{"id":190553,"date":"2026-04-03T11:39:04","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T09:39:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/pugachevs-cobra-the-manoeuvre-that-broke-the-rules\/"},"modified":"2026-09-04T09:42:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T07:42:16","slug":"pugachevs-cobra-the-manoeuvre-that-broke-the-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/pugachevs-cobra-the-manoeuvre-that-broke-the-rules\/","title":{"rendered":"Pugachev&#8217;s Cobra: The Manoeuvre That Broke the Rules"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style>\n<!-- mfsh:top -->\n\n<style>\n.mfsh-trigger{display:inline-flex;align-items:center;gap:10px;height:44px;padding:0 18px;margin:0 0 26px;border:2px solid #0F1720;background:#fff;color:#0F1720;font-family:inherit;font-size:14px;font-weight:700;line-height:1;letter-spacing:0;text-transform:none;cursor:pointer;box-shadow:none;transition:background .15s,color 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else window.open(target, '_blank', 'noopener,width=680,height=560'); }\n    close();\n  }\n  var mq = window.matchMedia('(min-width:981px)');\n  function place(){\n    var t = document.querySelector('.mfsh-trigger[data-mfsh-placement=\"top\"]'), slot = document.querySelector('.mfsh-top-slot');\n    var meta = [].slice.call(document.querySelectorAll('.et_pb_title_meta_container, .et_post_meta_wrapper .post-meta, .single .post-meta')).filter(function(m){ return m.offsetParent !== null; })[0];\n    if (!t || !slot) return;\n    if (meta && mq.matches) { meta.classList.add('mfsh-meta'); t.classList.add('mfsh-inmeta'); if (t.parentNode !== meta) meta.appendChild(t); var a = meta.querySelector('a'); if (a) { var pr = document.createElement('span'); pr.style.cssText = 'display:inline-block;width:0;height:0;vertical-align:baseline'; a.appendChild(pr); var base = pr.getBoundingClientRect().bottom; pr.remove(); var fs = parseFloat(getComputedStyle(a).fontSize) || 14, mb = meta.getBoundingClientRect().bottom; t.style.bottom = Math.max(0, mb - (base + fs * 0.12)) + 'px'; } }\n    else { t.classList.remove('mfsh-inmeta'); if (t.parentNode !== slot) slot.appendChild(t); }\n  }\n  if (document.readyState === 'loading') document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', place); else place(); window.addEventListener('load', place); if (document.fonts && document.fonts.ready) document.fonts.ready.then(place); window.addEventListener('resize', place);\n  if (mq.addEventListener) mq.addEventListener('change', place); else mq.addListener(place);\n  document.addEventListener('click', function(e){ var b = e.target.closest('.mfsh-trigger'); if (b) { e.preventDefault(); open(b.getAttribute('data-mfsh-placement') || 'top'); } });\n})();\n<\/script><!-- \/mfsh:top -->\n\n\n\n\r\n<table style=\"width:100%;border-collapse:collapse;margin-bottom:24px;font-size:15px;line-height:1.6\">\r\n<thead><tr style=\"background:#1a1a2e;color:#fff\"><th colspan=\"2\" style=\"padding:12px 16px;text-align:left;font-weight:600;letter-spacing:0.5px\">Quick Facts<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>\r\n<tbody>\r\n<tr style=\"background:#f8f9fa\"><td style=\"padding:10px 16px;font-weight:600;width:40%\">Manoeuvre<\/td><td style=\"padding:10px 16px\">Pugachev's Cobra<\/td><\/tr>\r\n<tr><td style=\"padding:10px 16px;font-weight:600\">Pilot<\/td><td style=\"padding:10px 16px\">Viktor Pugachev, Soviet test pilot<\/td><\/tr>\r\n<tr style=\"background:#f8f9fa\"><td style=\"padding:10px 16px;font-weight:600\">Aircraft<\/td><td style=\"padding:10px 16px\">Sukhoi <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/su-27-flanker\">Su-27<\/a> (first demonstration); later performed in <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/mig-29-fulcrum\">MiG-29<\/a><\/td><\/tr>\r\n<tr><td style=\"padding:10px 16px;font-weight:600\">First Public Demo<\/td><td style=\"padding:10px 16px\">1989 Paris Air Show, Le Bourget<\/td><\/tr>\r\n<tr style=\"background:#f8f9fa\"><td style=\"padding:10px 16px;font-weight:600\">Angle of Attack<\/td><td style=\"padding:10px 16px\">90\u2013120 degrees \u2014 nose pulled past vertical<\/td><\/tr>\r\n<tr><td style=\"padding:10px 16px;font-weight:600\">Airspeed at Peak<\/td><td style=\"padding:10px 16px\">Near zero<\/td><\/tr>\r\n<tr style=\"background:#f8f9fa\"><td style=\"padding:10px 16px;font-weight:600\">Significance<\/td><td style=\"padding:10px 16px\">Revealed Soviet supermaneuverability to the West for the first time<\/td><\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody><\/table>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/a\/af\/VVS_100th_IMG_0691_%287727464290%29_%28cropped%29.jpg\/960px-VVS_100th_IMG_0691_%287727464290%29_%28cropped%29.jpg\" alt=\"MiG-29 Fulcrum in flight\" style=\"display:block;width:100%!important;max-width:100%!important;height:auto!important;border-radius:6px\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">A MiG-29 Fulcrum \u2014 the aircraft that stunned the world at the 1989 Paris Air Show with a manoeuvre Western engineers said was impossible. