69th independent Training Air Regiment at Ovruch in the seventies


	69th independent Training Air Regiment at Ovruch airbase

The Ovruch airport in north Ukraine was an air defense airbase in the sixties. The local 266th Fighter Air Regiment PVO relocated to the Chinese border in 1968. Instead, the 69th independent Training Air Regiment was created here when they urgently needed several new pilots after the Czechoslovak and Chinese events. The 69th independent Training Air Regiment only taught flying and closely related subjects from the late sixties. They used MiG-15UTI ‘Midget’ and MiG-17 ‘Fresco-A’ trainer aircraft at this time period. The duration of the accelerated pilot flying training was one or two years.

In the middle of the seventies, the 69th regiment received some MiG-21PF ‘Fishbed-D’ and MiG-21UM ‘Mongol-B’ type too. They used these high-speed types together with old MiG-17 ‘Fresco-A’ and MiG-15UTI ‘Midget’. The young students first flew with older MiG-17 and later with MiG-21PF type. The MiG-21 type was needed in the training because the Soviet combat fighter regiments used only modern MiG-21 ‘Fishbed’ and MiG-23 ‘Flogger’ type in the second half of the seventies.






		69th regiment’s MiG-21UM ‘Mongol-B’ two seat trainer aircraft at Ovruch in 1975






		Soviet MiG-21PF ‘Fishbed-D1 and older MiG-17 ‘Fresco-A’ aircrafts at Ovruch in the seventies

After 1980 the 69th regiment took over more squadrons of second-hand MiG-21S ‘Fishbed-J’ tactical fighters from the combat regiments. They used this rare fighter type only for a short period, because the 69th regiment was converted to fighter-bomber role with Su-7 ‘Fitter-A’, and later Su-17M3 ‘Fitter-H’ type in the early eighties.

<- Soviet MiG-21S ‘Fishbed-J’ and older MiG-17 ‘Fresco-A’ at the Ovruch airport


	Rare MiG-21S ‘Fishbed-J’ trainer fighter aircrafts at Ovruch airport in about 1980


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Rapid Soviet pilot training


	Photos: Vladimir Tokarev collection

	Tags: Soviet Union, USSR, Soviet Air Forces, VVS, Cold War, 69th OUTAP, Ovruch, MiG-17 Fresco, MiG-15UTI Midget, MiG-21PF Fishbed-D, MiG-21UM Mongol-B, MiG-21S Fishbed-J, Soviet Carpathian Military District, 14th Tactical Air Army, Volga Military District, Mikoyan and Gurevich Облако тегов: Союз Советских Социалистических Республик, СССР, Военно-воздушные силы, Холодная война, 69-й отдельный учебно-тренировочный авиационный полк, 69-й ОУТАП, Овруч, МиГ-17, МиГ-21ПФ, МиГ-21С, МиГ-21УМ, Прикарпатском ВО, ПрикВО, 14-я воздушная армия, 14-й ВА, Микоян и Гуревич