Inside Ukraine's Race to Prevent Russia from Controlling the Skies
Although Ukraine remains outgunned in its war with Russia, as CNN's Frederik Pleitgen reports, Ukrainian pilots are more than answering the call.
I've read a piece about pilot Andryi in the NYT which was more detailed in how he had been already targeted by Russian missiles but outmanoeuvered them with crazy turns until they ran out of fuel ... I guess that people admired RAF pilots in the Battle of Britain as much as I admire him today.
I can understand Western countries' hesitation to send fighter planes - but Ukraine should be given the most advanced defensive anti aircraft systems available.
The skill and determination of the Ukraine military is incredible. For decades, we thought Russia was this big super power. All they really have is the ability to hide behind the threat of nuclear attack.
It's a testament to their training and now implementing such training in the skies. If anyone here is surprised I'll give you one statistic which will shock you. Russian combat pilots, prior to the Invasion logged in, only logged 8 hours of flight time per month or under 100 hours a year. [That's one of the principal reasons Russian pilots are hiding or not sharp enough to take on Ukrainian pilots who averaged over 200 hours per year, similar to U.S. pilots.] That's barely enough experience to land a fighter. My next door neighbor flies a single engine Cessna and logs in 12 hours a month flight time to stay up to date. These combat planes are more complex machines and you need to keep flying many hours to assure that your skills are on par. Without such practice you lack experience in handling all kinds of problems which such complex equipment my throw at you.
