английском языке.

[@R3ivik]

How do you edit these videos? Can you give me a few pointers? I'm looking to make similar videos but just, how, do u edit so good? And do u manually download all the clips used or does AI search them for u? Cheers!

[@ChrissiX]

I worked for a very international Internet company from 2008 to 2012 ... I have always worked with a diverse group of people, but this time in my career allowed exposure to more ex-Soviet people I ever had the chance to meet. This is so real ... for a good dip into the past of another culture ...

[@TiocfaidhArLa34]

didnt you already post a video about this like 2 years ago?

[@Hopgop1]

Same I swear this has already been covered.

[@scarecrow108productions7]

But the topic was exclusively about the TU-22

[@petermounsey2120]

I can still recall hearing the clinking of duty free bottles as the Aeroflot crew passed by at Heathrow.

[@bhzaddybhzolby1705]

Imagine being the guy that came up to his friends and said "hey this hydraulic fluid gets you drunk."

[@anthonyhayes1267]

Reminds me of the "torpedo juice" PT boat crews were known to imbibe in.

[@otrab1080]

I love this channel

[@OTGBob]

14:27... 🤣

[@limmyk4943]

US sailors did the same thing but with Torpedo Fuel mixed with coke lol

[@CharlieTheAstronaut]

Didn't you cover this already as the "Booze plane" or something? Or did you find inspiration in that story?

[@MichaelDembinski]

That was one specific incident - this video gives the 30,000ft view

[@CharlieTheAstronaut]

@@MichaelDembinski gocha, can't wait to see it.

[@JokerJonny]

14:28 so glad you said that. Slava Ukraini!

[@PatreonPreviewsofVictorTanzig]

I wonder how many pilots went blind drinking this rotgut lol

[@samnigro1138]

The landing gear stuff is something our marines would be drinking

[@jakublulek3261]

British tanks always had mandatory kettle for making tea. And Soviet/Russian planes carried mandatory booze load. I mean, cultural differences in action!

[@davidbrennan660]

Is the spirit Medical or Technical?......it’s important.

[@sp1r4l]

I can perfectly guarantee that the soviet style alcoholism is alive and well,even without military involment. Whenever a large family get-together is happening in russia/post-soviet countries, you can bet that the table has consumed atleast 1 bottle of ruski standart or m6rnaya before the main course has arrived. Obviously before getting completely out of hand, a bottle of sovetskaya šhampanja or martini asti is consumed aswell.

[@Suojeluninja]

Actually a similar thing happened in FiAF at a time with instrument cleaning alcohol until the chief of procurements put a halt to it.

[@andrewthorpe3219]

Memory escapes me (note I have not seen the video yet) but this is probably the "early" Tu-22 with the tail mounted engines which had the avionics cooled by a water/ethanol mixture that was in the drinkable range. At the end of the flight the remaining mix was divided among the flight and ground crews. This supposedly caused a lot of problems in the air force with families of the crews reporting violence cause by the alcohol consumption. But drinking was one way of enduring life in the former USSR.

[@you-dont-know-me]

I wouldn't dare. As a scientist who spent over decade in labs, I wouldn't even dare to drink pure analytical grade (HPLC/Mass Spec) ethanol due to any mistake in purification or filling could lead to toxicity, causing critical or fatal injury, and I don't even mention someone pouring something back in a wrong stock bottle by accident. Let alone something that has been in random pipes of a refilling truck or a plane. Funny but stupid. Anyone who has done analytical chemistry and looked at mass spectrometer output will know that even the most purest mixtures handled in cleanest ways are only pure to an extent. And some toxins only need microgram quantities per litre to cause issues.

[@RC41591Shadow]

Subscribed to your second channel 😊

[@peronik349]

about alcoholic products and "things that fly" this duo was also noted in the beginnings of astronautics. The beginnings of what would become the V2 rocket required very numerous tests but also, on the part of staff on site, VERY numerous qualitative "analyses", more or less legitimate, of the high quality fuel chosen by the designers! (~3800kg of a 75% ethanol 25% water mixture per rocket). All these "tests and other less legitimate analyses" lead to "a significant deterioration" in the "quality of work" of staff as well as a more than significant number of "avoidable delays". So much so that the design office created a “denatured alcohol” which 1 st was unpleasant in taste 2nd did not risk impacting combustion too much. its introduction saw a substantial increase in the quality of staff work.

[@TheCat48488]

Got to make a menu out of that

[@haroldpetri1495]

It's was the best part of being stationed in the far reaches of the soviet union...... the book "mig pilot: stressed this point in detail in the 1970s.....😅😅😂

[@porten1277]

Fucking love your videos man!

