40 years ago, on January 3, 1986, an analogue of the legendary Buran orbiter, equipped with four jet engines, made its second flight in the atmosphere. One of the pilots was cosmonaut Igor Volk. And here is the irony of fate: 31 years later, on that same day, Wolf died. On this day of remembrance of machines and people, we talk about their fate.
As you know, prototypes were created to test the Buran system. One of them is BTS-002 (Large transport aircraft).
What is the “twin brother” (as some call BTS-002) of the Soviet space shuttle? It was built in 1984 under the leadership of general designer Gleb Evgenievich Lozino-Lozinsky. Unlike the orbiter, it has an aircraft engine, thanks to which it can take off.
The length of the ship is 36 m, height – 16 m, wingspan – 24 m. Maximum speed – 600 km/h, landing speed – 300-330 km/h. This prototype is designed for ground testing and atmospheric testing of approach and landing procedures, including autonomous modes. Conducted 24 test flights during 1985-1988.
An interesting detail: during flights, the flight deck is operated in a decompressed state. It is designed for two pilots and is equipped with ejection seats.
Igor Volk was one of the pilots of BTS-002. He was called “the Chkalov of our time.” And that's no coincidence. He is a test pilot from God. He devoted 35 years to experimental flight work at the Gromov Flight Research Institute; in 1995-1997 he headed the Flight Test Center.
Wolf flew all types of fighters, transports and bombers. Tested an aerospace aircraft developed under the Spiral project. He was the first person to refuel a fighter jet in the air. Conducted spin tests, supersonic MiG tests and Su…
And on November 10, 1985, together with Rimantas Stankevicius, he took BTS-002 into the sky for the first time. By the way, they also made the first fully automatic landing on it on February 16, 1987. This was Buran's 10th flight.
In 1981, a specialized Experimental Cosmonaut Team of the Ministry of Aviation Industry of the USSR was established at LII. It is led by the Wolf. With someone's help, the squad began to be called that – “Wolf Pack”. It is said that the commander of the first Buran, also Igor Volk, was approved by his superiors.
In July 1984, he flew into space to the Salyut-7 station as a research cosmonaut aboard the Soyuz T-12 spacecraft. In the crew were Vladimir Dzhanibekov and Svetlana Savitskaya. They worked in orbit for 11 days, 19 hours, 14 minutes and 36 seconds. Immediately after landing, Dzhanibekov and Savitskaya were successfully evacuated from the landing module. But Igor Volk had to hang upside down from the belt for almost 40 minutes: for some reason he could not immediately open the metal box containing the returned goods. And the Wolf must escape using the “exhalation method”. Furthermore, as he himself recalls, the most important thing is to hold on tightly after sliding out – so as not to hit your head.
But they are still flowers. After landing, Volk almost had to take control of the Mi-28 helicopter: go to the airport and take off on the Tu-154! Along the Akhtubinsk – Baikonur route. And then, literally without stopping, he lifted the MiG-25 fighter into the sky. And this is also a test. According to plan! It is important for experts to evaluate the ability to control Buran after a long period of work in orbit.
As part of the space shuttle flight training program, Igor Volk worked on the manual control system and automatic landing system in the flight laboratory. One is equipped with the Buran control system, and the aerodynamic quality of the other is almost identical to the Buran…
In one of his interviews, Igor Volk said: “An astronaut is someone who strives in space, devoting his whole life to this. And I am a pilot. I was sent into space to gain experience in space flight. I had to prove that a professional pilot after a space flight could successfully land the Buran. I confirmed this.”
As is known, Buran in orbit, unlike its “twin”, made only one flight. In automatic mode. This happened on November 15, 1988. Then the program was terminated.
Until 1999, BTS-002 was kept at the EMZ named VM Myasishchev LII in Zhukovsky, and was periodically demonstrated at MAKS. Displayed in Sydney during the 2000 Olympic Games. In 2008, it became an exhibit at the Museum of Technology in the German city of Speer. This is the space exhibition center in the museum's largest pavilion built especially for it.