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The crowd at Le Bourget didn't understand what they were seeing. One moment, a Soviet fighter was flying straight and level over the Paris Air Show at moderate speed. The next, its nose pitched violently upward \u2014 past 45 degrees, past vertical, past 90 degrees \u2014 until the aircraft was momentarily flying backwards, hanging in the sky like a fish leaping from water. Then the nose fell through, the engines caught the air again, and the jet accelerated away as if nothing had happened.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The year was 1989. The Cold War had weeks to live. And Viktor Pugachev had just shown the West something its aerodynamic engineers said was aerodynamically impossible.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" style=\"padding-top:22px\">What the Cobra Actually Is<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Pugachev Cobra is a dynamic deceleration manoeuvre. The pilot pulls the nose past vertical to an angle of attack between 90 and 120 degrees \u2014 meaning the aircraft's fuselage is momentarily pointed straight up or even slightly backward relative to its direction of travel. The aircraft bleeds nearly all its kinetic energy in seconds, airspeed dropping to near zero, before the nose pitches back down and the engines restore normal flight.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">From the outside, it looks like the aircraft stalls in mid-air, hangs for a heartbeat, then recovers. It shouldn't work. At extreme angles of attack, conventional aircraft experience complete loss of lift, uncontrollable pitch-up, and deep stall conditions from which recovery is impossible. Every Western fighter of the era had strict angle-of-attack limiters specifically to prevent pilots from reaching these regimes.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/b\/b3\/Pugachev_Cobra.svg\/960px-Pugachev_Cobra.svg.png\" alt=\"Pugachev Cobra maneuver diagram showing the aircraft pitching up to 120 degrees before recovering\" style=\"display:block;width:100%!important;max-width:100%!important;height:auto!important;border-radius:6px\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">The Pugachev Cobra: the aircraft pitches to 110\u2013120\u00b0 angle of attack, momentarily flying tail-first, before snapping back to level flight. (Diagram: Wikimedia Commons)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Soviet aircraft didn't have those limiters. They were designed to go there.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" style=\"padding-top:22px\">How Soviet Design Made It Possible<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Sukhoi Su-27 and its cousin the MiG-29 were built around a design philosophy the Soviets called \"supermaneuverability\" \u2014 the ability to fly controllably at angles of attack far beyond the limits of conventional aerodynamics. This wasn't accidental. It was a deliberate engineering response to a tactical problem.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Soviet doctrine anticipated close-range dogfights against American <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/f-15-eagle\">F-15s<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/f-16-fighting-falcon\">F-16s<\/a>. In a turning fight, the ability to rapidly decelerate and point the nose at an opponent \u2014 even momentarily \u2014 could create a firing opportunity for a heat-seeking missile. The Cobra was the extreme expression of this idea: a way to slam on the brakes in mid-air, force an overshooting attacker to fly past, and reverse the engagement.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The aerodynamic trick lies in the wing-body blending of the Su-27 and MiG-29 families. The wide lifting body between the engines generates lift even at extreme angles of attack. The twin vertical stabilisers remain effective when a single fin would be blanked by the fuselage. And the aircraft's centre of gravity sits in a position that allows the nose to pitch up rapidly without entering an unrecoverable deep stall.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" style=\"padding-top:22px\">The Paris Shock<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The 1989 Paris Air Show was the first time Western audiences saw Soviet fighters perform in person. The Cold War was ending, and the Soviet Union was using air show appearances as both diplomatic signalling and \u2014 frankly \u2014 advertising. The Su-27 and MiG-29 were available for export, and potential buyers needed to be impressed.