Cold War fun: Pilot reveals Soviet bomber crews asked US jets to barrel-roll & took pics (PHOTO) Published time: 10 Dec, 2017 11:08
FILE PHOTO: An F4D Phantom fighter of the U.S. Air Force escorting a Tu-95 Bear strategic bomber above the Arctic Ocean © US Navy © Sputnik
An aviation blog has posted a photo of a US AF F-4 jet flying upside down as it intercepts a Soviet Tu-95 strategic bomber. The story behind it is one of how mid-air encounters now deemed “unsafe” were once regarded as professionals having a bit of fun.
The picture was published by the popular military aviation blog The Aviationist on December 4 as an illustration of how the definition of recklessness has changed since the Cold War. Maneuvers like barrel rolls or aggressive turns during interception missions are now usually branded by the Pentagon as “unprofessional” or “unsafe” if performed by Russian or Chinese pilots responding to American aircraft.
But a few decades ago such stunts were quite routine and not perceived as anything dangerous. Military aviation blogger David Cenciotti cited a US spy plane veteran pilot calling such episodes “ho-hum.” He added that American pilots actually behaved in the same manner, as evidenced by the photo with the ‘Phantom’ flying upside down alongside the ‘Bear.’
The image went viral, and its owner Robert M. Sihler contacted the blog and revealed he took it during his deployment to Iceland in the 1970s, a period of reduced tension known as detente.
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