Anatoly Kvochur
{{Short description|Russian test pilot (1952–2024)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2024}}
{{Infobox aviator
|name=Anatoly Kvochur
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|image=Test-pilot Anatoly Kvotchur at MAKS-2007 airshow.jpg
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|caption=Kvochur in 2007
|birth_date={{Birth date|1952|04|16|df=y}}
|birth_place=Mazurovka, Chernivtsi Raion, Vinnytsia Oblast, Ukrainian SSR, USSR
|death_date={{Death date and age|2024|04|15|1952|04|16|df=y}}
|death_place=Zhukovsky, Moscow Oblast, Russia
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|rank=10px Air Force Colonel
|awards= Hero of the Russian Federation (1992)
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|birth_name=Anatoly Nikolayevich Kvochur
|signature=Sign of Anatoly Kvochur 1996.png|native_name={{nobold|Анатолий Квочур}}|native_name_lang=ru}}
Anatoly Nikolayevich Kvochur ({{lang-rus|Анатолий Николаевич Квочур}}; 16 April 1952 – 15 April 2024) was a Soviet and Russian test pilot. He was awarded the awards Honoured Test Pilot of the USSR (1990) and Hero of the Russian Federation (1992).
Biography
File:Sukhoi Su-30LL demonstrator flying along the runway at Zhangjiajie Hehua Airport less than 1 metre off the ground.jpgLL demonstrator along the runway extremely close to the ground at Zhangjiajie Hehua International Airport, March 2006]]
Anatoly Kvochur was born on 16 April 1952, in the village of Mazurovka, Mohyliv-Podilskyi in the Vinnytsia Oblast of Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic.{{cite web|url=http://wp.scn.ru/mig_okb/pilots-15|title=Kvochur Anatoly Nikolayevich|publisher=OKB MiG Design Bureau|access-date=16 April 2011}}
Kvochur studied at the V. M. Komarov Higher Military Flying School at Yeysk, graduating in 1973. He began service as a pilot in the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany. He served for two years before he was discharged from the Soviet Armed Forces in 1977 with a recommendation for admittance to the Fedotov Test Pilot School. He graduated from the school in 1978.
From 1978 to 1981 he worked as a test pilot at Komsomolsk-on-Amur, testing Su-17 aircraft and its modifications. He studied further at the Moscow Aviation Institute, graduating in 1981.{{cite book|author=Peter Dancey|title =Russian Test Pilot - Anatoli Kvochur A biography|publisher =Smashwords|year =2011|url=http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/53135}}{{cite book |date=2002 |editor-last=Знаменская |editor-first=Наталья |title=ШЛИ со временем |trans-title=ShLI in Time |url=https://search.rsl.ru/ru/search#yf=2002&yt=2002&q=%D1%88%D0%BB%D0%B8%20%D1%81%D0%BE%20%D0%B2%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%BC%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B5%D0%BC |language=RU |edition=2 |location=Жуковский |publisher=ООО "Редакция газеты "Жуковские вести" |pages=400 }}
Kvochur was transferred to the Mikoyan Design Bureau where he participated in the testing of more than 80 types of aircraft, including MiG-21, MiG-23, MiG-27, MiG-29, MiG-31, as well as air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles. He later appeared in numerous international air shows, showcasing Russian aircraft.
In 1995, Kvochur participated in a very long range flight demonstration of Su-27PD and Su-27PU Flankers featuring an inflight refueling probe. He led an aerobatic team, known as the Test Pilots Team (Lyotchiki-Ispyttahteli), which included the pilots Vladimir Loginovsky and Alexander Garnaev.{{cite web|title=Sukhoi Su-30|url=http://www.mars.slupsk.pl/fort/sukhoi/su-30-ru-lii.htm|publisher=Lyotno-Isslyedovatyelskij Institut imyeni Gromova (ЛИИ = LII)|access-date=17 April 2011| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110525050632/http://www.mars.slupsk.pl/fort/sukhoi/su-30-ru-lii.htm| archive-date= 25 May 2011 | url-status= live}} Kvochur died on 15 April 2024, one day before his 72nd birthday.[https://tass.ru/armiya-i-opk/20546919 Умер испытатель сверхзвуковых самолетов, Герой России Анатолий Квочур] {{in lang|ru}} He was buried at the Federal Military Memorial Cemetery on 17 April 2024.{{cite web|url=https://regions.ru/zhukovsky/aviacia/v-zhukovskom-provodyat-v-posledniy-put-geroya-rossii-anatoliya-kvochura|title=В Жуковском проводят в последний путь Героя России Анатолия Квочура|trans-title=Farewell for Hero of Russia Anatoly Kvochur in Zhukovsky|lang=ru|date=16 April 2024|publisher=|access-date=17 April 2024}}
Paris Air Show incident
