Where on earth would you get first hand 80's - 90's German Air Force and serving pilot info, other than here. This stuff is solid gold, priceless history. Bravo.
I found this by accident. I thought it wouldn't interest me. 1 hour later and I'm still watching. Love hearing from people that have been there and done it. Thanks for producing this...
The fantastic professionalism of this man, leaves breathless, remarkable interview, impartial, really exceptional when it comes to the relations between East and West, and the fanstatic MIG-29 plane.
There is one thing, he talks about the MiG-29 being the first fighter to have the helmet sight, but the F-4 had it decades earlier in the VTAS helmet series.
Fond memories of Luftwaffe F-4s and Mig29s making fuel stops at CFB North Bay in the nineties as they transited to Maple Flag in Canada's West. Privileged to pretty much unrestricted ramp access for both occasions. (They fueled at civilian ramp) The 5 german Migs with the russian stenciling were certainly a surreal sight at what had been an important NORAD base. The cartridge start of 12 Phantoms is equally something to behold. Ah the good old days. Great interview with great questions as always.
I really enjoyed this interview. I liked his candor and ability to describe both the positive and negatives. I see other videos from arm chair pilots who feign knowledge on whether the Mig 29 was a good fighter jet, or not. I give their opinion little to no weight. This pilot is basing his opinion on 800 hours in a Mig 29, as well as thousands of hours in other planes.
What a guy. Humble and very respectful towards others. He talks with excitement in his voice when describing his experiences of flying. He’s like a kid getting presents on his birthday. Thanks for posting these videos. I love talking with pilots. They all have exciting stories of their own to tell.
I am so happy to have seen this , Robert is very charismatic and a great story teller and could tell so much more , a book or three would be more than welcome! Thank you so much for doing the interview and to the Captain for such an engrossing story! Well done all! Les
This is hands down the best interview! For me it also has a personal component: While in the Army, a good friend of mine and I had filled in application forms for the German Air Force back in '95. I tore up mine and binned it (and stuck to flying gliders) while my friend handed in his and got accepted! Unfortunately he ended up flying the ground attack Tornado, which according to him (and others) was a dog. He eventually got sacked for overstressing the airframe twice in dissimilar combat (the ground attack Tornado had a ridiculously low g-limit with external stores). Thanks to your work, this way we - the regular pedestrians, the "almost pilots" - get to enjoy the stories. Many thanks and keep it up!
I think this is my all time favorite Aircraft Interview. I have loved aviation since being a small child and getting to listen to such a experienced and amazing pilot and gentleman is truely a pleasure!
I just stumbled upon this wonderful interview. It is refreshing and fascinating to hear someone talk about the Mig-29 and the differing approaches to air-combat between the West and the Soviets in such an objective way from experience. Great for a Fulcrum fanboy like myself. I will definately be watching the other videos when I can. :D
it's not just badassery to me, russian fighters always seemed to have a 'personality' or 'statement', while US fighters (to me at least) look too polished, artificial and shiny, although they are beautiful birds (don't get me wrong).
same here and found what i was looking for for a long time "the enigma" on what happened to the german Mig29 before they were sold to Poland for one euro lol
Herr Hierl MIG legend continue into a MIG statute, due to your professional and honest statements about the plane itself given in the interview. I love it and thank you for your experiences and impressions sharing with us publicly. It is always something romantic in the air when talking about MIG airplanes and listening you I see you really enjoyed doing it. Thank you
All that I can add to this wonderful retrospective are my grateful feelings for this great man, Robert Hierl. Not very many people in the aviation industry can possibly possess the bandwidth of aviation knowledge that he does between Cold war, and post Cold war aero-technology, especially in the combat flying arena... Thank you so much for sharing this interview.
That was wonderful. If I ever have enough money, I’m going to pay to fly the Collins foundation f-4. I’m a medically retired airline pilot. Miss flying. But life isn’t fair and we must move on when a door is closed. I get to enjoy a lot of memories and am thankful for interviews like this.
Hah, great sense of humor, and great video - Mig29 was my favorite fighter growing up after seeing it at the Abby air show back in the late 80s/early 90s.
great interview. Very respectful and interesting to listen . Pilots in Russia or The USA can easily be friends. I've seen an interview of Russian tu 160 pilot with two f22 supposively intercepted close to Alaska and his all thought were how beautiful their formation was with 2 x f22 and tu160 in the middle . He said " I wish we could show it on the parade " lol.... It's like cosmonauts and astronauts are always close friends . Special type of ppl . Alpha genetics like crusaders back in the day.
Wtf you talking about? Aplpha genetics. There is many women pilots in air forces. We saw even interwievs with them on this channel.. and British RAF Eurofighter pilot almost cried about having depression like a little girl.
It almost goes without saying that this is one of the best, if not the best, aviation channels on UA-cam. Incredibly interesting and informative, your interview technique is excellent and the people who you interview give us such a refreshing and clear insight into a world we can only vaguely imagine ourselves. Thanks to Robbs Heirl and you I now know a lot more than I did an hour ago!
