Andrew already operates Beech 18 G-BKGM from the charming Warwickshire airfield.

G-OLEG, c/n 0470202, was assembled at Strela in Orenburg — 700 miles south-east of Moscow on the Russian-Kazakh border — in the early 1990s, the result of a co-operative project between the Yakovlev Design Bureau, Strela and Flight Magic of Santa Monica, California using the original jigs and many original parts including systems and the tubular steel frame. Strela was formed from the original Zavod (Factory) 47 in Leningrad, hence the 047 in the serial number. This factory was evacuated to Chkalov in 1941, a suburb of Orenburg. In 1958 the factory’s designation was changed to Strela. G-OLEG is powered by an Allison V-1710 as there were no operable Klimov engines available.

The fighter is painted in the markings of a ‘Normandie-Niemen’ Regiment aircraft, as flown by Free French Air Force pilots on the Eastern Front. Prior to being acquired by Cirrus Aircraft UK, G-OLEG was operated successfully at shows in the UK and Europe by Sussex-based Will Greenwood, who now displays the ex-Bruce Dickinson Fokker DrI replica G-CDXR.