[@arizona-hunter6684]

Do it, upload to the second channel. I’ll support you how ever I can and also being able to take a shower that is good.

[@cockatoo010]

Ah, the MiG 25. The plane that startled the west into making the F-15 while being a sitting duck. Seems like the Massandra was flowing during the design phase already

[@whyjnot420]

I love the addition of the 'family archive' footage in these videos. It adds a personal touch that you don't see with many military focused channels. Also, the juxtaposition of old soviet things with upbeat narration always give me a smile.

[@TurboHappyCar]

Yeah very cool. Not just showing stock footage and reading off wikipedia like some "Dark" video producers. 👍

[@whyjnot420]

@@TurboHappyCar I forcibly ignore all those Dark channels. My god they are crap.

[@davidg3944]

Agree in full. This channel is well presented and gives insights I can't find elsewhere. The "home movies" are a big part of that.

[@Jonathan.D]

His pops was looking quite dapper is his gear. It reminds me of the photos I have of my dad and grandpa in their uniforms.

[@lightningwingdragon973]

If the computer is cooled by alcohol mixture then couldn't you say that the autopilot is ALSO drunk?

[@lordmontymord8701]

No, this would just be one of the ancestors of Futurama's Bender - and he has symptoms of alcohol consumption if he doesn't drink.

[@buzzard3983]

Only in Russia my comrade.

[@Vazgriz]

@@lordmontymord8701Otto what's wrong? You're stone cold sober!

[@b3ntl33]

Fly home Boris, you're not drunk enough!

[@largol33t12]

Is the autopilot drunk? DA!

[@ahseaton8353]

Soviet Aircraft had a chronic problem with icing. This was caused by a chronic problem with the ground crew diluting the alcohol deicing fluid

[@krzysztofwaleska]

Good one 😂

[@lairdcummings9092]

Pilots would also report encountering icing conditions and inform the ground that they were activating de-ice, but in reality, they were siphoning off the deice fluid when they return to base - the flip side of that same coin.

[@AndyBonesSynthPro]

When I was a kid my parents' vodka had a similar chronic problem of freezing solid in the freezer.

[@Shaker626]

In turn caused by chronic alcoholism

[@sharonrigs7999]

​@AndyBonesSynthPro Mine too! The rum and scotch were easier. I got good with food coloring in order to mask the diluted hue. Thankfully, my parents were alcoholics so bottles never lasted too long 😂

[@legoeasycompany]

Man the Soviet Air Forces ability to make cocktails puts the US Navy's Torpedo Juice to shame. Then again if there was more equipment that had alcohol I'm sure the USN sailors would have done the same. Never doubt young men's ability to make drinks out of whatever is at hand if they're far from home I guess

[@anzaca1]

Except the US Navy made the alcohol in the torpedoes poisonous. The US Navy has been 100% alcohol-free for decades.

[@underpaidmook]

​@@anzaca1Which was why they had ice cream barges in WW2 to compensate

[@deletdis6173]

​@anzaca1 OH we have alcohol. 😉

[@themilkman5401]

To be fair, it's not the normal sailors the Navy has to worry about, but the Seabees. Those mfs stole 9 North Korean trains AND took all the beer from a local brewery during the Korean War. My own Daddy, a Seabee, managed to get his hands on a live 155mm round and used it as a doormat during his deployment to Afghanistan. Sadly, Chief had Army EOD come by and take it a week after my Daddy and his buddies "tactically acquired" the 155mm round. Nevertheless, they'll steal yo' shit.

[@johnrickard8512]

​@@anzaca1if they had tried to do that in the USSR I suspect they would have lost half their pilots every year.

[@TrolerWT]

I'm amazed that you have family pictures with no other than the one and only Viktor Pugachev, this channel never disappoints

[@Pioneer_DE]

Who is that?

[@TrolerWT]

@@Pioneer_DE Famous Soviet/Russian fighter pilot, created some maneouvers

[@davidg3944]

@@TrolerWT There's at least one site on the web that claims it was a Syrian MiG-21 pilot that actually invented the Cobra Maneuver. No idea if the claim is accurate...