I happened upon this video by accident and absolutely loved it. What a fantastic guy with a fantastic knowledge an insight. Thank you for sharing this, subbed for certain.
As someone who has also been interested in flying since childhood (who hasn't?), I am happy to have found this very interesting and factual post about flying itself as well as the wonderful MiG-29. Thanks to a rudimentary knowledge of English and the YT translation function, I was able to follow things wonderfully. When I was young, I read everything I could get my hands on about aviation. And that was especially from the military publishing house of the GDR about Soviet designers and pilots and their experiences in World War II (Pokryshkin, Koshedub, Gallay, Jakowlew, Polikarpov...). After the fall of the Wall, of course, supplemented by the history of the German pilots in World War I and II (Bölke, Richthofen, Hartmann, Galland, Nowotny...) In real life, instead of actually experiencing the repeatedly dreamed flight in one of the famous Polikarpov I-16 ("Rata" or "Mosca"), I unfortunately stayed with watching. The greatest experience was the incredibly short take-off of a MiG-29 in Eberswalde-Finow on the occasion of the (unique?) open day at the local Soviet air base in the early 1990s. You saw it - and still couldn't believe it! Their flight simulator, which you could also visit, consisted of a kind of "model railway" over which a camera was moved according to the pilot's inputs...
This interview should be part of training of every fighter pilot. Just a downright sensible guy answering in measured, sometimes humorous, manner his experiences during training and retraining. Engaging to listen to even though camera is just focused on him all the time.
Another great interview! Particularly fascinating to learn of the contrasting Soviet/Western approaches to pilot autonomy. All these interviewees are so self-effacing in their own way, yet also leave you in no doubt about their own professionalism and competence. Nice to hear from a German pilot.
"fascinating to learn of the contrasting Soviet/Western approaches to pilot autonomy." to be honest i find it the most unreliable part of this interview, the whole story of general asking someone on the ground about ejecting... that sounds completly improbable if that stroy is corect then i can bet it was all because he was general, thats why he was able to fly on something that he should not and was asking for permision to eject to put blame of that action out of himself(there is no time in a jet to ask for everything via radio and explain situation to someone else before you do what you should do, just watch some video of MiG 29 crashing during Airshows how little time pilot needed to do what he should). In Polish aviation pilot have the last word to everything on board of the plane you can ignore 4 star general that is with you as pasanger... From what i know Polish pilots was often crashing with plane for two reasons 1)they were afraid that the whole situation is somehow their own fault and if they eject of the plane and crash it they will be in big troble. 2). Soviet ejection seats was kicking your backbone so hard that your chances for some serious injury was 50/50 and people that experienced that crushing force once was even less likely to taste it again and many ended with permanent damage to the backbone after first ejection(and was forced to end flying as pilots). And for example in case of MiG 21 at the begining there was common problem with engine nozle, it was spreading during fllight like it should only during afterburner mode and because of that engine was losing huge chunk of power when it was doing that in norman mode so pilots was thinking that its not working at all and was trying to restart it(and by doing so they were losing any engine power), especialy during take off it was very dangerous and pilots was switching engine off and on when in reality it was providing enough thrust to land it safely. btw I found it funy that there is so many Polish names among US pilots in this interview: Michalski, Chankowiak... ;)
Multiple pilots who were involved with this MiG-29 conversion program said the East Germans quickly came to realize that their Western counterparts were far better trained than they were, and many of them could not hold up to the basic Western standards since it required a lot of autonomy, quick decision-making without any ground control, very fast & fluid flight teamwork to develop your own picture together of the BVR approach, merge tactics, contingencies with 4v4, wingmen supporting wingmen, etc. Robert Hierl concludes that they would have been better suited even in the older F-4F based on their tactics alone, so when you put 4th Gen Western fighters with Western pilots in them vs MiG-29 with Soviet bloc training, it wasn't really a fair fight.
@@Bialy_1 The pilots with the Polish names were West German. The Mig 29 crashes at Airshows were being flown by Test Pilots. The General story is mostly likely one of those stories that has been passed from person to person and has been changed somewhat as it has been passed down the line. It kind of reminds me of a couple of stories I first heard in the 1980's. The first was while I was an 16 year old RAF Air Cadet in 1982 on a summer camp at RAF Binbrook. for a couple of day's I got to work on the BAC Lightnings and got to hear all sorts of horror stories about the aircraft from the ground crew. One of them involved a ground run of the engines with a groundcrew sitting on a box as there is ejection seat fitted and there is no canopy fitted either. Some how the aircraft took off and the Engineer managed to land it. Later thanks to the Internet, I find out that the event did happen, but it was a high speed taxi trial to see why the aircraft generators keep tripping out when reheat is engaged at take off, The driver was the CO of the Maintenance Unit, a Wing Commander Engineering Officer who has had some formal pilot training and has RAF Pilot Wings. He's sitting in an ejection seat, but its pinned for servicing so he can't eject and there was no canopy fitted to the aircraft. He pushed the throttles into reheat and couldn't then get the engines to throttle back in time so he had to take off or be killed. Managed to land the aircraft after a few attempts and got bad PTSD afterwards. The other story I heard in 1985 (after joining the RAF) about how RAF Valley killed their Station Commander (Commanding Officer) and Air Officer Commanding when they put Jet fuel into a piston engine powered Beagle Basset light communication aircraft, then the CO took the AOC up on a joyride during his formal Inspection and the aircraft crashed. Turned out many years later that the Story had somewhat been embellished. The Station Commander had been flying the aircraft, it had been fuelled with Avtur and it did crash after takeoff when the engines stopped. The CO was however not killed (though one person onboard was) and the AOC was nowhere near the place. One of the Russian's who crashed a Mig 29, I've seen in the air three times, once in a Mig 29 and twice in an Su-27. I also happened to see the first trial where Robert fought a Tornado F3 in the Mig 29 on the radar that controlled the sortie during the missile firing trials at RAF Valley (got to sit in one of the Migs during the visit).
