Viktor Pugachev
Viktor Georgiyevich Pugachev is retired Russian Air Force officer and a former Soviet test pilot who was the first to demonstrate the so-called Pugachev's Cobra manoeuvre to the general public in 1989, flying an Su-27. Gold medal of the Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded to him in the late 1980s. He graduated from Yeysk military aviation school in 1970, test-pilot school in 1978 and the Moscow Aviation Institute in 1980. After two years with Gromov Flight Research Institute he joined OKB Sukhoi where he tested the Su-9, Su-15, Su-24, Su-25 and the Su-27. On 1 November 1989 he landed an Su-27K on an aircraft carrier for the first time in Soviet history. He became famous after his 1989 Su-27 demonstrations on the Paris Airshow. Pugachev is credited with first ever non-vertical take-off and landing from the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov.
He currently lives in Zhukovsky and works as the Chief Pilot Designer at Sukhoi Design Bureau.
Record flights
While working as a test pilot at Sukhoi he broke 13 world records in the Sukhoi P-42:| Date | Class | Description | Record | Status |
| 1986-11-15 | C-1 | Time to climb to 3,000 m | 25.37 s | Record |
| 1986-11-15 | C-1h | Time to climb to 3,000 m | 25.37 s | Record |
| 1986-11-15 | C-1 | Time to climb to 6,000 m | 37.05 s | Record |
| 1986-11-15 | C-1h | Time to climb to 6,000 m | 37.05 s | Record |
| 1986-11-15 | C-1 | Time to climb to 9,000 m | 47.03 s | Improved to 44.18 s by same aircraft |
| 1986-11-15 | C-1h | Time to climb to 9,000 m | 47.03 s | Improved to 44.18 s by same aircraft |
| 1986-11-15 | C-1 | Time to climb to 12,000 m | 58.10 s | Improved to 55.54 s by same aircraft |
| 1986-11-15 | C-1h | Time to climb to 12,000 m | 58.10 s | Improved to 55.54 s by same aircraft |
| 1990-03-29 | C-1h | Time to climb to 15,000 m with 1,000 kg payload | 1 m 21.71 s | Record |
| 1993-05-20 | C-1i | Time to climb to 15,000 m | 2 m 6 s | Record |
| 1993-05-20 | C-1i | Time to climb to 15,000 m with 1,000 kg payload | 2 m 6 s | Record |
| 1993-05-20 | C-1i | Maximum payload to 15,000 m | 1,015 kg | Record |
| 1993-05-20 | C-1i | Maximum altitude with 1,000 kg payload | 22,250 m | Record |
Honours and awards
- Hero of the Soviet Union – for courage and heroism in the development of the Su-27
- Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 3rd class – for services to the state, a large contribution to the development, creation of modern aviation technology and years of diligent work
- Order of Lenin
- Order of the Badge of Honour
- Order for Personal Courage
- Honoured Test Pilot of the USSR
- Order of Ivan Kalita
- Prize Laureate. Vladimir Vysotsky's "Own Track"
- Jubilee Medal "300 Years of the Russian Navy"
- Medal "In Commemoration of the 850th Anniversary of Moscow"