Funding had been cut so low that routine maintenance had not been performed on the building in over a decade. The roof was known to leak and sag excessively under the weight of snow. This lack of maintenance coupled with strong winds finally led to a structural collapse that killed eight workers and destroyed the Buran.

real story is much more complicated. roof collapsed – together with six workers – under weight of 10 tons of spare materials (intended for roof fix) that were unwisely gathered at one place at building’s edge. but it would nave not cause collapse of other aisles of the four football field sized building if they were properly designed (that was not the case)
Russian investigation board pushed for ‘official version’ otherwise it would cause a scandal.

Recent independent investigation of the case by Vadim Lukashevich, webmaster of http://www.buran.ru
http://www.buran.ru/htm/foto7.htm

But how many were built in total?

http://buran.ru/htm/chavo.htm
five orbiter flight vehicles (not counting various test articles)
1.01 – flown in November, 1988
1.02 (Burya?) – was delivered to Baikonur (95-97% ready)
2.01 (that one seen at MAKS) – was 30-50% ready
2.02 disassembled at Tushino mashine building plant (TMZ)
2.03 progress stock destroyed at EMZ

what we see at photos are OK-ML-1 (0.04) and OK-MT (0.15) full-scale technology mock-ups in Building 80, Area 112A

more http://www.thelivingmoon.com/45jack_files/03files/Buran_001.html

The LEVCONS are not blocking part of the intake.
They are only blocking line of sight(to a certain degree)!

while similar idea patented by Pogosyan, Davidenko etc. for *engine nozzles* deflecting and masking IR signature of PAK FA engines in certain conditions like IR-guided missile attack, it’s not the case with LEVCONs. Radar blockers do the job, otherwise you’ll get aerodynamic configuration with high induced drag.

Russian fighter jet crashes in Urals

09:32 06/09/2011
MOSCOW, September 6 (RIA Novosti)

A Russian Mikoyan MiG-31 fighter jet crashed in the Urals on Tuesday, killing both pilots, officials say.
The jet exploded in a fireball minutes after taking off from a military airport in the Perm region in the early hours of Tuesday.
It was on a routine training flight, a spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry said.
A technical failure is being investigated as the possible cause of the crash, a source in the ministry told RIA Novosti.
A similar jet crashed in the region last year, but the pilots managed to parachute to safety.
All MiG-31s have been grounded following the accident.
The Defense Ministry said the ban would remain in place until the cause of the disaster had been established.

http://en.rian.ru/mlitary_news/20110906/166465020.html

Lest we forget…

Why do i get the feeling that the engines are slightly angled towards outside ? or is it just an optical illusion.

engine axes are toed in indeed – for example, it helps to lower tail drag effects caused by complicated interference of exhaust gases; also such arrangement improves control in case one engine is lost

I bet they will go for something similar to the MiG-29K radome serration on the PAK-FA . It will be canted ( unlike the MiG) , BUT it seems those serrations are in relief ( as in they “stick” out just a little bit)

bingo;)

Do peoples in the know can tell if there are any apreciable aerodinamic /signature penalties compared to the traditional way ?
Thanks.

Surely djcross can, but then he should kill you)

The accident makes it look cool!