Kvochur was involved in an air show accident on 8 June 1989 at the Paris Air Show. He was flying a single-seater Mikoyan MiG-29 Fulcrum 'Blue 303', the Soviet Union's latest fighter aircraft. While executing a low-speed, high-angle attack portion of his routine,{{cite journal|year=1989|title=Soviets Fall and Fly at the Paris Air Show|journal=New Scientist|volume=122|issue=1669|issn=0262-4079|publisher=Reed Business Information|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S0_Oaa5d0E0C&q=paris+air+show+1989+crash&pg=PA44|access-date= 17 April 2011}} a bird was sucked into the right engine (a bird strike), causing the turbofan engine to burst into flames.{{cite web | last=Johnson | first=Reuben | title=The Paris Air Show, Twenty Years On | publisher=The Weekly Standard | date=18 June 2007 | url=http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/013/788wbhgw.asp | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070703140725/http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/013/788wbhgw.asp | url-status=dead | archive-date=3 July 2007 | access-date=18 September 2009}}
Kvochur immediately turned the remaining engine to full afterburner. His speed, at {{convert|180|km/h|mph}}, was too slow to maintain stability on one engine, and the aircraft entered a steep dive. Kvochur managed to steer the MiG away from the crowd and ejected 2.5 seconds before impact. He landed {{convert|30|m|ft|}} away from the fireball of the crashed plane.{{cite web | last=Johnson | first=Reuben | title=The Paris Air Show, Twenty Years On | publisher=The Weekly Standard | date=18 June 2007 | url=http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/013/788wbhgw.asp | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070703140725/http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/013/788wbhgw.asp | url-status=dead | archive-date=3 July 2007 | access-date=18 September 2009}}
The incident was caught on video and is featured on the reality television series World's Most Amazing Videos{{YouTube|YL1FblthxQ0|June 8, 1989 Mig-29 crash at Paris Air Show}}{{cite AV media|script-title=ru:Испытатели. Выжить в катастрофе|language=ru |trans-title=Test pilots. Survive in an accident |publisher=Wings of Russia Studio}} and reused in the pseudo-documentary World War III.
Kvochur's Mig-29 had a Zvezda K-36D ejection seat.{{cite web|url=http://tig.ludost.net/plane_mig29.html |title=MiG-29 Fulcrum |author=Todor Ivanov Ginchev |work=tig.ludost.net/ |access-date=17 April 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110831044728/http://tig.ludost.net/plane_mig29.html |archive-date=31 August 2011 }} The same ejection seat helped save the lives of the pilots of two MiG-29s that collided mid-air at the Royal International Air Tattoo in July 1993,{{cite journal|year=1993|title=Pop Goes the Russian|journal=Popular Science|volume=245|issue=6|issn=0161-7370|publisher=Bonnier Corporation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_YuuteSpekkC&q=paris+air+show+1989+crash&pg=PA14|access-date= 17 April 2011}} and the pilot and navigator of a Sukhoi Su-30 that crashed from a tail-strike at the Paris Air Show in June 1999, which was also captured on video.Stamford, Lincs., UK: Air Forces Monthly, Alan Dawes, "That Crash - at Le Bourget", August 1999, Number 137, pages 50-53.{{YouTube|Yh-kuztsE1s|12 June 1999 Su-30MKI crash at Paris Air Show}}
Awards and recognition
- Order of the Red Banner of Labour, 1988.{{cite web |script-title=ru:Квочур Анатолий Николаевич 1952 |url=http://www.testpilot.ru/review/ispmig/pilot/kvochur.htm |access-date=16 April 2011 |publisher=TestPilot.ru |language=ru}}
- Honoured Test Pilot of the USSR, 8 August 1990.
- Hero of the Russian Federation, 17 November 1992.Presidential Decree of 17 November 1992 № 1401{{cite web |title=Decree of the President of the Russian Federation on 17 November 1992 N 1401 "Awarding the title of Hero of the Russian Federation, test pilots Flight Research Institute named after Gromov" (Указ Президента РФ от 17 ноября 1992 г. N 1401 "О присвоении звания Героя Российской Федерации летчикам-испытателям Летно-исследовательского института имени М.М. Громова") |url=http://www.pravoteka.ru/pst/1046/522609.html |access-date=17 April 2011 |publisher=Правотека.ру |language=ru}}
- Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 3rd class, 15 January 1998.Presidential Decree of 15 January 1998 № 38
References
{{commons category|Anatoly Kvochur}}
{{Reflist|2}}
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Category:People from Vinnytsia Oblast
Category:Gromov Flight Research Institute employees
Category:Moscow Aviation Institute alumni
Category:Heroes of the Russian Federation
Category:Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 3rd class
Category:Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour