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SU-37 DEMONSTRATES STUNNING MANEUVRES

The Su-37 variant with thrust vector control was the star of the flight demonstrations at this year's Farnborough airshow. Sukhoi's general designer, Mikhail Simonow, was convinced that "without our maneuver no pilot will survive a dogfight in the future". He invited the usual skeptics to "take part in a real air combat: Whoever would get the first gun camera shot of the opponent would win." Although such a competition will have to wait some time, the Western fighter aircraft manufacturers had to admit that the Russians had once again won the show.

Even though the Su-37 is not more capable than the Dasa/Rockwell X-31 or the F-16 AVEN, the demonstration of the super-maneuverability of the Su-27/Su-35 family's newest variant by test pilot Jevgeni Frolov was in a class of its own. The flight began with the Cobra maneuver which can now be flown to angles of attack beyond 120 degrees, pointing the aircraft backwards from its flight path. Due to the thrust vector nozzles, the fighter can be brought forward into a normal flying attitude in only a few seconds.

Really stunning is another maneuver, called the "Kulbit". Here the aircraft does a somersault backwards before continuing its forward flight with only a minimal loss of altitude. The Kulbit starts out with a Cobra, resulting in a forward speed below 100 km/h.

According to test pilot Frolov, the maneuvers are not difficult to fly, only the limiters of the digital flight control system have to be switched off. Guest pilots get a good grip on the aircraft after only eight flights, continued Frolow.

The Su-37, which was shown in Farnborough, had begun its flight testing in April and, so far, has accumulated approximately 50 flights. The nozzles of its Saturn Al-37FU turbofans are currently limited to a swiveling range of +/- 15 degrees. Roll-inputs are possible through opposite deflections.

From page 22 of FLUG REVUE 10/96