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Kremlin vetoes new inquiry into mystery death of Yuri Gagarin (1st man in Space)
belfast telegraph ^ | April 12, 2007 | Andrew Osborn

Posted on 04/12/2007 11:46:29 AM PDT by RDTF

The Kremlin has vetoed a move to launch a fresh investigation into the death of Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, despite aviation specialists' belief that they have unravelled one of the 20th century's greatest enigmas.

The rebuff comes as Russians celebrate Cosmonauts' Day today, the anniversary of Gagarin's historic flight around the Earth on 12 April 1961. That foray, which lasted just 68 minutes, was a milestone in the space race between the Soviet Union and the US. But Gagarin was destined to a short, controversial life.

On 27 March 1968, Gagarin died in a mysterious plane crash while on a routine training mission in a MiG-15 with his flight instructor, Vladimir Serugin, just outside Moscow.

The results of the official investigation that followed were hypothetical and did not explain exactly what happened and why.

Investigators were only able to conclude that "the most probable cause" of his death was a sudden in-flight manoeuvre that sent the MiG into a nosedive from which it was impossible to recover.

They suggested that the pilots had been forced to swerve sharply to avoid a collision with a weather balloon or to avoid cloud cover.

The vague nature of the commission's findings led some experts to question Gagarin's competence as a pilot and created an information vacuum that has since spawned endless conspiracy theories.

(Excerpt) Read more at belfasttelegraph.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Extended News; News/Current Events; Russia
KEYWORDS: aerospace; astronaut; cosmonaut; gagarin; mig15; russia; sovietunion
today is the anniversary of his space flight. www.google.com has a tribute to him.
1 posted on 04/12/2007 11:46:32 AM PDT by RDTF
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To: RDTF
Gagarin was 5ft 2ins tall, which gave him an advantage in the cramped cockpits of fighter jets.

Surprising.

2 posted on 04/12/2007 12:00:11 PM PDT by wideminded
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To: wideminded

Short stature is beneficial in flying fighter jets. Supposedly, they can withstand higher G-forces.

Wasn’t it in Israel that a report on this came out?


3 posted on 04/12/2007 12:09:40 PM PDT by CarrotAndStick (The articles posted by me needn't necessarily reflect my opinion.)
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To: RDTF

Huh

I heard he dies from radiation poisoning due to his work on the (now cancelled) atomic rocket motor to be used for a moon shot.

But, I could be wrong.


4 posted on 04/12/2007 12:13:56 PM PDT by ASOC (Yeah, well, maybe - but can you *prove* it?)
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To: RDTF
The life expectency of Soviet aircraft of that era were very short. Why?

The maintenance was horrible resulting in very low availability rates. The pneumatic systems were designed for Arctic operations so ethyl alcohol was the fluid used. This added to the drunkedness of the maintenance personnel and exacerbated the poor flying conditions of these aircraft.

What killed Gagarin? All of the above!

5 posted on 04/12/2007 12:16:03 PM PDT by Young Werther ( and Julius Ceasar said, "quae cum ita sunt." (or since these things are so!))
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To: RDTF

Wait, he was in a MIG...don’t they drop out of the sky from time to time? Or is that only at air shows?


6 posted on 04/12/2007 12:36:37 PM PDT by gilor (Pull the wool over your own eyes!)
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To: CarrotAndStick; wideminded

That explains Tom Cruise..........


7 posted on 04/12/2007 12:40:38 PM PDT by Red Badger (If it's consensus, it's not science. If it's science, there's no need for consensus......)
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To: CarrotAndStick; RDTF; Red Badger

Maybe they were looking for someone as short as Khrushchev.


8 posted on 04/12/2007 12:58:42 PM PDT by wideminded
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To: wideminded

Are Russians normally that short? Or were they picked for their height?..........


9 posted on 04/12/2007 1:23:34 PM PDT by Red Badger (If it's consensus, it's not science. If it's science, there's no need for consensus......)
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To: CarrotAndStick

Short stature was useful for fighters before jets. It became even more useful when the ejection seat was invented.....


10 posted on 04/12/2007 1:25:56 PM PDT by expatpat
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To: CarrotAndStick; wideminded

Short stature was useful for fighters before jets. It became even more useful when the ejection seat was invented.....


11 posted on 04/12/2007 1:27:16 PM PDT by expatpat
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To: CarrotAndStick
Short stature is beneficial in flying fighter jets.

In the F16 the pilot sits in a reclined position to better enable him to withstand G-Forces.

Russian tankers were also very short due to the low silouette of the typical Russian tank & their cramped interiors.

There's a story about Ted Williams (yes that Ted Williams) returning from a mission (he was a Marine fighter pilot in Korea) with a hydraulic leak. He was going to eject but he remembered that the windscreen fairing would probably smash his knees (because he was over 6ft tall). He opted to stay with the plane & landed safely. Ted returned to finish his career with the Boston Red Sox.

12 posted on 04/12/2007 2:08:48 PM PDT by Tallguy
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To: Tallguy

I used to work with a very tall Air Force veteran. He said that in an ejection, if the canopy did not open automatically, there was a tool attached to the back of the seat that was supposed to break the canopy. However, the top of his head was higher than the top of the tool.


13 posted on 04/12/2007 2:25:01 PM PDT by wideminded
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To: RDTF
MiG-15s were famous for having a fatal flaw: In a dive, the elevators became ineffective at transonic and supersonic speeds. The F-86 Sabre had an all flying horizontal stabilizer to counter this same effect.

If Yuri got into a supersonic dive, there would be no way to pull out, and possibly no way to eject at that high speed.

14 posted on 04/12/2007 2:26:38 PM PDT by Yo-Yo (USAF, TAC, 12th AF, 366 TFW, 366 MG, 366 CRS, Mtn Home AFB, 1978-81)
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To: Red Badger
Are Russians normally that short?

There are a lot of very tall Russians. Some of their leaders have been very short.

15 posted on 04/12/2007 2:27:30 PM PDT by wideminded
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To: wideminded

You’re correct but its not a tool as such, but the top of the ejection slide has a heavy metal end, like a hammer, that will break through the canopy. At least, that’s the theory. Years ago Tactial Air Command (TAC) produced a flight safety magazine called TACATTACK. At the end of each issue were some statistics about flight accidents. One I will always remember was Number of ejections followed by Number of succesful ejections. Usually, the numbers were not the same.


16 posted on 04/12/2007 3:49:33 PM PDT by ops33 (Retired USAF Senior Master Sergeant)
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To: expatpat; CarrotAndStick; wideminded; Tallguy

With my 5’8”, I could take 6-7G in a non-reclined seat without G-suit and no blackout. My IPs didn’t believe me and tested me... LOL. Strong legs and strong heart, I guess.


17 posted on 04/12/2007 5:34:11 PM PDT by AFPhys ((.Praying for President Bush, our troops, their families, and all my American neighbors..))
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