[@TrolerWT]

@@davidg3944 Im not saying Pugachev created the cobra since the first cobra maneouver was created by swedish J35 pilots in order to counter the drag force

[@eugeniusro]

My father told me a true story about two Romanian pilots who used to drink before flying. At the construction company where my father worked, there were also two "engineers" who were actually former military pilots, they were sent there after they had been disciplinary fired from the military aviation. What really happened. So the story took place in Romania in the 70s, and the pilots were MIG 21 pilots. They worked as military pilots at the air base in Brașov and always before flight training they drank about half a liter of vodka or brandy, then they got on the flight deck and took off . The drink caught them only when they were in flight and they "gained courage" and performed all the aerial acrobatic maneuvers stipulated by the regulations. One of the pilots told my dad that if he didn't drink he wouldn't be able to do the stunts in the training program because he didn't have enough courage. But one day they both made a big mistake, namely they competed with each other to dive and straighten the plane closer to the ground, the problem was that they did this above the greenhouse complex in Codlea near Brașov and after doing several drops like that due to the sonic bang and the noise created destroyed 4o hectares of greenhouses. After they landed they were immediately arrested, later they were kicked out of the army disciplinary and at the construction company where my father work they were sentenced disciplinary to work. I understood that due to the fact that they were very good pilots, Ceaușescu agreed to pardon them and they received this punishment at work because in Romania at that time if you caused damage to the state of more than 1 million lei (Romanian money equivalent 25 leu to 1$ at that time) you were sentenced to death, or 40 hectares of greenhouses were probably worth much more.

[@JoeRogansForehead]

25$ is death. Lmao so literally any damage could justify a death penalty

[@maximek5616]

​@@JoeRogansForeheadHe said 1million lei is death . 1lei = 25 dollars so death would be at 25millions dollars.

[@JoeRogansForehead]

@@maximek5616 whoops

[@eugeniusro]

@@JoeRogansForehead No, I said that the capital punishment was given for a million lei damages and for the reference I gave the exchange rate 25 lei = 1$ I said backwards sorry, so 1 million lei was equivalent to 40000$

[@ashrithrao06]

@@eugeniusroMan, you should edit it.

[@SRFriso94]

Soldiers drinking alcohol meant for something else is definitely not a uniquely Russian problem, even the Nazis joined in on the fun. The V2 ran on ethanol, and the soldiers drinking the fuel was a problem the Germans never managed to solve.

[@naamadossantossilva4736]

But the deadliest incident with contaminated V2 ethanol happened with the russians.

[@user-xu2pi6vx7o]

​@@naamadossantossilva4736Now THAT'S a story we need to hear.

[@DavidRamirez-lq2co]

Didn"t they solved it with denaturalized alcohol?

[@lordmontymord8701]

Hey at least one time alcohol abuse lead to a positive outcome: Less fuel for the V2s. Then again the V2 was a pretty useless weapon anyway, but that's a different story ...

[@Praktical_]

​@@lordmontymord8701in terms of hitting a specific target instead of an entire city then yeah the V1 and the V2 were trash (compared to modern standards anyway) but as a weapon of terror and random mass destruction, the V1&2 did the job quite well.

[@theflyingfinn8223]

You'd think that with all the decades of existing, the Soviet Air Force would've learned to not use ethanol in any plane fluids.

[@lostalone9320]

The problem was a bit deeper than that - Alcohol was a big deal in Soviet culture. Not just as a beverage, but as a currency. The aviators weren't just getting the perk of some free booze, it was a literal social currency that added to their status.

[@sergiykyivua]

If you replace ethanol with something having similar proprieties but toxic, you will inevitably have fatalities.

[@szkarat9814]

they would still find a way; soviet soldiers in afghanistan made alcohol from boot polish and toothpaste. personally, i can't say i'd have liked to try it.

[@jdreyes3745]

@@sergiykyivuaMany people often think Methanol (often used in car antifreezes iirc) is just Ethanol...until they get stuff like permanent blindness. Had the Soviets used that, a "Revolt of the Aviators" would have inevitably followed.

[@daniel_dumile]

⁠making it fatal is a common tactic used in rubbing alcohol today. The danger is the point. Deterrence

[@vitkriklan2633]

My father had to serve his time in 1982 in the Czechoslovakian army as a doctor. When regular alcohol wasn't available the doctors were literaly prescribing "cough syrup". A solution of 40% alcohol with some phramaceutical herbal extracts which the unit pharmacy could mix. And when things got rough the unit pharmacy was always able to distil some technical alcohol. It still smelled of gasoline but was drinkable.

[@lolo932]

Here in Croatia we always had a myth about Russians drinking anti-freeze fluid when they ran out of Vodka. Thank you for confirming it! Although a more appropriate term would be "Soviet", since I'm sure everyone indulged in it

[@alexturnbackthearmy1907]

Of course. Do you think comrades from another republic were missing out from fun?

[@evgeniydragondog]

anti freeze drinking is not a myth in russia. this is reality.

[@cyberfutur5000]

Tbf, if I'd be forced to live under moscows rule I'd be drinking anything that stops me being conscious.