One of the best interview i've seen in the channel. Very interesting topics explained by a joyful and passionate pilot in a kind and comprehensible way. Thank you!
What an amazing guest and an amazing interviewer to top it off. Loved it from start to finish. Thanks for the great work and looking forward to watch more of these insightful interviews.
Just a quick note, interesting at 24:51 he mentions that "... angels were pushing you." Galland said the same thing with the flight on the 262. Coincidence? ;) Two pilots, in awe of their machines.
I’m not sure he was trying to make out the 29 was inferior, more portraying the view that was widely held in the west. Absolutely great interview though huh?
One of the best interviews on the channel. Not only is the "MiG-29 in western hands" -part interesting, but there are also intriguing tidbits of history from one of the most amazing events of our recent times, i.e. the German reunification (and how it affected the Luftwaffe). I could have listened to mr. Hierl for hours.
Wernher von Kerman not exactly true since Poland bought 20 new Migs 29 ( A and UB two seaters combat training versions) from USSR in 1988-1989. In early 2000s was also barter trade with Czech republic .. their 9 Migs-29 for 11 Polish W-3 Sokol helicopters .. and later Migs from germany were taken for symbolic price of One Euro each.. but also some of them ( in the best condition) were taken to the service.., more than half of them were canibalised for parts. Since 1989 Russians didn’t sold a single one screw, bolt or srub to service Polish Migs. Migs bought from USSR and From Czech republic are in base in Mińsk Mazowiecki. „ Kościuszko squadron .. with this sign on aircraft back and faces of fighter aces from battle of England .. ex german Migs-29 are in the base in Malbork ..so called krzyżacy ... Teutons.. teutonic order knights.. Cheers.BTW you can see ex german migs in videos Fulcrum drivers, Fulcrum drivers II and Fulcrum drivers III , live fire excersises, joint flights with Eurofighter Typhoons, Mirage 2000, F-16 A MLU, Mig-21 Lancer from Romanian air force.. etc
Im so happy i came across this channel! Really fascinating listening to theese pilots from different countries, they all seems so passionate about flying and aircrafts. Good stuff, thanks!
What a fascinating interview, one of the best on this consistently excellent channel! Well done Mike, and what an erudite and intelligent guy to interview. A unique perspective on a very interesting aircraft, great to watch.
Excellent interview, very thourough and interesting, especially about the Eastern German spies / pilots, also the flight characteristics of the Fulcrum. Well done on another fantastic interview Mike ☺
phantastic interview of an ex phabulous phantom driver. his insights into first thoughts of the 29 and how the east flew fighters differently to the west was great. I hope someone with an airworthy fw-190 sees this and offers him a flight. we had one in Australia but I havent anything of it for the last year
The different principle of training and ground command pays of in war. While with few very experienced pilots you are able to win some battles. After a year or two, you'll end up missing pilots. While if you keep the system simple and pilots rely more on commanders from ground, you are good to go even if all experienced guys are depleted and you are replacing them with freshly drafted men.. And yes, East German Air force was expected to be eliminated within first day or two of any west-east conflict, so it was not worth to invest too much fly hours in their training. While for example further on east here in Czechoslovakia many pilots had thousands of fly hours....
Thank you, and the pilots, for these amazing interviews. Great exemples of professionalism, humility (more often than not) and open minds... This one in particular is so interesting!
Just came across this today. What a great interview and an even greater guy. As someone said before me, a really great ambassador for the German Air Force and Germany itself to some extent. And it‘s just amazing to see that fighter pilots of his liking from wherever part of the planet and they come and whatever service they flew for, they all speak the same language if you will. All cut from the same cloth.
Such a good interview I'm speechless. I just discovered your channel but your interviews are the best aviation interviews I've seen. You sure do know how to pick your "targets". Please don't stop doing this.
An extremely fascinating interview, specifically with regards to the East/West German unification within the air force, rooting out the spies etc. Well done Mike. Superb English clearly a guy who was at the top of his game.
Just a thought. What do you think about possibly of doing more eastern block aircraft pilot interviews. We have so much info on western types but this interview was eye opening. The way he described the 30mm cannon firing for example. Polish Su-22 pilot maybe? Middle east air force pilots? Either way, great channel.
