Translating the MiG-23 Cockpit | Behind the Wings

[@Wings_Museum]

Thanks to American MiG pilot John Mann and Russian Linguist Bob Marion for helping decipher some of the many gauges and switches in the MiG-23. Drop your MiG-23 knowledge and questions and check out Parts 1 & 2, links in description, where we explore the Constant Peg Program and MiG-23 in more detail!

[@dorjedriftwood2731]

Amazing to here from someone who flew one such a secret program. This was second only to the f117 in terms of how hidden we kept this program. It’s amazing to hear about frank conversation about the aircraft. From what I understand a lot of pilots underestimated what this plane could do when flying against in this program and these pilots had a lot of expertise about how to out maneuver the Tomcat due to the amount of hours they had dogfighting against them. I have never heard of the ussr having a similar program with captured American planes. Really incredible that we manage to capture enough of them and managed to keep them airborne for so long.

[@BaA43A3aHY-y7e]

For anyone interested, this is a former Bulgarian Air Force, export version MiG-23MLD (product 23-22A) equipped with Sapfir-23MLAE-2 (product N008E) radar and SPO-15LM (product L006-LM or L006-LE, depending on the document) radar warning receiver. Bulgaria operated 16 export MiG-23MLDs, the first eight aircraft (№ 385, 386, 389, 390, 391, 392, 395 & 396), produced at the beginning of 1984, arrived in Gabrovnitsa in the autumn of the same year. The rest (№ 203, 204, 205, 211, 212, 215, 217 & 219) were produced in late 1984 and arrived in early 1985. Bulgarian MiG-23MLD №219 (c/n 2960327219, manufactured 22-12-1984) is the last fighter MiG-23 ever built. The MiG-23MLD featured in this video, № 217, is the second or third last MiG-23 fighter ever built.

[@petrlicht]

Thanks for the interesting Info 👍🏻🛩️ ... we use them in the Czechoslovakia Air Force 🇨🇿 a long time ago. But I remember this....Mig-23 was noises airplane when he moved on the ground. Hi frequency noise !!! Gold Mig-21 .... deep excellent engine Sound. So, I ❤️ Mig-21 , I worked almost 10 years on the Migs overhaul 👍🏻🛩️🇨🇿❤️🫡

[@kosher4418]

No, this is ML, since there are no vortex generators on the root (fixed) part of the wing. The first seconds of the video, where you can see that the "fangs" are missing. There is also no radar indicator on the dashboard, all information about targets is displayed on the HUD. (missing)

[@BaA43A3aHY-y7e]

This is an export MiG-23MLD (23-22A), operated by Bulgaria. Only the domestic Soviet MiG-23MLD (23-18) had the aerodynamic modifications. Bulgarian maintenance people called these aircraft "MiG-23MLD", if you don't believe me, then check Силвия ЖЕЛЕВА's article "Краят на прехващача МиГ-23, parts 1&2". In it Colonel Petar Tsvetkov repeatedly calls them MLD's. Bulgaria also operated 8 export MiG-23ML (23-12A) aircraft, equipped with Sapfir-23MLAE (N003E) radar and SPO-10 RWR. These are: № 065, 070, 866, 867, 868, 872, 874, 875, arrived in 1983. To distinguish the 23-22A from the 23-12A, look at the wing root's leading edge, it has two white triangular dielectric fairing, inboard for the SPO-15 RWR antenna, outboard for the SR-30 IFF antenna. In the 23-12A there is only the SR-30 fairing. In 1992, Bulgaria received five MiG-23MLD (product 23-18A, № 300, 301, 302, 305, 308) aircraft from Russia, in exchange for the three MiG-25s it operated. These are have the N008, SPO-15, aerodynamic modifications, and are former 23-18 domestic Soviet aircraft. Two of them even served in Afghanistan with the Soviet Air Force 168th Fighter Regiment.

