In 1965, an incredible stunt was pulled by a then-Soviet pilot named Valentin Privalov, who managed to fly his MiG 17 jet fighter under a bridge on the Ob River in western Siberia. The event was described by witnesses who claim this actually happened, even though the credibility of the photograph depicting the flight has often been debated for being edited.Rico says it's not like American pilots haven't done equivalently stupid things, but it does look like he bounced it off the water...
Nevertheless, the story remains. It was a sunny day, 4 June 1965, when Privalov flew under the central span of the Communal Bridge in Novosibirsk. The riverbanks were filled with people on vacation and officers from the nearby base, strolling and enjoying the sunshine. All of a sudden, a silver jet in the sky was performing acrobatics. Everyone was amazed. It was an act of magnificent skill since the jet was never before seen performing a flight with such accuracy.
It was reported that Privalov did this on his own initiative, and without any orders whatsoever. The hotshot pilot wanted to pull this stunt for personal glory and to exhibit his flying skills. The crowd gathered on the bridge started to applaud spontaneously, but Privalov’s superiors weren’t so happy. He got a suspension. This almost cost him his career in the Soviet Air Force. He was threatened with disciplinary action, but the Minister of Defense himself, Marshall Rodion Malinovsky, saw the stunt as an advertisement for the military. The people were in awe. The word soon spread all over the then-USSR, and it soon evolved into a legend.
Privalov was sent to the elite squadron stationed at the Kubinka military airfield in Moscow, home to the aerobatic teams Swifts and Russian Knights, and Privalov joined their ranks.
The photograph started circling the internet recently. It found its way through various Russian-language forums to worldwide attention. The origin of the photo is disputable, but it seems that the event depicted on it isn’t. Various reports confirmed that Privalov flew under the Communal Bridge, which is a hundred meters wide between its pillars and thirty meters high. He was flying approximately seven hundred miles per hour.
Some claim that the photo was made only to illustrate the event, for it happened without prior warning; thus it was impossible to document it. It was published in Soviet newspapers and the stunt even echoed in the American press, when it was mentioned in an article dated 27 August 1965. The article included three weird stories all taking place in the Soviet Union: “a drunk who stole a streetcar,” “an aircraft mechanic who went on a joyride up and down runways in an Ilyushin 4 transport,” and “a stunt flier who flew under bridges.”
Valentin Privalov, the “a stunt flier who flew under bridges”, pursued a lavish and successful career in the Soviet Air Force, and ended up as a deputy head of Russia’s civil aviation air traffic control center in Moscow. Little is known about his personal life, and whether or not the man is still alive, but his stunt remains unforgettable.
29 August 2016
Soviet Pilot flies MiG 17 under a bridge
War History Online has this:
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