SU33 video - apontage et decollage

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une belle video sur le SU33

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tKOw3xjiLs&feature=player_embedded#!

DESCRIPTION de la video

The Sukhoi Su-33 is a navalized version of the Su-27 originally designed to operate from the Soviet Union's first class of large aircraft carriers. To meet the requirements of carrier duty, the Su-33 features a strengthened airframe, corrosion resistance, arrestor gear, more powerful engines, and wing and tailplane folding mechanisms for storage aboard ship. The Su-33 is also the first member of the Su-27 family fitted with canards near the juncture of the wing and leading edge extensions allowing better maneuverability while reducing the takeoff distance and landing speed.

The Su-27K, as the design was first known, was originally developed for the Soviet Navy alongside the MiG-29K. It was envisioned that both aircraft would be purchased for carrier operations. However, the collapse of the Soviet Union left the Russian Navy with only one Kuznetsov class carrier, and the decision was made to acquire a single aircraft type for carrier use. The Navy chose the Su-27K over the competing MiG-29K because of its greater range and payload. The tradeoff is the Su-27K is a larger and more expensive plane reducing the number that can be stored aboard ship.

The total number of Su-27K fighters, now better known as the Su-33, built for the Russian Navy is somewhat questionable. Several experimental Su-27 aircraft were used to test features of a navalized model including folding wings, ski-jump takeoffs, arrested landings, and canard aerodynamics. These features were finally combined in two T-10K prototypes and seven pre-production examples of the Su-27K configuration. Perhaps another 18 production models were ultimately delivered out of an original order of 24. At least four pre-production airframes are also believed to have been adapted for operational use, and the remainder of a single active-duty squadron is made up by the standard Su-27 land-based version.

Unfortunately, budget cuts severely hampered aircraft carrier deployments throughout the 1990s and early 2000s and these aircraft have been operated primarily from shore bases. Although Russia has announced an ambitious plan to build as many as five or six aircraft carriers by 2030, the Su-33 production line has been closed for several years. It has been suggested the Su-33 fleet may be phased out in favor of the revised MiG-29K that has been updated and resumed production thanks to an order from India.

On the other hand, stories appeared in the Russian media in 2006 stating that China was negotiating with Russia for as many as 48 Su-33 fighters for its navy. These planes were said to begin delivery in 2007 or 2008. However, no further details of a finalized order have emerged, and given the dispute over China illegally building its own copy of the Su-27 called the J-11B, a deal for the Su-33 appears to be unlikely. If it does come to pass, however, such an order would make further Su-33 purchases for the Russian Navy a viable option.

A further development of the Su-33 airframe is the two-seat Su-27KUB (or Su-33UB) trainer that features the side-by-side seating arrangement of the Su-34.

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