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They were. Western test pilots and engineers in the crowd watched Pugachev's demonstration in stunned silence. The manoeuvre broke every assumption about what a fighter aircraft could do at extreme angles of attack. American and European fighters were designed to avoid this regime at all costs. The Soviets had turned it into a party trick.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/9\/9c\/An_acrobatic_figure_by_a_Sukhoi_Su-35_in_Paris_Air_Show_2013.jpg\/960px-An_acrobatic_figure_by_a_Sukhoi_Su-35_in_Paris_Air_Show_2013.jpg\" alt=\"Sukhoi Su-35 performing aerobatics at Paris Air Show 2013\" style=\"display:block;width:100%!important;max-width:100%!important;height:auto!important;border-radius:6px\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">A Sukhoi <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/su-35-flanker-e\">Su-35<\/a> performing post-stall aerobatics at the 2013 Paris Air Show \u2014 the same venue where Pugachev first stunned Western observers. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The intelligence implications were immediate. If Soviet fighters could operate at angles of attack where Western aircraft would depart controlled flight, the assumptions underlying NATO air combat doctrine needed revision. Missile engagement envelopes, turning performance models, and tactical planning \u2014 all of it was built on the premise that both sides operated within similar aerodynamic limits. The Cobra proved they didn't.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" style=\"padding-top:22px\">Tactical Reality vs. Airshow Drama<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The debate about the Cobra's combat utility has raged for 37 years. Critics argue that the manoeuvre bleeds all the aircraft's energy, leaving it slow, vulnerable, and unable to manoeuvre until it re-accelerates. In beyond-visual-range combat \u2014 where engagements happen at 40 miles with radar-guided missiles \u2014 the Cobra is irrelevant. You don't need to point your nose at a target when an AIM-120 can do it for you.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Defenders counter that the Cobra was never meant to be a combat manoeuvre by itself. It was a demonstration of an aerodynamic capability \u2014 supermaneuverability \u2014 that manifests in dozens of ways during a close-range fight. An aircraft that can reach 90 degrees angle of attack can also sustain 50 degrees in a turning engagement, pull tighter instantaneous turns, and exploit flight regimes that energy fighters cannot follow into.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/3\/31\/Kort_parad_%28flipped%29.png\/960px-Kort_parad_%28flipped%29.png\" alt=\"Kort parad maneuver diagram - a Swedish variation of post-stall maneuvering\" style=\"display:block;width:100%!important;max-width:100%!important;height:auto!important;border-radius:6px\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">The Kort Parad (\"short parry\"), a Swedish variation of post-stall maneuvering developed for the Saab <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/saab-35-draken\">Draken<\/a>. (Diagram: Wikimedia Commons)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The truth, as usual, sits between the two camps. The Cobra itself is an airshow move. The capability it represents \u2014 controllable flight at extreme angles of attack \u2014 is genuine and tactically relevant in the close-range engagements that still occur when radar missiles miss or rules of engagement demand visual identification.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" style=\"padding-top:22px\">A Moment That Changed Aviation<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pugachev's Cobra didn't change the outcome of the Cold War. By the time he flew it, the Berlin Wall was months from falling. But it changed how the West thought about fighter design. The <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/f-22-raptor\">F-22<\/a> Raptor \u2014 designed in the late 1980s and early 1990s \u2014 incorporated thrust vectoring that gave it its own supermaneuverable capability, directly influenced by what the Soviets had demonstrated.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Every modern fifth-generation fighter since \u2014 the <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/f-35-lightning-ii\">F-35<\/a>, the <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/su-57-felon\">Su-57<\/a>, the <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/j-20-mighty-dragon\">J-20<\/a> \u2014 has been designed with post-stall manoeuvrability as a consideration. The era of flight-envelope limits as hard boundaries ended the moment Pugachev pulled that stick back and the MiG kept flying.