What could possibly be dangerous in having the finest flight boots found anywhere on one’s feet while at work in the skies above Europe? What could be risky in buying these fine hand made custom boots from the famous, yet small West German Boot Company, the Hans Probst Measureboots custom boot maker? After all, without a doubt, these were the unparalleled top boots to be found anywhere. Handsome, comfortable and long-lasting. Affectionately called “Furstie” boots by the lucky pilots privileged to own them. “Furstie” being the shortened name of Furstenfeldbruck, the German town in which they were manufactured.
This video was produced by “Historic Wings” and, while but 9 minutes long, is a true story few know, let alone its bizarre content, especially should the Cold War have ever turned HOT. It was found by FASF Aviation News Scout and former USMC Fighter Pilot, Jerry Dixon (at left).
As observed by Historic Wings, “Victory in the air was the key to winning the Cold War. Despite billions of dollars spent by the USAF and NATO on the best planes, the most advanced radar systems and missiles, and the finest pilot training, the outcome may have been decided by a little boot company in West Germany.” Stick this one out to the end . . . for the shocking surprise.
Thanks to FASF founding member and News Scout, Dave Clemmer, we have this inspirational video. As we know, the freedoms we still enjoy are the direct result of these heroic veterans who risked their lives that we might live in a free society.
Is this special occasion not also the time to seriously reflect on what these brave men and women enabled us to experience? Can we afford to drop our guard and let these precious freedoms – and liberty itself – be taken away?
Kapanina was born on December 28, 1968 in Shchuchinsk, Kazakhstan. And, now at 50, she remains active in the European and American Air Show circuit.
She dedicated herself to a number of different sports at school and always enjoyed motorcycles – and other motor vehicles, as well. She enrolled at medical school in Tselinograd, where she graduated in medical support sciences. She started flying at 19, in 1988, in a Sukhoi Su-26M3, (see below right) while working as a technician at the Kurgan Sports Aviation Club.
The Sukhoi S-26M in which Svetlana learned aerobatics.
By 1991 she was already an instructor pilot at DOSAAF‘s (Volunteer Society for Cooperation with the Army, Aviation, and Navy) Irkutsk Club, and then went back to Kurgan. In 1991, she became a member of the Russian national aerobatic team. In 1995 she graduated from Kaluga Aeronautical Technical School.
She is now lives in Moscow with her husband and two children.
in aerobatics Kapanina was World Aerobatic Champion in the women’s category in 1996, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2011 and has won the title more times than any other pilot in that (women’s) category. In addition, she was overall World Air Games Champion in 1997 and 2001.
Russian President, Vladimir Putin, poses with Svetalnaafter awarding her National Order of Courage
Together with Mikhail Mamistov and Oleg Spolyansky, she won the team gold medal in the 16th FAI European Aerobatic Championships in 2008 in Hradec Králové (Czech Republic). She placed fourth overall and was best female participant.
In 1997, she received the Paul TissandierDiploma by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI). In 2005 she was awarded the Sabiha Gökçen Medal[2] and the Centenary Medal by the FAI. She was awarded Russia’s Order of Courage by President Vladimir Putin on December 22, 2014 (see photo immediately above to the left), just 6 days before her 46th birthday.
Watch Svetlanarun through one of her Airshow routines over her home country, after greeting the crowd over the loudspeakers. This video is about 17 minutes long. Turn your sound up and go to full screen to fully appreciate the excellent high-resolution videography.
And also, below, watch her airplane cavorting through the sky with her hallmark precision in one of her World Aerobatic Competitions. You will witness Svetlana performing some extremely difficult manuevers with astounding accuracy. It’s a short clip, only 3:57 in length. Like an accomplished Prima Donna ballerina, this woman aviator may make these manuevers look easy, but they are, as you might expect, extraordinarily difficult – often involving Svetlanapulling fairly severe positive and negative “G’s” (Gravity Forces).
The ubiquitous Drone (military parlance is UAV for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) is now becoming a daily sight aboard the Navy’s new Mark VI Patrol boats. Below, Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Neil Wierboski prepares an unmanned aerial vehicle for launch aboard a Mark VI patrol boat during training conducted by the Coastal Riverine Group 1 Training and Evaluation Unit in the Middle East, May 9, 2018. Wierboski is assigned to Coastal Riverine Squadron 3.
These new Navy patrol boats can operate over a distance of some 500 Nautical Miles (approximately 575 statute miles) on only one tank of gas. Watch the short video down below this photograph to see these new fast (over 45 mph) patrol boats and drones in action. The boats are propelled by a two jet engine propulsion system and controlled, much as the modern fighter aircraft today, by a Fly-By-Wire technology, which is to say they are controlled by electronics rather than by either the old physical cable system coupling a steering wheel to the rudder(s) or by hydraulic driven rudders.
Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Neil Wierboski prepares an UAV for launch-aboard a Mark VI patrol boat off the Coast.
The below video is 7:51 in length.
But, while the Mark VI is a manned patrol boat, we have also moved autonomous guidance into the boats as well as into the air surrounding them. See the (below) 12:31 long video about autonomous boats deployment advantages.
