Aeropuerto Punta Huete

[bill_bly_ca]

Just poking around and thought I would see what was/is new on this old airport

Looks like a sukhoi (damn if I knew which one) landing as a photo.

Link

[Jonh]

Linky no workie!

[bill_bly_ca]

Lets try this one Linkey

[Little Corn Tom]

No identification numbers on either one.

[Jonh]

Looks like an SU-27 or possibly a Chinese copy. Strange that there are no nationality insignia or visible marking of any kind.

The helo appears to have a Nica flag on the tail. It might have a registration on the belly. Isn't that "Air Force DOS"?

[Jonh]

This is from a member of an aviation forum:

It's a Russian MiG-29M2 demo aircraft that visited Peru, during a stop-over in Nikaragua. Peru at the time evaluated an upgrade to their existing fleet of MiG-29 and this aircraft was there to demonstrate increased ferry and combat range (as well as the ability to fly from Moscow to Lima without breaking down :-))

You can tell it's an -29M2 or later because the characteristic upper intakes were deleted on it and later versions. The upper intakes were not necessary if airplanes were based on paved runways, and their removal saved some weight. I think after the -33 they pretty much started making all versions 2-seaters, as the mission of the -29 shifted from air combat to ground attack. The -29K and -35 are 2-steaters. This pretty much parallels our own F-15E (not in capability, of course, only in the division of the workload between the pilot and bombardier).