The Su-9 was famed for its ‘willingness to fly’, and the type’s service record includes a few truly amazing incidents.
After being shut down in 1949, the Sukhoi Design Bureau was re-established in 1953 to address an urgent need for a high-speed interceptor capable of countering the growing threat from NATO bombers. The bureau quickly began developing a series of missile-equipped Mach 2 interceptors distinguished by their delta wings. The single-engine Su-9 (NATO reporting name: Fishpot-B) entered service in 1960, followed by the improved, more heavily armed Su-11 (Fishpot-C) in 1964, and then the twin-engine Su-15 (Flagon) in 1967.
As recounted by Yefim Gordon and Dmitriy Komissarov in Sukhoi Interceptors: The Su-9, Su-11, and Su-15: Unsung Soviet Cold War Heroes, the Su-9 reached initial operational capability (IOC) in 1959. It gradually replaced the subsonic, cannon-armed MiG-17PF all-weather interceptor and the missile-equipped supersonic MiG-19PM. By May 1960, the Fishpot-B was in frontline service with the Soviet air defense force’s fighter component (IA PVO).
The aircraft turned out to be quite a handful for flight crews. The Su-9 was renowned for its “willingness to fly,” and its service history features some truly remarkable episodes. On June 11, 1964, for example, a Su-9U from the 179th IAP (Fighter Aviation Regiment), flown by trainee Capt. Mel’nikov and instructor Maj. Nikolayev, was returning to Stryy AB after a training mission. During the approach, the crew lost focus, allowed the speed to drop to a dangerously low level, and decided to eject, fearing the trainer would stall and spin. Left unmanned, the aircraft unexpectedly recovered, climbed to about 1,300 m (4,265 ft), and circled the airbase until it ran out of fuel. It then glided down and landed (on its own) in a plowed field. Unfortunately, the touchdown was far from smooth, and the Su-9 sustained severe structural damage, and was declared a write-off.
Yet another instance in which the aircraft seemed to show more sense than its pilot occurred just seven months later. On Jan. 25, 1965, Lt.-Col. Ovcharov of the 737th IAP took off from Sary-Shagan AB on a night training sortie in a single-seat Su-9. Shortly after takeoff, he encountered a control system failure and immediately ejected. At daybreak the following morning, the aircraft was found 32 km (19¾ miles) from the base, almost completely intact except for a punctured No. 1 fuel tank. It had come down in the middle of the open steppe, resting on its drop tanks, which had been crushed flat on impact. The investigation revealed that the jet had not even burned all of its fuel, and it was pure luck that no fire had started. The unmanned Su-9 had touched down wings-level at about 400 km/h (248 mph), the smashed drop tanks acting like makeshift skis and carrying it some 250 m (820 ft) before it finally stopped. Remarkably, this extraordinary event was officially recorded as a “nonfatal accident/aircraft repairable,” and the Su-9 was in fact repaired and returned to active service.
Aware of the Su-9’s reliability problems, pilots said: ‘Flying the Su-9 is like cuddling a tiger: it feels good, but it is dangerous and the outcome is uncertain.’
Sukhoi Interceptors: The Su-9, Su-11, and Su-15: Unsung Soviet Cold War Heroes is published by Schiffer Publishing and is available to order here.
Photo by Alan Wilson from Stilton, Peterborough, Cambs, UK via Wikipedia