[@kosher4418]

It is possible, however, that a "Soviet" MLD was seen in Syria, which may have been installed after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

[@BaA43A3aHY-y7e]

A complicated story. MiG-23MLD types: Product 23-18 = domestic Soviet version. With aerodynamic refinement. Product 23-22A and 23-22B = export versions. No aerodynamic refinements. Operators. 1- USSR/Russia - 23-18 (mid 80s to 1998), converted from MiG-23ML (23-12) 2- Bulgaria - 23-22A (1984-85, 16 aircraft) & 23-18 (1991-92, 5 aircraft). 3- Libya, received in 23-22B aircraft in 1984 (about 50 aircraft). 4- Syria converted most of its MiG-23ML (23-12B) fleet to 23-22B standard locally at Nayrab, because it didn't have enough money to buy more MiG-29s. It also bought old Soviet 23-18 aicraft from Belarus in 2008, and reconditioned them at Nayrab. 5- Angola bought some 23-18 aircraft from Belarus in 1999, reconditioned at Odesaviaremservice. 6- Cote d'Ivoire, 2 former Bulgaria MiG-23MLD (23-22A) delivered in 2003. Never flew them.

[@armisteadab]

For those of us who grew up with grainy pics in library books, these videos are a revelation.

[@1joshjosh1]

That's me !!!!

[@duartesimoes508]

Besides, Soviet pictures were normally very poor. The first really good pictures I saw of a MIG-23 were when a small flight of Soviet _Floggers_ visited the _Normandie Niémen_ Squadron from the French Air Force. It must have been around 1980 and they operated the Mirage F1 back then. The _Normandie Niémen_ was a Soviet Yak 3 Squadron flown by French volunteers. The spinners were always blue, white and red.

[@shaider1982]

Yup, that's me.

[@heyidiot]

It was a running joke when I was in the Navy ('77-'82) that CIA operatives just weren't great photographers.

[@chadwickalexanderjr1758]

@@duartesimoes508 Not to be confused with red, white and blue!

[@nicoquattro3950]

Damn, didnt recognize him at first without neck brace lol. Please more, more, more of that stuff.

[@tafan321]

Here's the comment lol

[@jojomarujo8704]

Now that the MiG is in museum, he no longer need one lol.

[@Galf506]

the thing is that in the "neck brace" vids a lot of people with MiG-23 flight time corrected him on pretty large mistakes, I'd like to see him address those first

[@kondor99999]

This is a dream come true for this 80s pilot. Always wanted to get my hands on one of these Soviet hotrods. Maybe one day you’ll show us a MiG-25 and then I can die happy.

[@bagoistvan3182]

🍺🍺🍺👍

[@igortarnovskiy1910]

A few things about guessing. 8:19 Bob points onto control panel (ПУ-21А) of the “System of Automatic Control” (САУ-23АМ) which is actually autopilot and Bob calls “KB” switch - “Keel Vertical’no” which if to translate is Fin Vertically. But switch КВ stands for “Корректор Высоты” and translation word by word is Corrector of the Altitude. 15:05 the black panel and “Channels” is referenced to control panel of the ADF and its radio channels switch to dial NDB channels, but operator shows another black panel. 13:58 it’s not just “Air” it’s “Запуск в воздухе” or “inflight engine start” and the red guarded switch at 14:07 is switch for additional manual control of the afterburner. 19:38 oxygen gauge that should be checked prior to the flight and it’s labeled “oxygen engine feeding” it shows the amount of oxygen that is may be used to help restart the engine on the altitudes above 8000 meters by adding the oxygen to the start fuel in to the ignitors. Top moment I think is at 19:27 the Engine Oil pressure gauge, one of the previous video John told that they don’t exist in the cockpit of MiG-21 and 23. Please don’t take me wrong, I don’t want to offense someone, but it seems that preparation could be better.

[@johnorlitta]

Thank you for your input, all information is welcome!

[@GethGaming]

Also at 6:05 Bob calls attitude indicator (artificial horizon) искусственный горизонт (iskusstvenny gorizont), which is in fact an English term and isn't used in Russian (as far as I'm aware). Instead, Russians use Авиагоризонт (Aviagorizont, aerial horizon)

[@igortarnovskiy1910]

@GethGaming Yes, exactly this called Aвиагоризонт, and if you try to make transliteration, I think it would be something like Aviahorizont. This term consists of two words, Avia, which stands for aviation but short way to say it, and horizon.

