Warbird Information Exchange

Perhaps I'm wrong on this, but I think I saw a MiG-29 at WPAFB this past weekend while in town for the air show. Does anyone know if this is part of some testing thing they do there or was it just visiting?


Shot from the Huffman Prairie Flying Field


Enlarged Shot

Yes there is a Mig 29 at WPAFB maybe even two.

The one you saw is just off the flightline at Patterson field on Area A. And I'm guessing that it may have been used by the Foriegn Technologies labs. Alot of MIGS have been used by them for testing purpouses, I hear.

Here is that other one I caught at the Restoration Facility on Area C. I guess they could be the same aircraft with more paint added, but I doubt it.







Here is another former Foriegn Technologies Lab tenant. I believe ow on display at the NMUSAF



Shay
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Semper Fortis

Mig-29 restoration info:

http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=8672

More on their ongoing restorations:

http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/exhibits/projects.asp

I saw the MiG-29 on Sunday when at the NMUSAF, and it looked complete to me, so any further restoration needed is most likely minor stuff. I was told that aircraft was at the FTL prior to the museum and that it was moved to the Museum because the FTL is renovating/expanding and thus needed to move out its aircraft. The two F-4 gate guards, B-47E, and a new (to the NMUSAF) C-131 were outside along with parts of the XC-99. The C-131 I thought was the one that was outside the museum in the park at first, but I got a closer look at it and it's got totally different paint, so I don't know where it came from.

The MiG in the first two pics is actually a MiG-29U trainer. Look closely, and you can see the canopy frame between the front & rear seats.

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Bob

Looks like the canopy has been painted over..maybe it's being readied for transport to another museum. I wonder if it's one of that batch of MiGs we bought from Moldova a few years back..I understand that's were the NMUSAF's recently-restored bird came from.

SN

Interesting. I have some entries in the Locator for Wright-Pat other than than the NMUSAF...

http://www.aerialvisuals.ca/Locator.php ... -Patterson

Are these airframes still there? Are there any not noted in the listing?

Mike

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Mike R. Henniger
Aviation Enthusiast & Photographer
http://www.AerialVisuals.ca
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Do you want to find locations of displayed, stored or active aircraft? Then start with the The Locator.
Do you want to find or contribute to the documented history of an aircraft? If so then start with the Airframes Database.

Good eyes, I didn't think they were the same aircraft. Just seemed like and awfully long distance to move an aircraft back and forth.


Shay
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Semper Fortis

So it's safe to say that they still have two of the batch they received back in the 90? I know I've read this in the past, but what became of the others?

I would say yes. Even though i haven't been on the base in a few weeks. Last time i was the 2 seater MIG was still there near the flightline. The single seater seems to be shaping up in the restoration facility.



Shay
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Semper Fortis

The single seater is actually in the museum on display. I'll post a couple pics when I get home.

So, do they fly the two-seater?

Yeah, it is the same picture. While at the flying field, I just happened to see an odd tail on the other side of the base. I got as close to the fence as possible and used about a 20x zoom. And it is still small! It was really far away!

Notes....

The paint scheme on the MiG-29U is totally different from that of the single-seater in Shay's pic. Also, If "Blue 08" is in the restoration facility, and Shay's unmarked MiG-29A was photographed in the same time frame, that probably makes three on-site..

These (at least the engineless single seater) are probably ex-Moldova AF MiGs that the govt purchased to prevent them from going to Iran. One of those is now displayed in a new color scheme at Goodfellow AFB, TX.

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Bob

They are the same aircraft. My pictures are about a year old.

Shay
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Semper Fortis

We moved the MiG-29 from Restoration to the Cold War Gallery about a month ago. The paint scheme is now complete. I do not think there is much more that needs to be done to it. I'm not sure where the two-seater 29 is going to. The other aircraft that was a former Foreign Technolgy Lab tenant is actually a Sukhoi Su-22 and its currently sitting inside the Restoration hanger along with a MiG-21, two MiG-23's, a Boeing X-32 Joint Strike Fighter prototype and the Northrop-Grumman YF-23 Black Widow II stealth fighter.

The Bristol Beaufighter we are still working on, even though its on display in the Air Power Gallery. We still need to fabricate new ailerons and elevators for it. One guy had fabricated new ailerons for it from scratch, but unfortunately he had installed the ribs for it at the wrong angle and not where they are suppose to be in order for it to be historically correct. Now we have to be refabricated these ailerons all over again. Restoration work on these planes never seems to end no matter how hard we try.

Jim

Shay's last pic is a MiG-21U, or are we talking about a different acft from the Technologies bunch?

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Bob