Mikhail Simonov’s combat and aerobatic planes

On Friday, March 4, Sukhoi chief designer Mikhail Simonov died at the age of 81. He was best known as one of the chief designers of the Su-27 fighter, the best fourth-generation fighter.
Photo: A Su-27 at Belarus’ Machulishchi Military Airfield near Minsk during the Russian-Belarusian military exercise Union Shield 2006.

The Su-27 multirole fighter has many variants, among them the Su-30, the carrier-based fighter Su-33 and the frontline bomber Su-34.
Photo: A Su-30 MK during its preflight routine on the eve of the 8th International Aviation and Space Salon (MAKS).

The multirole carrier-based naval fighter Su-33 was designed to defend naval ships from airborne attacks. The first prototype was tested in 1987.

The Su-34 can be used for bombing, reconnaissance and aerial combat. It has a wide range of air-to-air and air-to-surface weapons.

Mikhail Simonov supervised the construction of the Su-26 aerobatic plane and its variants – the Su-26M, Su-29, Su-31 and Su-49, which became the best in their class worldwide.
Photo: A Su-26 during a training flight of the USSR aerobatics team before the European championship in France.

Simonov established the Sukhoi’s Aeroclub, whose pilots have won the Russian, European and world championships multiple times in individual and team events.
Photo: A Soviet-era aerobatic Su-26M.

Design work on the two-seat aerobatic Su-29 (pictured) began in 1990. The first test flights were conducted one year later.

The first flight of the aerobatic Su-31 (pictured) was in 1992. The plane won major European and world championships and airshows.

The Sukhoi Design Bureau was founded in 1939. The company designed a large number of military aircraft over the years. The aerobatic Su-26, Su-29 and Su-31 won more than 150 gold medals at world and European championships.
Photo: Su-49s during a training flight at the MosAeroshow-92 international exhibition.