[@dilyannedelchev1474]

What a pleasant surprise, you won't believe it, but I started my service back in 1998 on this MiG-23MLD 217 aircraft. It was a real pleasure to watch your attempts to understand the equipment (in most cases quite successful but in others far from the truth). Just for the record, this particular board is one of the last produced MiG-23s. For its time, it was a fairly modern aircraft, reliable and with excellent characteristics. The best weapon on this aircraft was the exceptional IRST TP-23M in combination with R-24T missiles, it allowed you to see the enemy at a distance of 40 km without emitting During the war in Yugoslavia, some of our pilots played intercepting American F-16s with a IRST. This board 217 was flying then and was on duty on QRA!!!

[@BaA43A3aHY-y7e]

Interesting stuff. Always happy to learn more about the MiG-23. Did you ever try flying with other wing positions, other than X=16, 72 & 45°? For example turning with X=30°. Did you ever get to fly the Soviet ones with the dogtooth at the wing root? Aircraft № 300, 301, 302, 305, 308. Were they much different from the other MLDs?

[@dilyannedelchev1474]

To avoid confusion, I am an engineer, not a pilot. My specialty is armament and combat systems. From this point of view, I can say that the differences between the MiG-23MLD (this aircraft) and the MiG-23MLA series 2 are huge. The MLA had a better radar with better noise protection, the engine had an additional combat mode, an additional leading edge on the wings plus a vortex generator on the Pitot tube, an additional countermeasures system including two chaff/flare dispensers on the wings with БВП-50-60. There were also other additional systems. The aircraft from the 300-308 series are purely Russian aircrafts and are coming to Bulgaria in exchange for the MiG-25 that we are returning to Russia. When we started asking for spare parts for them, they told us that such aircraft could not be found outside of Russia, which is why they flew very briefly, about 7 years. According to the pilots, they felt quite different in the air - more thrust and larger critical angles. Some of the planes had red stars under their paint signifying combat missions in Afghanistan. I will ask my friend pilot for the wing positions to be correct!

[@BaA43A3aHY-y7e]

Thanks for the answer! I just want to be sure, when you reffer to "better noise protection", I understand this as the 300 series had better resistance to electronic jamming than the 211-219 series MiG-23MLD, correct? What missiles did they carry, R-24R/T, R-60MK, R-73? As I understand, Bulgaria had: 1- 300-308 series from USSR with "Н008". 2- 211-219 & 385-396 series with Н008Э. 3- 866-871 series with Н003Э. 4- MiG-23MF (647-675) with Сапфир-23Е. Did you ever get to work on the last two types (4- and 3-)? Thanks again👍.

[@dilyannedelchev1474]

At the time when I started working as a young and happy lieutenant at the Dobroslavtsi airbase (near the capital Sofia), all the MiG-23s were there. With the modifications, even then there was a bit of a mess, because we worked on the MiG-23MF ed. 23-11 (647-675), MiG-23UB (30, 31, 32, 33+27, 28, 29+22), MiG-23MLA ed.23-12A (866-871), MiG-23MLD ed. 23-18 (385, 386, 389, 390, 391, 392, 395, 396, 203, 204, 205, 211, 212, 215, 217 and 219) and MiG-29MLA series 2 23-22A (aircraft produced for Russia 301,302, 303, 304, 305 and 308), not all were operational and 301-308 were retired in 1998 due to lack of spares parts. MiG-23MLA/MLD carried R-13M, R-23T/R, R-24T/R, Kh-23M, R-60K/M/MK. The difference between our MLD and Russian MLA in the radar was one letter but essential: H008Э (Sapphire-23MLD) vs H008A. For the MiG-23MF (H003Э Saphir-23D-III), for the MiG-23MLA H008Э. At that time I was young and worked in line maintenance, especially in my specialty it didn't matter whether it was MLA or MLD the aircraft were checked and prepared in the same way and we used same TO (technical order) 23-12A. In 2004, all the planes were grounded and cut up and the base closed, so I'm glad to see this plane saved from destruction. That was "hundreds" of years ago, then I worked for about 20 years on the MiG-29 (9-12A) and briefly on the MiG-21bis.