Clicked on this almost by accident, after watching my daily dosis of "Mover" YT vd's, which is a former US fighter pilot, and find this channel. 18 minutes in, and i'm still watching and will do this to the end! Very interessting for me to hear, from perhaps one of the most strategics places on the map, regarding to the cold war...i of course is checking in from Denmark. If the war came, we (Denmark) was in the very frontline of it all, and growing up as a teenager in the 80's, we could really fell that underlying treat upon us 24/7. Me myself was not frightened by this on a regular basis, but i was very aware about the whole thing, getting by day by day. With that in context, this interview just became more interesting for me. Cheers from Denmark...stay safe & peace.
Lol. I Watch from Poland. Polish main role in Cold war was to invade Denmark by big landing operation and mass scale tactical nukes air attacks (180 tactical and operational nukes) on strongpoints performed by 3 SU-22 M4 on each attack to prevent pilots feeling guilty of killing so many thousends of human beeings. Not sp long ago Danish TV was in Poland and recorded for Nukes over Denmark kind of document
Saw this video wid lots of speculation bt it turned out to be the best aviation interview iv watched !! So much for Mig 29 being antic and inferior that to coming from a test pilot !! Loved it!!!
Where on earth would you get first hand 80's - 90's German Air Force and serving pilot info, other than here.
This stuff is solid gold, priceless history. Bravo.
Thanks very much Ben :)
Many thanks !
@@zepter00 wow, good story!
I found this by accident. I thought it wouldn't interest me. 1 hour later and I'm still watching. Love hearing from people that have been there and done it. Thanks for producing this...
You’re welcome and glad you stayed for the whole hour.
Fascinating interview. What a great ambassador for the German airforce. Excellent.
Thanks Mark.
Yes! I'm glad this gentleman is on "our side".
The fantastic professionalism of this man, leaves breathless, remarkable interview, impartial, really exceptional when it comes to the relations between East and West, and the fanstatic MIG-29 plane.
There is one thing, he talks about the MiG-29 being the first fighter to have the helmet sight, but the F-4 had it decades earlier in the VTAS helmet series.
Yep, but it wasnt intended to be used for off boresight shots
Fascinating man talking with such enthusiasm
You can tell he had/has a passion for the MiG and aviation in general.
Fond memories of Luftwaffe F-4s and Mig29s making fuel stops at CFB North Bay in the nineties as they transited to Maple Flag in Canada's West. Privileged to pretty much unrestricted ramp access for both occasions. (They fueled at civilian ramp)
The 5 german Migs with the russian stenciling were certainly a surreal sight at what had been an important NORAD base.
The cartridge start of 12 Phantoms is equally something to behold. Ah the good old days.
Great interview with great questions as always.
Thanks Keith. Sounds like you also had a very great experience with the MiG.
Any photos from.back then?
I really enjoyed this interview. I liked his candor and ability to describe both the positive and negatives. I see other videos from arm chair pilots who feign knowledge on whether the Mig 29 was a good fighter jet, or not. I give their opinion little to no weight. This pilot is basing his opinion on 800 hours in a Mig 29, as well as thousands of hours in other planes.
Very well said. This guy’s *been there*.
@@iain075 Thanks for the reply. Yup, I have to agree with you...he sure has been there. What a flying career.
One of your best interviews, so informative and Herr Hierl was a joy to listen to.
Thank you Chris.
@@Aircrewinterview If you can.. someday please make more interviews with this one it looks like he has alot of cool things to share.
What a guy. Humble and very respectful towards others. He talks with excitement in his voice when describing his experiences of flying. He’s like a kid getting presents on his birthday.
Thanks for posting these videos. I love talking with pilots. They all have exciting stories of their own to tell.
This interview and this bloke were brilliant. 👍
Cheers!
What a great interview. This guy is one of the most genuinely honest pilots I've seen interviewed.
Thank you.
Watched it again, just amazing. What a man and a pilot, an example to learn from.
I am so happy to have seen this , Robert is very charismatic and a great story teller and could tell so much more , a book or three would be more than welcome! Thank you so much for doing the interview and to the Captain for such an engrossing story! Well done all! Les
Cheers Les, great to hear you enjoyed it.
Agree, Robert needs to write a book. Fascinating stories, great experiences.
This is hands down the best interview! For me it also has a personal component: While in the Army, a good friend of mine and I had filled in application forms for the German Air Force back in '95. I tore up mine and binned it (and stuck to flying gliders) while my friend handed in his and got accepted! Unfortunately he ended up flying the ground attack Tornado, which according to him (and others) was a dog. He eventually got sacked for overstressing the airframe twice in dissimilar combat (the ground attack Tornado had a ridiculously low g-limit with external stores).
Thanks to your work, this way we - the regular pedestrians, the "almost pilots" - get to enjoy the stories. Many thanks and keep it up!
Have to say, I genuinely admire German pilots. So well spoken, so professional. Formidable allies to have.
Love his attitude. Very positive and professional.
