Training aircraft

Besides simulator training, a lot of training was conducted by both the LII and GKNII pilots on many types of aircraft. This was mainly in preparation for the atmospheric landing tests on the BTS-002 and also to test the automatic landing systems in preparation for the first flight of Buran in 1988. The training took place both at LII in Zhukovskiy and at the Baykonur cosmodrome.

The most extensively used type of aircraft were Tupolev Tu-154 passenger planes converted as “flying laboratories’’ (Letayushchiye Laboratorii or LL) and therefore also known as Tu-154LL. These were the equivalents of the Shuttle Training Aircraft (STA) in the Space Shuttle program: Gulfstream II business jets which had their cockpit layouts modified to resemble that of the Shuttle. On the STA the left-side instrument panel was modified with a set of Orbiter displays and controls, while the right side contained the normal Gulfstream instruments as a safety measure. The Tu-154LL similarly had a “split-personality” cockpit, but here the Buran displays and controls were in the right side of the cockpit, with the windows draped to simulate the view out of Buran’s cockpit. As on the STA, an on-board computer system translated the pilot’s inputs into control movements largely mimicking those of Buran. In order to match the descent rate and drag profile of Buran, the thrust of the two side-mounted engines was reversed. Opening of the speed brake was simulated by controlling the thrust of the center engine. The Tu-154 flying labs were used to simulate both manned and automatic landings [36].

Although several Tu-154 aircraft were flown in support of the Buran program, only two had the modified cockpits (serial numbers 083 and 119, also known as LL-083 and LL-119, tail numbers CCCP-85083 and CCCP-85119). Other Tu-154 aircraft used by the Buran pilots had serial numbers 024 and 108 [37]. At least one of the aircraft reportedly also had a Buran-type cockpit installed in the front part of the passenger cabin [38].

Also actively used were several MiG-25 jets that simulated landings from much higher altitudes than the Tu-154 (over 20 km compared with about 10 km). One type was a modified version of the MiG-25RBK reconnaissance bomber, which had its standard equipment replaced by communication systems, telemetric equipment, and the like. Special containers with equipment could be mounted on pylons under the wings. Painted under the cockpit of these aircraft was the number 02.

The other was a modified version of the two-seater MiG-25PU training aircraft. It was known as MiG-25-SOTN (SOTN standing for optical/TV surveillance) and served the purpose of escorting other Buran-related training aircraft as well as Buran itself to the runway, with a cameraman seated in the front cockpit shooting video. The MiG-25-SOTN, piloted by Magomed Tolboyev, was in the air both for the launch and landing of Buran on 15 November 1988. Apart from serving as a chase aircraft, the MiG-25-SOTN was also used as a Buran training aircraft in its own right. It had the number 22 painted under the cockpit [39].

LII pilots conducted Buran approach and landing flight profiles on numerous other types of aircraft as well. As a training exercise, unpowered landings were not only performed on the Sukhoy Su-7 and Su-27 fighters, but also on heavy bombers such as the Tupolev Tu-16 and Tu-22M, and the Ilyushin Il-62 passenger plane

(reportedly the most difficult to fly under such conditions). Igor Volk and Anatoliy Levchenko even made unpowered landings from an altitude of 22 km on the super­sonic Tupolev Tu-144 (the twin of Concorde), although it is not entirely clear if this was in support of Buran [40].