[@BaA43A3aHY-y7e]

Thanks! Very interesting. My last two questions: 1- I always heard that the MiG-23MF was not liked by pilots & maintenance people. What did you think about it? Was is as good as the MLD and MLA? 2- From your experience, was the MiG-23 more difficult to work on, than the MiG-21BIS and MiG-29? I often hear that the MiG-23s were retired because they were expensive and difficult to operate.

[@FIREBRAND38]

What a terrific show. The two of you working together was really something great to watch and learn from.

[@Knightlight02]

100%, could watch these two for hours

[@JPR3D]

I love this kind of stuff, and I love the way John Mann presents. Bob Marion as a pleasure to see on.

[@miza9367]

Hi guys, I am from the other side, so i can translate for you: oxygen gauge is not combined with oil gauge. The label means that the gauge is not supposed to be oiled as the oxygen enters the device. Even in hospitals of that era on all equipment using oxygen was placed label stating "grease + oxygen = explosion" . Nice video thanks.

[@mikeaviator5977]

Thank you for an interesting video, but allow me to correct you a bit:) 8:26 you are talking about "КВ" switch, saying it has something to do with the rudder. However the black panel is the Auto Pilot control panel (САУ - система автоматического управления). "КВ" actually stands for "Курсо-Вертикаль", which is basically an attitude and heading reference system. Green buttons are different AP modes - "ДИР." = "Direction", "АВТ." = "Automatic", "Б.РЕЖ." = "Combat mode". Brown button "ОТКЛ" means "OFF". "ДИР." = "Direction", is a very interesting one, which is the mode when a plane is steered from the ground via kind of a datalink. This mode is used for a high speed interception, when a plane is guided by a ground control unit using ground based radars to the point of intercept, where a pilot would take over using an onboard radar.

[@T33K3SS3LCH3N]

Oh that ground guidance mode is awesome! I was wondering if this was an example where the Soviets overly centralised functions that western forces would leave to their pilots, but it makes total sense for the use as an interceptor.

[@xevious4142]

It's cool to see the rapport these two build during this video, the linguist seems to defer to the pilot and appeal to his authority by calling him sir and the pilot tries to make him more comfortable through humor. Clearly a lot of respect between these people.

[@vadimdanilov8437]

I served in Soviet Air Force in the beginning of 80s and we had MiG23 aircrafts in service. Cool looking planes.

[@katherineberger6329]

As an American, I want to know something: Did you guys have an equivalent of "Top Gun"? (Not the training program, the movie - something slickly produced and cool to serve as effectively an air forces' recruitment ad)?

[@funkybproject]

​@@katherineberger6329 topgun helped alot for all airforces all around the world flying love mixed with adrenalin being in a fighter aircraft, serving your army as a iron wing... movies served for usaf but while people watching this movie from enemy country aware of this and just enjoyed an action movie and resoult this generation want to be part of own armies as a pilot..

[@virus7379]

@@katherineberger6329 in the Soviet Union every boy dreamed of becoming a cosmonaut or a pilot. we didn't even need Top gun or advertising for that :) although of course there were films about this profession. it was my dream also 😊, but rather because my father served in the air force, albeit as a simple technician servicing the MiG21s

[@flogger8413]

​@@katherineberger6329 they had Airbase 1521 at Maryy-1 in Turkmenistan where the Soviets ran their top gun equivalent training program

[@GatecrasherUA]

6:45 Most likely refers to deploying flares as countermeasures. 'Jamming' is a correct translation of (помех), but also can can be translated as 'decoys' and when combined with 'launch' or 'dispensing' (выброс), it makes much more sense linguistically and in terms of HOTAS concept

[@dilyannedelchev1474]

Absolutely correct. This aircraft uses a pair of six-round downward-firing chaff/flare dispensers mounted in the underfuselage centerline pylon. You have to throw the fuel tank first after that to use flare.

[@s0nnyburnett]

Love this stuff. Nice to have 2 professionals with hands on experience giving the tour on juicy details.

[@madigorfkgoogle9349]

The blue cockpit colour being for stress relief is a misunderstanding. This came from Czechoslovak (Soviet) jets, that over painted Soviet light blue with green colour for exact that purpose, to achieve a calming down effect. The Soviets used light blue and light gray since WWII, what I heard back in 80s the reason was that the pilot was most of the time scanning skies above him for enemy planes so his eyes are used to the light blue or light gray colour to find a "disturbance" in form of a enemy plane. And since the pilot had to check the gauges from time to time, the interior including the dashboard was painted light blue/gray so the eyes stay focused on this background and pilot needs shorter time to re-focus when going back to scanning skies. And this actually made a lot sense to me for WWII era, it makes less sense in modern jet era, but I guess the concept stayed as tradition.

[@FlightSimMuseum]

That's the best explanation I've heard, makes sense!

[@interruptinuse]

This exact shade of paint is also used in a lot (and I mean a *lot*) of Soviet government buildings. My suspicion is, either everyone in the USSR went off that single stress study, or somewhere a massive lazurite mine had nowhere to dump its product and the rest is just post-hoc justification. Probably a bit of both.

[@FlightSimMuseum]

@@interruptinuse Stranger things have happened, that's for sure!

[@tomfu9909]

@@interruptinuse They produced the colour for aircrafts and used it on everythig. You need colour, here you have one.

[@TANSTAAFL-]

I asked a Russian pilot why the cockpit color was blue (or turquoise as referenced in the video), he said it's because blue is easier to see in low-light situations than other colors, and it let the controls be seen more easily.

[@mitkoliondar1]

Our beloved Bulgarian AF MiG-23 the airbase where we used to keep them was just a few kilometers from my city.

[@OggVorbis69]

So they wasn’t in graph ignatievo? There might be 19 was replaced by mig 21.

[@BadPenguins5280]

My favorite episode so far! I LOVE this airplane and will be back to see her again soon! Thanks for all you are doing to preserve this beauty!

[@HaveBlueXST]

Marvelous video! You guys absolutely need to get Will 'Psycho' Ward to make a visit - as a MiG-23 pilot/owner, he'd be able to explain some of the quirks of the aircraft.

[@ao8]

Absolutely love the long form video! Thank you 😊

[@theceruleandolphin2829]

The things you can find on KZbin these days, just incredible.

[@mig21pilot]

Great presentation! The only correction, the gauge that is presented as brake pressure, by pilots' right knee, is actually the indication for the MAIN and EMERGENCY pneumatic systems. The ACTUAL brake differential is down by the oil pressure gauge and can be difficult to see. I'm still waiting for my invite to meet John! Thanks! WW

[@BaA43A3aHY-y7e]

Thanks for the clarification!. One question though, "Practical aerodynamics for MiG-23ML" mentions that the R35 turbojet has two "Full Afterburner settings". One is standard ПФ with 12500 kgf of thrust, the other is ПФ1 with 13000 kgf (due to 70°C increase in turbine inlet temperature and N1 increase to 104%. Apparently you activate the ПФ1 mode with a switch on the right cockpit side. Have you ever tried it in your aircraft? If so, was the increase noticeable?

[@F14foreverF14]

Bob the translator seems like an awesome guy, polite and very knowledgeable, thanks for the vid.

[@jhettish]

Thanks much. The first time I saw so many toggle switches was in an AN2 at an american airport in Tennessee. I couldn't imagine learning all the switches. It's all confusion. I'm glad someone finally thoght of explaning Russian instruments and switches in a Russian airplane.

[@argahananto]

Great video. Thank you John Mann and Bob Marion. I really enjoy the fascinating explanation.

[@justink1075]

Great video John. Thanks very much to Bob.

[@dhhudson]

Man, I don't know when something I know so little about has fascinated me so much... Thank you for the video.

