Bond had ejected, but he was killed.
An investigation was started, even as speculation about the accident grew. The plane had hit the ground in a high-speed, 60-degree dive and was destroyed. Three major sections were examined — the tail, the engine compressor and turbine blades, and the engine inlet. Examination of the debris showed that all the damage was due to ground impact. The engine was running normally, at a throttle setting of about 80 to 90 percent. There was no evidence of fire, an 'overtemp,' heat distress, or an engine stall. Checks of the fuel, hydraulic fluid, and lube oil showed no contamination or abnormal wear. The accident report concluded that the plane had crashed due to loss of control during high-altitude, supersonic flight.[698]
Although U.S. MiG operations continued after the death of Bond, its days were numbered. The TTR operations were closed down in the mid-1980s, apparently due to the growth of F-117A activities. It was reported that in late 1988 or early 1989, the MiGs were grounded. This was caused by the problem of getting spare parts. Most of the planes were placed in storage at North Base at Edwards Air Force Base. Others were described as being on display at Groom Lake.[699] It seemed that MiG operations had ended.
So it seemed.
Ironically, as the U.S. MiG operations were ended, MiG 15s and MiG 17s began arriving on the civilian market. Communist China and the Eastern European countries began selling the old MiGs to anyone with hard currency. By the early 1990s, supersonic MiG 19s and MiG 21s were for sale. A MiG 15 could be bought for $175,000 (a fraction the cost of a flyable P-51 Mustang) and operated for about $10,000 per year. This made it practical to fly the planes for air shows and movie work.[700] For anyone who grew up during the Cold War, it was a strange and delightful experience to see a former Communist-bloc MiG sitting on the ramp of a U.S. airport. As one aviation magazine put it, 'Watching an American citizen strap into a MiG 15 is a lot like watching Captain Kirk flying a Klingon battle cruiser.'[701]
Among those who took advantage of the privately owned MiGs was the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School. In 1992, students at the school were given the opportunity to fly in a MiG 21U Mongol (the two-seat trainer). One student found it responsive, given its age. He judged the engine very good. The flights were short, on the order of twenty minutes in length (understandable, given it was designed as a 'manned SAM' for point defense of targets).[702]
Two years later, a MiG 15UTI Midget trainer was used at the school for student flights.[703]
There was also an attempt to organize a White version of the MiG operations. In 1988, Combat Core Certification Professionals imported from Poland four MiG 15s, a MiG 15UTI, and six MiG 17s for the Defense Test and Support Evaluation Agency (DTESA). They were intended to be used in air-combat training for both U.S. and Allied forces. One such exercise was reportedly held at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, in September 1988. The program ran into a legal problem, however — the MiGs had been acquired through 'sole source procurement.' This was a violation of Department of Defense policy. As rules were judged more important than results, the MiGs were put into storage at Kirtland until the legal problems could be sorted out. Soon after, the U.S. MiG program ended. [704]
FADE TO BLACK
The most significant information to be revealed about U.S. MiG operations was published in the 1990 book
The following year, a few of the MiG 21s came out of storage. The unveiling was as clandestine as the planes' original acquisition. In March 1991, the Strategic Air Museum at Offutt Air Force Base received a call from the Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. They were told that a new airplane would be arriving soon. The caller did not identify the type of plane nor any details. The next morning, when the SAC Museum employees arrived at work, they discovered four large crates had been dropped off by their back fence. It literally had been done in the middle of the night. When they opened the crates, they found a MiG 21F.
When it was put on display a year later, questions arose about its source.
A civilian employee of air force intelligence said that the U.S. government had agreed never to divulge the source of such planes, even years after the deal was made. The director of the museum, Jim Bert said, 'Officially, the Air Force neither confirms nor denies the existence of that aircraft.'[706]
Another MiG 21F was given to the National Air and Space Museum. It was explained that it had been used in a classified display of Soviet weapons, and that, with the end of the Cold War, the display was dismantled.[707]
Still another MiG 21F was put on display at the USAF Armament Museum at Eglin Air Force Base. A close examination showed the plane had Chinese characters inside some of the access panels. It is actually a J-7, a Chinese-built version of the MiG 21F.[708] The final example was a MiG 21U trainer on display at Wright-Patterson. It had been used to train intelligence officers in determining the capabilities, performance, and technology of enemy aircraft.[709] The DTESA MiG 15s and MiG 17s were also loaned to museums in 1992. The Pima Air Museum received a MiG 15, MiG 15UTI, and a MiG 17. None of the later-model MiG 21s (understood to be in storage at North Base) nor any MiG 23s were released.[710]
Although some of the U.S.-operated MiGs were now on public display, they were still Black airplanes, in the darkest shades. When the author filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Request for the unit history of the 4477th Test and Evaluation Squadron, the air force responded: 'It has been determined that the fact of the existence or nonexistence of records which would reveal a connection or interest in the matters related to those set forth in your request is classified… By this statement, the United States Air Force neither confirms nor denies that such records may or may not exist.'[711]
It is clear that the air force had created a security 'firebreak' around the MiGs. The fact the air force had some MiGs was not considered sensitive.
How the MiGs came into U.S. possession, or any records connected in any way with this, were out of bounds. In some fifteen years of filing FOIA requests, this was the first time the author had run across information considered this sensitive.
Another reason the air force was so protective of a project that seemingly had ended became apparent in March 1994. In an article on Groom Lake in
The article also said that MiG 23s had been seen flying above Groom Lake.[712]
U.S. Air Force MiG operations had resumed in 1993, when Germany exported nine MiG 23s and two Su 22s to the United States. With East and West Germany now unified, there was an ample supply of both Soviet-built planes and the spare parts needed to support them.
There were also suggestions that operations were not limited to MiG 23s and Su 22s. In October 1994,
While U.S. Air Force operation of Soviet-built aircraft is still sensitive, the U.S. Army use of ex-Soviet helicopters is not. These include Mi 2 Hoplites, Mi 8/17 Hips, Mi 24 Hinds, Mi 14 Haze, and a Ka 32 Helix. The