[@bebra3896]

be sure its not myth. they can drink alcohol for bath cleanings

[@dustinbrueggemann1875]

Fun fact: American commercial anti-freeze is usually made with ethylene glycol, and the antidote to ethylene glycol poisoning is actually ethyl alcohol. If you try to drink anti-freeze in America, the fucking DOCTORS will tell you to drink real booze.

[@kutter_ttl6786]

Your dad definitely chose wisely by going with the Mig-29 over the Mig-25.

[@dyingearth]

Mig-25 was a plane designed to intercept the cancelled B-70 Valkyr (which is cancelled because USAF overestimated Soviet SAM capability. Soviet Air Force knew full well their SAM cannot hit Valkyr) with the ability to go very fast and very high to fire its missiles and return to base, and it's not good for anything else. However, the US Air Force misinterpreted the flight characteristic of the plane and thought it's a high maneuverable all around fighter, so they designed F-15 to counter that. It wasn't until a Soviet defector flew his plane to Japan that US Air Force finally realized what the plane was for. Mig-29 on the other hand is everything Western analysists thought Mig-25 was supposed to be.

[@JoeRogansForehead]

Like he had a choice

[@bryceanderson4864]

​@@JoeRogansForeheadI thought he did....

[@bryceanderson4864]

​@@JoeRogansForehead15:45

[@augustuslunasol10thapostle]

@@dyingearth i find it hilarious the US built the fucking f-15 because of misunderstanding what the foxbat was for

[@DrJesterus]

Please make a video of how Tu-95 pilots in Bila Tzerkva were dumping fuel into sewage and how later people of nearby villages discovered the "miracle of burning water" from their wells :)

[@volo870]

The bathtub full of spirits was a common occurrence. But you kind of failed to imagine the reality of such storage of spirits: 1. The horrible eye-watering stench, that clung to skin and clothes; 2. Not only inability to take a shower (washing oneself is doable with a kettle and a washbowl), but also inability to wash clothes - soviet people had no washing machines and housewives washed clothes manually in a bathtub. 3. There were cases, when after a week or two of inconvenience, a wife would drain the bathtub to do the washing, and than risked being on the receiving end of a homicide by the enterprising husband! 150 liters of vodka was at least 2 months worth of salary! P.S. I always assumed that "шило" (piercing awl) was also named after Tu-22, as the plane had a shape of a tailor's awl and often jokingly called that way. P.P.S Glycerol should be easy to remove by distillation.

[@Peter1Europe]

In the middle of the Russian winter, police come across a guy snoring with his face in the snow: - Hey, you,stand up and go home, or you'll freeze to death. - Worry not, I've been drinking antifreeze.

[@Mrgunsngear]

🇺🇸

[@peterking8586]

In the British Army we heard rumors of Soviet troops drinking coolants, which we thought were just urban myths, but it seems it was real.

[@deletdis6173]

Thank you for sharing your family footage, Mr. Skies.

[@pegcity4eva]

Victory over sobriety

[@mariestidola3573]

Man soviet people are built different

[@ghostdog0424]

If you tried these today you'd be dead in seconds. Modern hydraulic fluid is nasty stuff, heavy petrochemicals and additives

[@tejasborse2643]

Well such acts in India we call as "Saste Nashe " meaning cheap intoxication 😂😂😂😂

[@ethansmith4504]

From the mig 21 I suppose lol

[@flywheel986]

The last straw as it were for Victor Belenko, prompting his defection to the west in his (at the time) much feared Mig-25 Foxbat, was when he ordered a squadron readiness exercise, and only two of the interceptors were flyable, due to the consumption of alcohol based fluids for the aircraft. After his arrival in Japan, his aircraft was disassembled to the nut and bolt level and it was found to be basically a piloted missile. Belenko also was treated for burns on his legs due to lack of shielding for the radar system. Fear and concern about the nonexistent capabilities of the Foxbat, led to a crash design and construction of some very good US platforms, F-15, F-14, F-16.

[@naamadossantossilva4736]

Cool.I never thought he snapped over something like that.

[@__ASAAA]

his wife also left him not long before along with his son although he had planned it for a long time he said, he just never told anyone ever

[@blakewu1375]

Soviet pilots drank aviation fuel, whereas Chinese Air Force crew members steal fuel from their aircraft to cook hot pots! 😂

[@blackhatfreak]

Did you know the US torpedo alcohol got Seth MacFarlane so drunk he couldn't be in 9/11 which lead Mario 2 being developed from Doki Doki Panic? The torpedo juice is a meme at this point in the comments lol

[@kevinbarry71]

I must say, I absolutely love the creativity involved in the names for these concoctions.

[@domestosteron]

Love how Paper Skies shows him with Pugachev as if it's no big deal. :D

[@Lol-k2k3r]

The Pilot: The higher the better 😂