Timur Avtandilowitsch Apakidze

Timur Awtandilowitsch Apakidse ( Georgian თემურ აფაქიძე Temur Apakidse ; Russian Тимур Автандилович Апакидзе ) (* 4. March 1954 in Tbilisi , Georgian SSR ; † 17th July 2001 in Russia ) was Major General of the Russian Air Force , fighter pilot and Hero of the Russian Federation . He was the founder of the modern Russian naval aviation and was considered one of the best pilots in Russian history. In addition, he was one of five pilots in the entire world who was able to master and perfect the so-called cobra maneuver .

Life

Youth and education

Timur Apakidze was born in 1954 in the royal Mingrelian house of the Apakidses. During the first year of his life, his mother moved with him to Leningrad , where he grew up and attended school. After graduating from school, he graduated from the Nakhimov Naval War School there and learned to fly. His extraordinary abilities attracted the attention of fleet management, so Apakidze 1971 in the Armed Forces appointed and in the same year in the Higher Military Aviation School of Yeisk was sent.

Military career

In 1975 Apakidze left Yeisk with the rank of lieutenant and was assigned to the 846th Independent Guards Naval Battle Aviation Regiment. Promoted to major in 1983 , he was given responsibility for unit training. He introduced karate into his training program. He took the view that pilots had to be prepared for all possible situations not only in the air but also on the ground. Apakidze graduated from the NG Kuznetsov Naval War Academy in 1986 and was appointed commander of the 100th Fighter Regiment in Nikolaev , Ukraine . In their “Center for Naval Aviation” he studied operating aircraft at sea.

For ten years Apakidze was considered one of the best pilots in the Soviet Union and Russia. Through his reputation he went down in the history of the Russian naval fleet as the founder of its modern naval aviation. During his career he flew 13 different types of aircraft. Apakidze was entrusted with the landing of a Su-33 on the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov on September 26, 1991 , which he managed without complications. On the same day, he carried out three more landing maneuvers and then tested the same maneuvers during the night and under difficult weather conditions. During the collapse of the Soviet Union later that year, Apakidze was already a colonel and main instructor at the Saky Naval Aviation School . He rejected both the oath to which the Soviet Union detached Ukraine and the offer of his now also independent homeland, Georgia , and flew with his regiment to Severomorsk . His reasoning was that "one can only take an oath once".

In 1992 Russia gave him command of their only naval fighter regiment, the 297th. A year later, he acted as deputy commander and in 1994 as acting commander of the 57th Air Division of the Northern Fleet . On August 17, 1995 he was named Hero of the Russian Federation by President Yeltsin for his contribution to the development of the Russian Navy and his numerous successful missions . Together with the Kuznetsov, his squadron went from 1995 to 1996 for training maneuvers in the Mediterranean , during which his pilots carried out 2,500 landing maneuvers without any incidents. The colonel himself took off with his plane up to seven times a day to keep his troops motivated. According to an Israeli military magazine, it was precisely during this period that they were confronted with Russian aircraft in their own airspace for the first time. The unknown aircraft, identified as a Su-27 or Su-33, would have been asked to move away. However, he outmaneuvered the Israeli airmen and set himself on an interception course before it gave way and then disappeared again.

Through Apakidse's efforts, the military leadership decided not to put the aircraft carrier Kuznezow out of service for financial reasons, as it now recognized great potential in naval aviation. However, their strength was severely limited with 15 operational machines. In 1997, Apakidze was promoted to major general and began to introduce the controversial cobra maneuver in his regiment. However, since it turned out to be too risky and rather unsuitable for a real combat mission, this venture was soon stopped. General Apakidze was thus one of only five pilots in the world who mastered this maneuver and carried it out on missions or air shows. In 1998, Apakidze graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces and became deputy commander of the training program for Russia's Air Force.

Air show accident

At an air show on July 17, 2001, General Apakidses Su-33 got out of control after a complex maneuver and crashed. The pilot tried to approach the runway until the last moment, moving away from the crowd. However, a few kilometers were still missing. The aircraft could no longer be raised and hit the ground in a controlled manner. Shortly after the impact, Apakidse released the ejector seat and landed on the asphalt at high speed. He suffered severe fractures and died from his injuries on the way to the hospital.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Герой России Апакидзе Тимур Автандилович :: Герои страны. In: warheroes.ru. March 4, 1954, accessed January 2, 2015 . 
2. ↑ ^{a b} Timur Apakidze - Encyclopedia of Safety. In: survincity.com. March 26, 2012, accessed January 2, 2015 . 
3. ↑ אתר חיל-האוויר. In: iaf.org.il. Retrieved January 2, 2015 . 
4. ↑ Jefim Gordon : Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker. Airlife, 1999 limited preview in Google Book search