I would love to learn about the G limits of the toilet…
Glad to hear the Flatnose Flanker is entering production though – ever since i saw one for the first time (from quite a distance, operational planespotting at Zhukovskyi is fun!) i absolutely loved it. By far my favourite Flanker-variant (strangely, i don’t care much for the KUB).

There is an eternal program going on for a common SAR helo force in the Baltic, with Finland, Sweden and the three Baltics to participate. Seems a long run project though.

Airforce-wise, they are indeed extremely small, i visited those countries in 1995 and 1996 and there hardly has been any noteworthy growth in strength. Lithouania (the southern one) has by far the biggest military air arm, but a lot of those aircraft are actually reserve forces rather than full-blown Air Force. It’s weird that Kazlu Ruda is always mentioned as an ‘operational’ airbase in Lithouania: it is a terribly short and narrow runway with no other infrastructure whatsoever, in the middle of dense forest just a few kilometres of the border with the Kaliningrad region. I was there twice (even though it has no aircraft, it is a very cool-weird-strange place and worth the visit if you’re into that stuff), and even the local barracks (albeit paratroopers) told me there were no aircraft stationed there. An occasional An-2 for paradrops.

What is funny though, is to compare those airforces with the actual base infrastructure those countries inherited from the Soviets. Lithouania has it’s aircraft at Zokniai (aka Siauliai, a massive former MiG-27+Su-24+ECM An-12+A50 det base) and Pajuostis (aka Panavezys, a slightly less massive but still big former IL-76 base). And then there are six or seven more former airbases in country.
It’s more or less the same with Latvia (the middle one). It’s air force is based at Lielvarde, a brand-new Su-24 base built in the late 1970s. However, the air force simply is too small to occupy the whole base, and even maintain it all. Let alone the huge amount of other former Soviet bases… As with Lithouania, there is another semi-Air Force around (National Guard-something) which prefers to operate from small former DOSAAF airfields rather than any of the dozen or so former Soviet bases.
As for Estonia… same story here, but their air force is even smaller.

Enter the Benign Commie…

Perhaps Ja is thinking of Equadorian Kfirs vs. Peruvian Mirage Vs? Not that i know if such incidents occurred.

Originally posted by J33Nelson
At least two Su-27Ps (minus radar and weapons) are owned and operated by private individuals in the USA.

Are you sure about that? I know about two civilian-registred MiG-29s, but this is the first time i heard about Flankers. While i have little doubt the NAIC got it’s hands on at least two (former Belarus IIRC), i haven’t heard anything about what happened with them.

Re: That Quizzical Feeling…

No digging yet, all by heart:

2
Taiwan missing with the TC-2
Japan missing with the AAM-4

3 + 10
Indonesia hasn’t been mentioned in both, while the Flanker and Badger both got that pentagonal roundel.

12
EPAF are the European nations having a blast over Afghanistan, flying from Manas, Kyrgyzstan.

13
a: AR, 10 TFW, A-10A.
9SRW det, TR-1.
b: UH, 20 TFW, F-111E, 66ECW/41ECS (iirc, could be 42 as well) EF-111A.
c: FF, 1TFW, F-15C
d: SJ, 4TFW, F-15E

For the other ones i should get my books and Google out, but i’m too lazy, tired and only slightly drunk of half a bottle of North Korean (yesssss!) Soyu to do that.

Don’t worry, it’s not an IAF base. Goa-Dabolim is Navy, the three remaining Il-38s are stationed there (after the double crash of course) and some smaller stuff. Unfortunately, the Bears are no longer there and have taken up residence at Arrakonam on the other side of the Subcontinent.

If you’re really bored, you should try to get some time on yourself when sitting on the beach. It’s impossible.