[@Bob-b7x6v]

This is a treasure trove of knowledge for DCS players who play on authentic cockpits instead of translated ones. Man, this takes me back to every Squadron Signal aircraft reference book. It's amazing the amount of rabbit holes you jump down to build better scale models. Thank you for this video, please make more with different aircraft.

[@coaulsi]

i wld love to see todays western pilots with this much knowledge on enemy systems!! this guy is awesome..

[@TheDrAkira]

This man is natural showman, after seeing lots of their shorts I have the opportunity to enjoy a full 20+ minutos video of him talking about the MiG-23. Thank you!!!!

[@rshvkkt91]

Dude finally found the elusive oil pressure gauge 19:27

[@IridiumRedTheOrigina]

Great video! Loved the back and forth, reasoning through the different items, giving some details and stories as well. Not sure how much this could be done with other airplanes, but would be great to watch too (maybe some of the Mig21's, 17s that were flown as aggressor aircraft as well?)

[@dmitriikuznetsov575]

It is super fun to watch being Russian. Some words make perfect sense and others are complete mystery

[@anon23678]

It would be interesting to see the analysis of the MIG-29 cockpit after this from you guys.

[@DestinyKnight666]

I trained a lot on a Mig-21 cockpit simulator here in Ukraine and must point out that most of those acronyms and terms haven't changed at all overtime. Can't tell about fifth-gen SU-57 cockpit, but all the other soviet and russian aircraft cockpits have pretty similar layout. So once you learn the basics of one - you can easily adapt to others.

[@aj_jk1337]

Been waiting for this video for a long time ETA 14:45 Ive heard that color was developed in factories as a color to paint machinery and cotrol boards to reduce eye fatigue. I worked for a Japanese OEM that had all our machinery that same color.

[@BaA43A3aHY-y7e]

For probably the same reason surgeons wear those turquoise uniforms.

[@HughJengine]

Really enjoyed that. Fascinating insights. Thanks guys. 👍

[@kmarks5562]

Outstanding, thank you! Fascinating to hear about these Soviet era aircraft and especially the performance comparisons, always wondered if their machines were comparable.

[@chestercallahan8856]

Really enjoyed this, thanks guys!

[@jessekohler6000]

Is this the neck brace guy? Hands down some of the best comment section in shorts lol

[@RubyS.1]

I really like John. Every now and then you get lucky when you go to the different museums and run into guys like John that did it

[@mordehaigoldstein3826]

Hello, in 4:11 on this speedometer, there actually are units км/ч kilometers per hour (km/h). I can see them even on this video. I hope that you will do a next episode, because there is a lot more labels to translate. Really great to hear interesting stories about these mysterious cold war era airplanes. Good job. Greetings from Poland.

[@androidemulator6952]

What a wonderful, informative video! ,, and you guys make a great team- lets have more Russian translations in the future !! - :)

[@thesweatleaf]

Bob Marion is a a gem

[@DangolWhopper]

This video is pure gold.

[@SilverBlade001]

3:54 there is a small window below '0' at speedometer, which indicates '1' when airspeed reaches 1000 km/h. '1'-'9' at the circle are for hundreds of km/h.

[@thehighwayman78]

Very interesting! Thank you!

[@a_catfish5180]

John mann has to be the most appropriate name. I’ve seen the legend all over TikTok etc but never a long form video

[@SimplyTakuma]

_THE MANN_ is back!

[@davidwood2205]

Wonderful video! Great information. The only disappointing thing about the video was when it was over.

[@krylatich]

Some might say that they didn't choose the best expert possible but imo it gives a nice perspective into how the manuals and controls were interpreted back then and what kind of mistakes it would be easy to make for those who were deciphering all of the markings for the first time.

[@Pashwintime]

Fascinating video, thank you gents.

[@Wingspan_5]

Fantastic series!

[@jrmotorsports55]

Very interesting video. Thank you for sharing this.

[@stijnvandamme76]

This is a really cool video, 2 pro's interacting on a topic where their interests meet

[@minecrafteramedney]

From all the archival footage, it looks like constant peg operated a MiG-23BN going from the nose being similar to the MiG-27 nose, instead of the regular MiG-23 nose with a radar. I wonder if that had much effect on flight characteristics?