Another outstanding interview on this channel, Mike. That hour flew by quicker than a MiG29 climbing to 40Kft.
I like that one! Cheers Tee Jay.
Robert is a really cool guy, loved the interview so much. Thanks !!
I think this is my all time favorite Aircraft Interview. I have loved aviation since being a small child and getting to listen to such a experienced and amazing pilot and gentleman is truely a pleasure!
I just stumbled upon this wonderful interview. It is refreshing and fascinating to hear someone talk about the Mig-29 and the differing approaches to air-combat between the West and the Soviets in such an objective way from experience. Great for a Fulcrum fanboy like myself.
I will definately be watching the other videos when I can. :D
I’m glad you found us and hopefully you will enjoy our other interviews.
Right i live in the us and love almost all the west fighter but for some reason the mig-29 just seems the most badass fighter minus the f-22
it's not just badassery to me, russian fighters always seemed to have a 'personality' or 'statement', while US fighters (to me at least) look too polished, artificial and shiny, although they are beautiful birds (don't get me wrong).
same here and found what i was looking for for a long time "the enigma" on what happened to the german Mig29 before they were sold to Poland for one euro lol
I too just subscribed to your channel great work indeed.
Herr Hierl MIG legend continue into a MIG statute, due to your professional and honest statements about the plane itself given in the interview. I love it and thank you for your experiences and impressions sharing with us publicly. It is always something romantic in the air when talking about MIG airplanes and listening you I see you really enjoyed doing it. Thank you
One of the best aviation interviews ever seen...
Thank you!
All that I can add to this wonderful retrospective are my grateful feelings for this great man, Robert Hierl. Not very many people in the aviation industry can possibly possess the bandwidth of aviation knowledge that he does between Cold war, and post Cold war aero-technology, especially in the combat flying arena... Thank you so much for sharing this interview.
That was wonderful. If I ever have enough money, I’m going to pay to fly the Collins foundation f-4. I’m a medically retired airline pilot. Miss flying. But life isn’t fair and we must move on when a door is closed. I get to enjoy a lot of memories and am thankful for interviews like this.
WONDERFULL.....GREAT... INSIGHT....WHAT A INTERVIEW......THANKS MR. ROBERT HEIRL..... and film crew.... .
You’re welcome.
Great interview, greetings from Slovakia!!! (My country still uses Mig-29)
Thanks Marek.
Man, what a great pilot to listen to and what a good interview. Thank you!
i've seen a few of these interviews so far and what strikes me is how humble they are and the pure love of flying.
Would be really interesting to get a GDR pilot interview! Loved this, thanks to all involved.
The Luftwaffe has always been a top notch organization! Great interview 👍
Hah, great sense of humor, and great video - Mig29 was my favorite fighter growing up after seeing it at the Abby air show back in the late 80s/early 90s.
He certainly does and a lovely chap too. It’s also one of my favourites but certainly by favourite Russian jet.
Such enthusiasm by Hierl. What a great conversation, thank you.
Thanks Povl
great interview. Very respectful and interesting to listen . Pilots in Russia or The USA can easily be friends. I've seen an interview of Russian tu 160 pilot with two f22 supposively intercepted close to Alaska and his all thought were how beautiful their formation was with 2 x f22 and tu160 in the middle . He said " I wish we could show it on the parade " lol.... It's like cosmonauts and astronauts are always close friends . Special type of ppl . Alpha genetics like crusaders back in the day.
Thanks Philip.
'Xcept the crusaders were a bunch of thugs and assholes
Wtf you talking about? Aplpha genetics. There is many women pilots in air forces. We saw even interwievs with them on this channel.. and British RAF Eurofighter pilot almost cried about having depression like a little girl.
Mr. Hierl makes me proud to have served in the same airforce in 1986/7👍🏻
It almost goes without saying that this is one of the best, if not the best, aviation channels on UA-cam. Incredibly interesting and informative, your interview technique is excellent and the people who you interview give us such a refreshing and clear insight into a world we can only vaguely imagine ourselves. Thanks to Robbs Heirl and you I now know a lot more than I did an hour ago!
Thanks very much!
I happened upon this video by accident and absolutely loved it. What a fantastic guy with a fantastic knowledge an insight. Thank you for sharing this, subbed for certain.
Much appreciated Jack 👍
As someone who has also been interested in flying since childhood (who hasn't?), I am happy to have found this very interesting and factual post about flying itself as well as the wonderful MiG-29.
Thanks to a rudimentary knowledge of English and the YT translation function, I was able to follow things wonderfully.
When I was young, I read everything I could get my hands on about aviation.
And that was especially from the military publishing house of the GDR about Soviet designers and pilots and their experiences in World War II (Pokryshkin, Koshedub, Gallay, Jakowlew, Polikarpov...).
After the fall of the Wall, of course, supplemented by the history of the German pilots in World War I and II (Bölke, Richthofen, Hartmann, Galland, Nowotny...)
In real life, instead of actually experiencing the repeatedly dreamed flight in one of the famous Polikarpov I-16 ("Rata" or "Mosca"), I unfortunately stayed with watching.
