U.S. Test Pilot flew Soviet Fighters in Russia

Episode 172 guest, Rogers E. Smith describes flying former Soviet fighters in Russia while a NASA #testpilot in the 90s.

• 172 - Rogers E. Smith: The Test Pilot...
#fighterpilot Podcast

[BujorOvidiu]

Wow, hearing an American speak so straight forward, no bullshit, no bs, no ego. I am impressed over my head. Amazing guy.

[clericneokun]

"Sometimes, you can have too much and you forget the basics."

I'll try my best to always keep that in mind from now on.

[vadimichs]

I am Russian American. Thank you for talking about us in a respectful manner. Rarely happens these days

[radecartman]

I met this gentleman on a airshow in Belgium a few years ago. Very humble and friendly human being.

[Msoja]

"If I was going to war, I would want them on my side" - did anyone catch that? That a tribute to how good Russian pilots are. Thank you for affording them such great respect, unlike most ignorant and arrogant commentators who are so disrespectful that it is nauseating.

[olegdjakonu]

This guy is from the era, when milk was inside the milk and people were inside the people, cheers from Russia.

[ahmedmusa]

Thank you, very interesting story. The last sentence you said was very true " Know the fundamentals" . I my self studied in Moscow Russia ( Engineering), as a foreigner when i saw how and why they do things different and effective I just seat and admire. We is US need to learn a lot of good things from Russia and leave the bad once.

[redmackay]

A straight talking American with a great attitude to others - totally refreshing!

[dbos]

Awesome, I haven't heard a better interview in years on YouTube. The humbleness of the test pilot, the realness of flying the airplane. Superb! As a pilot, all I can say "Thank you!". And the parting thought - maybe sometimes you have too much - so true. If the pilots learnt fundamentals of flying, a lot of lives could have been saved.... (Air France comes to mind...)

[smax]

One of, if not the, best FPP episodes yet! Mr Smith flew almost ever cool jet that could be flown!!

[maryloutetreault]

I could listen to him all day and be on the edge of my seat ! This is the best interview you’ve ever had, please get this incredible man on again. Thank you

[IkeTheth]

I just listened to this one in the car. Awesome, humble human being. This guy is going up on my Wall of Fame, yet somehow I pictured him with a large, carefully groomed mustache. Thanks for finding him! Great interview!

[Nikolay_Grigoryev]

I worked on F-14D and F-18F. I got to check out the K-36D at the school at Oceana. Really impressive ejection seat.

[EmoBirb]

Mr. Smith is such a humble, knowledgeable and respectful man that can tell some of the most interesting stories ever.
Regarding the Su-27, I notice that it gets unanimously praised from pilots across the world. And now imagining that the Su-35 is an improvement across the board...just wow.

[edgarguinartlopez]

What a beautiful speech... Thank you Mr Smith for sharing your experience!

[Slaktrax]

What a great down to earth fountain of aviation knowledge. No arrogance, no conceit, a Canadian/US version of Eric Brown ...and certainly no Chuck Yaeger.

[sayj]

Love the story! We’ll never be on the same side as light doesn’t mix with darkness. Russia will survive and thrive, it always does. Cheers from Russia.

[wiggles]

What a fascinating story teller, you can tell there's so much more detail to each snipoet he spoke to

[atfsgeoff]

The Soviets had a reputation for making aircraft that punched profoundly above their weight class, technology-wise.

[GenderSkins]

I like what Mr. Smith said at the end: (As maybe you can have too much, and forget the basics). As a mechanic, I could not agree more with that statement especially with the current automotive industry. Car's and trucks have so much stuff on them now days, that people have forgotten the basics of driving and automotive repair work. As when I drive or even ride in my mom's Toyota Rav 4, the thing drives me bonkers with all the beeping it does and with the way the transmission feels like it fell out of the car when sitting at a stop light. And my old Ford truck lacks even a 4th of the stuff her Toyota has on it, which I have to say I really love the spartan feeling my truck has compared to her Toyota.