[@BaA43A3aHY-y7e]

They had both MiG-23MS & MiG-23BN.

[@minecrafteramedney]

@BaA43A3aHY-y7e I have been keeping a close eye on all the archival footage and have yet to spot a radar nose, but then again I lose my phone all the time lol

[@tomfu9909]

Defintely. BN had much poorer flight characteristic. Same with MS,

[@APV878]

Thanks for doing this, very interesting

[@ridhobaihaqi144]

Well maintained! 😎😎🫡🫡

[@mahanehsani1246]

I can't explain how much I enjoy this! And Bob is cute!

[@LanceIngram-cg3ej]

Wow! Just amazing. Firefox with Clint the Man Eastwood was the first thing I thought of. The Russian jets no matter how rudimentary are rugged and reliable. If USAF jets made noises like the mig it would be a problem. Great vid!

[@honahwikeepa2115]

Great stuff 😎

[@acoustic5738]

Awesome talk, thank you!!!

[@fs10inator]

3:52 The airspeed indicator is in km/h, but multiply the numbers on the gauge by 100.

[@maxmax3568]

The oxygen instrument two white lung shape indicator. When the pilot inhaled they moved away (disappeared), when the exhaled it came back. Indicated the oxygen flow is good.

[@VladyslavNovikovthepirate]

And it is pressure based, so at max any leak (when combined with oil) might result with fire, hence the "danger oil" note on the oxygen meter.

[@magentakun]

Hello, russian planes fan here. 4:49 (and the similar gage on 19:40): they said they don't understand why they put oil and oxygen pressure on the same gage, which is wrong. Both gages is for oxygen pressure. This means pressure line containing high pressure oxygen goes directly to gages, and as a reminder to technicans it says: Кислород, Маслоопасно - translates to "Oxygen, oil can be dangerous", and this means exposing oil to pure oxygen can cause oil self-ignition.

[@Xdc5]

yep

[@bag-eye]

Thanks for the great video

[@DangolWhopper]

More, more, more, please!

[@alexeykolesnik6443]

It reminds me of translation software from the late '90s to early 2000s when the code wasn’t advanced enough to understand context and often inserted words that didn’t quite fit. This led to a lot of internet memes back in the day. But oh man, I don’t want to offend anyone! I can only imagine how hard it must be to find someone in the middle of the U.S. who understands Russian - especially technical aviation terms and abbreviations. Okay, here are a couple of examples to make it clearer: "I feel under the weather today." (Meaning: I'm feeling sick.) Translation: "I sense myself below the atmosphere today." "Break a leg!" (Meaning: Good luck!) Translation: "Fracture your limb!" 😂 No offense, guys - it’s all in good fun! Thanks for the great content!

[@KapiteinKrentebol]

"We weren't brave enough to fly these at night." That's some unexpected honesty. 😂

[@markxfarmer6830]

Outstanding insights!

[@Silversmok3]

11:52 lol. “LOW FUEL” (turns fuel counter knob) hehe, not anymore! 😂

[@jacob1423]

thanks for this!

[@michaelallen9294]

The one labeled ЗАПУСК В ВОЗДУХЕ is the aerial relight switch.

[@T33K3SS3LCH3N]

4:00 "How fast are you going?" "1000." "1000 what?" "1000 speed."

[@VladimirRegalado-i6v]

So you have MIG 23 MF, different or old version.The MIG 23 ML has an automatic refill system and also indicator lamps of the programmed fuel system, which when the tank is emptied, a green lamp lights up on the right fuel panel.

[@catdelnorris]

Very cool the fox bat is probably my favorite Soviet aircraft

[@joshsater4044]

Very cool!

[@Delta_GlowV]

Been waiting for this video to come out for months aw yeahhhhh

[@SuperYooper11]

I was very sad to learn yesterday that the Mig-23 was not coming to DCS World now. I was really looking forward to learning the vagueries about that aircraft and doing a deep dive into it's systems operations.

[@barrymccockiner6641]

Where is his neck brace?

[@steveman1982]

Must have been a relieve to take that thing off.