The greatest experience was the incredibly short take-off of a MiG-29 in Eberswalde-Finow on the occasion of the (unique?) open day at the local Soviet air base in the early 1990s.
You saw it - and still couldn't believe it!
Their flight simulator, which you could also visit, consisted of a kind of "model railway" over which a camera was moved according to the pilot's inputs...
He (inadvertently?) quotes Adolf Galland on the Me-262, “it’s as if angels were pushing.”
This is absolutely one of the coolest interviews I have ever seen.
Thank you kind sir!
Mike great interview...and Robert thanks for being there for all of us...peace
Cheers mate.
This interview should be part of training of every fighter pilot. Just a downright sensible guy answering in measured, sometimes humorous, manner his experiences during training and retraining. Engaging to listen to even though camera is just focused on him all the time.
Another great interview! Particularly fascinating to learn of the contrasting Soviet/Western approaches to pilot autonomy. All these interviewees are so self-effacing in their own way, yet also leave you in no doubt about their own professionalism and competence. Nice to hear from a German pilot.
Cheers Adam. Hopefully it gives a nice insight into the Mig and German flying as a whole.
"fascinating to learn of the contrasting Soviet/Western approaches to pilot autonomy." to be honest i find it the most unreliable part of this interview, the whole story of general asking someone on the ground about ejecting... that sounds completly improbable if that stroy is corect then i can bet it was all because he was general, thats why he was able to fly on something that he should not and was asking for permision to eject to put blame of that action out of himself(there is no time in a jet to ask for everything via radio and explain situation to someone else before you do what you should do, just watch some video of MiG 29 crashing during Airshows how little time pilot needed to do what he should). In Polish aviation pilot have the last word to everything on board of the plane you can ignore 4 star general that is with you as pasanger... From what i know Polish pilots was often crashing with plane for two reasons 1)they were afraid that the whole situation is somehow their own fault and if they eject of the plane and crash it they will be in big troble. 2). Soviet ejection seats was kicking your backbone so hard that your chances for some serious injury was 50/50 and people that experienced that crushing force once was even less likely to taste it again and many ended with permanent damage to the backbone after first ejection(and was forced to end flying as pilots). And for example in case of MiG 21 at the begining there was common problem with engine nozle, it was spreading during fllight like it should only during afterburner mode and because of that engine was losing huge chunk of power when it was doing that in norman mode so pilots was thinking that its not working at all and was trying to restart it(and by doing so they were losing any engine power), especialy during take off it was very dangerous and pilots was switching engine off and on when in reality it was providing enough thrust to land it safely.
btw I found it funy that there is so many Polish names among US pilots in this interview: Michalski, Chankowiak... ;)
Multiple pilots who were involved with this MiG-29 conversion program said the East Germans quickly came to realize that their Western counterparts were far better trained than they were, and many of them could not hold up to the basic Western standards since it required a lot of autonomy, quick decision-making without any ground control, very fast & fluid flight teamwork to develop your own picture together of the BVR approach, merge tactics, contingencies with 4v4, wingmen supporting wingmen, etc. Robert Hierl concludes that they would have been better suited even in the older F-4F based on their tactics alone, so when you put 4th Gen Western fighters with Western pilots in them vs MiG-29 with Soviet bloc training, it wasn't really a fair fight.
@@Bialy_1 The pilots with the Polish names were West German. The Mig 29 crashes at Airshows were being flown by Test Pilots. The General story is mostly likely one of those stories that has been passed from person to person and has been changed somewhat as it has been passed down the line. It kind of reminds me of a couple of stories I first heard in the 1980's. The first was while I was an 16 year old RAF Air Cadet in 1982 on a summer camp at RAF Binbrook. for a couple of day's I got to work on the BAC Lightnings and got to hear all sorts of horror stories about the aircraft from the ground crew. One of them involved a ground run of the engines with a groundcrew sitting on a box as there is ejection seat fitted and there is no canopy fitted either. Some how the aircraft took off and the Engineer managed to land it. Later thanks to the Internet, I find out that the event did happen, but it was a high speed taxi trial to see why the aircraft generators keep tripping out when reheat is engaged at take off, The driver was the CO of the Maintenance Unit, a Wing Commander Engineering Officer who has had some formal pilot training and has RAF Pilot Wings. He's sitting in an ejection seat, but its pinned for servicing so he can't eject and there was no canopy fitted to the aircraft. He pushed the throttles into reheat and couldn't then get the engines to throttle back in time so he had to take off or be killed. Managed to land the aircraft after a few attempts and got bad PTSD afterwards. The other story I heard in 1985 (after joining the RAF) about how RAF Valley killed their Station Commander (Commanding Officer) and Air Officer Commanding when they put Jet fuel into a piston engine powered Beagle Basset light communication aircraft, then the CO took the AOC up on a joyride during his formal Inspection and the aircraft crashed. Turned out many years later that the Story had somewhat been embellished. The Station Commander had been flying the aircraft, it had been fuelled with Avtur and it did crash after takeoff when the engines stopped. The CO was however not killed (though one person onboard was) and the AOC was nowhere near the place. One of the Russian's who crashed a Mig 29, I've seen in the air three times, once in a Mig 29 and twice in an Su-27. I also happened to see the first trial where Robert fought a Tornado F3 in the Mig 29 on the radar that controlled the sortie during the missile firing trials at RAF Valley (got to sit in one of the Migs during the visit).
One of the best interview i've seen in the channel. Very interesting topics explained by a joyful and passionate pilot in a kind and comprehensible way. Thank you!
46:22 the best explanation for gatling-gun 😉
Thanks for this Mike - Herr Hierl seems so humble despite all his achievements, I really respect that.
Thank you for the interview, and wish Robert Hierl good health.
Cheers George
What an amazing guest and an amazing interviewer to top it off. Loved it from start to finish. Thanks for the great work and looking forward to watch more of these insightful interviews.
Thank you very much for your kind words!
What a great chap, thank you Robert for sharing your experiences with us.
Just a quick note, interesting at 24:51 he mentions that "... angels were pushing you." Galland said the same thing with the flight on the 262.
Coincidence? ;) Two pilots, in awe of their machines.
Well...it's a common german phrase, especially after Galland made it popular in the aviation community...
One of your best interviews yet
:)
Love the way the interviewer is trying to make out the Mig 29 was an inferior aircraft and Hierl puts him in his place!
I’m not sure he was trying to make out the 29 was inferior, more portraying the view that was widely held in the west. Absolutely great interview though huh?
What a fascinating interview and a really interesting bloke! Thanks for sharing this with the world, Robert!
One of the best interviews on the channel. Not only is the "MiG-29 in western hands" -part interesting, but there are also intriguing tidbits of history from one of the most amazing events of our recent times, i.e. the German reunification (and how it affected the Luftwaffe). I could have listened to mr. Hierl for hours.
So great to hear about the mig29. Please please please try and interview an su27 pilot. Its my favourite fighter by far.
Very glad to have seen a Mig 29 (Polish airforce) at an air display not too long ago, awesome aircraft. Great interview.
The MiG-29 you saw might have actually been flown by Robert Hierl in the past ;)
The Polish Mig29s are actually the very same ones Hierl and his Squadron flew for the Luftwaffe
Wernher von Kerman not exactly true since Poland bought 20 new Migs 29 ( A and UB two seaters combat training versions) from USSR in 1988-1989. In early 2000s was also barter trade with Czech republic .. their 9 Migs-29 for 11 Polish W-3 Sokol helicopters .. and later Migs from germany were taken for symbolic price of One Euro each.. but also some of them ( in the best condition) were taken to the service.., more than half of them were canibalised for parts. Since 1989 Russians didn’t sold a single one screw, bolt or srub to service Polish Migs. Migs bought from USSR and From Czech republic are in base in Mińsk Mazowiecki. „ Kościuszko squadron .. with this sign on aircraft back and faces of fighter aces from battle of England .. ex german Migs-29 are in the base in Malbork ..so called krzyżacy ... Teutons.. teutonic order knights.. Cheers.BTW you can see ex german migs in videos Fulcrum drivers, Fulcrum drivers II and Fulcrum drivers III , live fire excersises, joint flights with Eurofighter Typhoons, Mirage 2000, F-16 A MLU, Mig-21 Lancer from Romanian air force.. etc
Utterly fascinating as always, and another fantastic ambassador for the fighter pilot community.
What a lovely chap and so passionate. Great interview. Thanks
Im so happy i came across this channel! Really fascinating listening to theese pilots from different countries, they all seems so passionate about flying and aircrafts. Good stuff, thanks!
I'd much rather watch your UA-cam interviews than 99% of the stuff on sky tv, awesome awesome channel and unbelievable quality
Wow thank you for the kind words!
What a great interview.. memories during the reunification period were fascinating
Cheers!
this channel is severely underrated in terms of subscribers. Excellent job mate!
Thanks very much!
What a fascinating interview, one of the best on this consistently excellent channel! Well done Mike, and what an erudite and intelligent guy to interview. A unique perspective on a very interesting aircraft, great to watch.
Thank you for your kind words, Kieron. He was very down to earth which made him an even more likeable chap.
This interview really highlights the differences in NATO and Soviet doctrines
Coming back through listening a second time and it’s very interesting how much more you learn revisiting the interviews.
Well spoken pilot, great interview and a fantastic subject.
Absolutely outstanding! Thanks for making and uploading.
B-47 Stratojet next please. :)
Happy to her you enjoyed it. I’m hoping someday that will happen!
Excellent interview, very thourough and interesting, especially about the Eastern German spies / pilots, also the flight characteristics of the Fulcrum.
Well done on another fantastic interview Mike ☺
Thanks again, Mike!
One of the best interviews yet! Fascinating
Cheers buddy!
Fantastic !! and the Fw 190 he mentions at the end... a dream machine!
I've been in MIG29 cockpit in 1997 or 1998 (fully loaded with fuel and with rockets bellow wings) ... never gonna forget that feeling :-)
Excellent interview. Compelling for those of us who for years watched the Fulda Gap from the Federal Republic.