[@dhardy6654]

​@@steveman1982why was he wearing that?

[@stijnvandamme76]

@@steveman1982 You bet, I had one for 6 months, not big one he had, but a smaller softer type (I was 10, got hit in the face by a horse).. It was great relief to get rid of that thing indeed

[@evanmurphy2473]

​@@dhardy6654 because shit happens to people?

[@evanmurphy2473]

​@@dhardy6654 because people can take damage in real life?

[@johns1625]

5:03 The translator is mistaken. That gauge is actually the Macho Nacho gauge.

[@Azazel2024]

El macho !

[@weirdguy564]

If you are wondering where the radar screen is, there isn't one. As I understand it the radar is displayed on the combining glass of the Heads Up Display (HUD) on top of the glareshield (dashboard to you car guys). It didn't work that well, so Mig-29's and Su-27's have radar screens in the cockpit again.

[@jashugunalucard3715]

Mig-29 still shows the radar in the hud, but it has the screen that is a repeater of the hud. In the Su-27 contacts are show in the hud, and the screen shows the information from the datalink.

[@kevinnoneman8246]

at 4:40, awesome airfoce-spec crew cab squarebody chevy!

[@PaulLoveless-Cincinnati]

Absolutely fascinating especially because the presenter actually flew these jets.

[@irongron]

Great cockpit rundown. Just one question, I noticed during the video, there was footage several times of a MiG-27, which is the strike version of the MiG-23, was that also a constant peg aircraft or just stock footage shown in place of a MiG-23 ? I guess the 27 would have been useless and terrible as a constant peg air-air adversary jet.

[@alexlo7708]

While the American fighters use big pivot pin for swing wing, the Soviet Mig23 uses linkage in swing instead. American fighter panel is so regulated. I remember some clip in Swiss aero museum, The F5 cockpit panel was so tidy and looks clean compare to the contemporary Mirage F3.

[@arzen9835]

It's so cool to watch this as a russian native speaker

[@khanbabu2635]

So magical.

[@vegard2000]

We need more full videos with him. The shorts are not enough.

[@Johnvalkyre]

Do more cockpits please

[@Freebird-v3i]

Great thanks!

[@Sergei-11111]

04:49 I believe it says "oxygen, dangerous on contact with oil". You can see this "кислород маслоопасно" warning written on every oxygen storage or every oxygen tank (oxygen leak can ignite any smudge of oil). Why did they write this warning on an oxygen pressure gauge? I don't really know. Was it not supposed to be touched by technician's oily fingers? Upd: and the last gauge (oxygen on the left side), that says "кислород подпитка двигателя", I believe it's something like "oxygen, engine supplement". For the life of me I can't understand why, but it definitely reads the pressure of oxygen you feed into the engine. Could you feed oxygen into the engine? Was that a thing?

[@SilverBlade001]

2:38 'CАУ' - 'Система Автоматического Управления' - 'Automatic Piloting System'

[@putrid.p]

A very interesting video. Seems odd that the visiting specialist wasn't given the lead, and wasn't the one sat in the cockpit. Forcing him to peer around the corner to give his input was a bit weird.

[@indianajon7980]

This was awesome! I have always wondered why the Russians seem to use 10 switches when NATO/US would use 1? Is it that they subdivided systems such as fuel management more? Or is it instead of our circuit breaker system?

[@bensmith7536]

i read the book, now im watching an actual 4477 pilot and russian speaker talk about the aircraft.... this is just brilliant.

[@ptonpc]

Subscribed!

[@kh40yr]

Viktor Belenco also helped. From the mouth of our retired AF test pilot who flew tourist flights for us.

[@SilverBlade001]

6:41 not jamming. That's for activating of blocks of IR flares.

[@romanf9672]

I remember seeing this fighter in Prague Kbely Aircraft museum. Czechoslovakia had a bunch of these, after the divorce, Czech side decided to keep them unlike my home country Slovakia, they declined 23s. It's funny that Czech rep. put these to rest in the end of 90s but 21s survived till early 00s. I suppose these were much more expensive to "keep alive".