Completely transfixed! Quiet amazing when you consider Herr Hierl is speaking in his second language, fantastic interview.
Found this channel by chance and I'm so subbed I did. Thank you guys so much for the work you've done. Truly appreciated. Gold!
Cheers. Glad to have your support!
The helmet mounted system came from the SAAF
phantastic interview of an ex phabulous phantom driver. his insights into first thoughts of the 29 and how the east flew fighters differently to the west was great. I hope someone with an airworthy fw-190 sees this and offers him a flight. we had one in Australia but I havent anything of it for the last year
Great interview. Enjoyed every sec. :)
Thank you.
:-) Actually - my comment goes for all the videos on your channel. Thank you for your effort!
Amazing interview, as always. These pilots and crews really motivates you to do better. Excellent work!
Cheers!
What a treat this video is I saw him talk about the MiG-29 and some UA-cam's I believe but what a guy
Great interview from a real gentleman, loved it
Wicked interview and story. Transfixed
Thanks!
Outstanding.
Cheers.
The different principle of training and ground command pays of in war. While with few very experienced pilots you are able to win some battles. After a year or two, you'll end up missing pilots. While if you keep the system simple and pilots rely more on commanders from ground, you are good to go even if all experienced guys are depleted and you are replacing them with freshly drafted men..
And yes, East German Air force was expected to be eliminated within first day or two of any west-east conflict, so it was not worth to invest too much fly hours in their training. While for example further on east here in Czechoslovakia many pilots had thousands of fly hours....
so fascinating. and ,in fact, so similar to the "feelings" of other fighter pilots i have seen. thank you
Excellent interview. I’m glad he got to share his story. It was interesting to hear some of the Eastern philosophy as well.
Thank you, and the pilots, for these amazing interviews. Great exemples of professionalism, humility (more often than not) and open minds... This one in particular is so interesting!
Thanks very much and it’s great to hear you enjoyed it!
Excellent interview, keep up the great work.
Just came across this today. What a great interview and an even greater guy. As someone said before me, a really great ambassador for the German Air Force and Germany itself to some extent. And it‘s just amazing to see that fighter pilots of his liking from wherever part of the planet and they come and whatever service they flew for, they all speak the same language if you will. All cut from the same cloth.
He is an excellent guest. Danke.
Such a good interview I'm speechless. I just discovered your channel but your interviews are the best aviation interviews I've seen. You sure do know how to pick your "targets". Please don't stop doing this.
Thanks very much! I hope you enjoy our backlog.
Just started to watch. Looking good!
Brilliant interview. Thanks.
For a fighting machine I think the MiG 29 is a beautiful aircraft, I would have loved to have flown one. Great interview.
Cheers Raymond
you still can they do tourist flights in russia still
Rob, great to see you.
Phil Spencer JG71 R
Outstanding interview! I enjoyed every minute and learned a lot.
An extremely fascinating interview, specifically with regards to the East/West German unification within the air force, rooting out the spies etc. Well done Mike. Superb English clearly a guy who was at the top of his game.
Thanks very much. He is a very switched on guy as you can tell from the interview.
Fantastic interview! Nice chap and an interesting analysis between western and Soviet doctrine. Thanks!
Cheers.
Excellent interview,very professional and really interesting.I enjoyed watching it.
Thanks a lot, Matthew.
One of my favorites so far. Great interview.
Cheers!
Just a thought. What do you think about possibly of doing more eastern block aircraft pilot interviews. We have so much info on western types but this interview was eye opening. The way he described the 30mm cannon firing for example. Polish Su-22 pilot maybe? Middle east air force pilots? Either way, great channel.
Clicked on this almost by accident, after watching my daily dosis of "Mover" YT vd's, which is a former US fighter pilot, and find this channel. 18 minutes in, and i'm still watching and will do this to the end! Very interessting for me to hear, from perhaps one of the most strategics places on the map, regarding to the cold war...i of course is checking in from Denmark. If the war came, we (Denmark) was in the very frontline of it all, and growing up as a teenager in the 80's, we could really fell that underlying treat upon us 24/7. Me myself was not frightened by this on a regular basis, but i was very aware about the whole thing, getting by day by day. With that in context, this interview just became more interesting for me. Cheers from Denmark...stay safe & peace.
Cheers Thomas. Great to hear you enjoyed it and hopefully you will enjoy our other interviews.
Lol. I Watch from Poland. Polish main role in Cold war was to invade Denmark by big landing operation and mass scale tactical nukes air attacks (180 tactical and operational nukes) on strongpoints performed by 3 SU-22 M4 on each attack to prevent pilots feeling guilty of killing so many thousends of human beeings. Not sp long ago Danish TV was in Poland and recorded for Nukes over Denmark kind of document
Saw this video wid lots of speculation bt it turned out to be the best aviation interview iv watched !! So much for Mig 29 being antic and inferior that to coming from a test pilot !! Loved it!!!
Cheers mate!
Great interview Thankyou