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One pilot. One manoeuvre. One afternoon in Paris. And the textbooks had to be rewritten.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;max-width:100%;margin:0 0 24px\"><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/wi_s58MZIeE\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0;border-radius:6px\" allow=\"accelerometer;autoplay;clipboard-write;encrypted-media;gyroscope;picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"font-size:14px;color:#777\"><em>Sources: Federation Aeronautique Internationale, Jane's Defence, Aviation History<\/em><\/p>\n<!-- mfsh:bottom -->\n\n<button type=\"button\" class=\"mfsh-trigger mfsh-bottom\" data-mfsh-placement=\"bottom\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><svg><use href=\"#mfsh-i-share\"\/><\/svg>Share this story<\/button>\n\n<!-- \/mfsh:bottom -->\n\r\n\n\n<!-- mf-faq -->\n\n<div class=\"mf-faq-block\"><style>.mf-faq-block{margin:34px 0}.mf-faq-item:not([open]) .mf-faq-answer{display:none !important}.mf-faq-block h2.mf-faq-h{padding-top:22px;margin-bottom:14px}.mf-faq-item{border:1px solid #e2e8f5;border-radius:8px;margin:0 0 10px;background:#fff}.mf-faq-item summary{list-style:none;cursor:pointer;padding:15px 50px 15px 18px;font-weight:600;color:#1a1a1a;position:relative;line-height:1.45;user-select:none}.mf-faq-item summary::-webkit-details-marker{display:none}.mf-faq-item summary::after{content:\"+\";position:absolute;right:18px;top:50%;transform:translateY(-50%);font-size:1.5em;font-weight:400;color:#5C91FF;line-height:1}.mf-faq-item[open] summary::after{content:\"\\2013\"}.mf-faq-item[open] summary{border-bottom:1px solid #eef1f8}.mf-faq-item summary:hover{background:#f5f8ff}.mf-faq-answer{padding:14px 18px;color:#333;line-height:1.6}.mf-faq-answer p{margin:0}.mf-faq-answer a{color:#5C91FF}<\/style><h2 class=\"mf-faq-h\">Related Questions<\/h2><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>What is Pugachev's Cobra?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>Pugachev's Cobra is a dramatic aerobatic manoeuvre in which a fighter rapidly pitches its nose up past vertical, to between 90 and 120 degrees, while continuing to travel forward at near-zero airspeed, before dropping the nose and flying on. It demonstrates extreme control of an aircraft at very high angles of attack.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>Who invented Pugachev's Cobra?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>The manoeuvre is named after Soviet test pilot Viktor Pugachev, who stunned spectators by performing it publicly at the 1989 Paris Air Show. The Cobra revealed Soviet \"supermaneuverability\" to Western observers for the first time.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>What aircraft first performed the Cobra?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>Pugachev first demonstrated the Cobra in the Sukhoi Su-27, and it was later flown in the MiG-29. Both Soviet fighters had the aerodynamics and thrust to recover from the extreme nose-high attitude. The <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/the-incredible-pugachevs-cobra-maneuvre\/\">spectacular Pugachev's Cobra manoeuvre<\/a> became a signature of Russian fighter displays.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>What is the point of the Cobra maneuver?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>The Cobra is mainly a demonstration of supermaneuverability \u2014 an aircraft's ability to stay controllable at angles of attack far beyond normal limits. While its direct combat value is debated, it shows that the fighter can perform aggressive, off-axis manoeuvres without departing into an uncontrolled spin.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>When was the Cobra first shown publicly?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>The Cobra was first shown to the world at the 1989 Paris Air Show at Le Bourget, when Viktor Pugachev flew it in front of Western aviation experts. Many had believed such a manoeuvre was aerodynamically impossible.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>What does a high-G fighter manoeuvre do to a pilot?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>Aggressive fighter manoeuvres subject pilots to high G-forces that drain blood from the brain and can cause blackouts. Pilots use special techniques and G-suits to stay conscious. Learn more about <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/what-pulling-9g-does-to-your-body-fighter-jet-g-forces-physiology\/\">what pulling 9G actually does to the human body<\/a>.<\/p><\/div><\/details><\/div>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"FAQPage\",\"mainEntity\":[{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What is Pugachev's Cobra?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Pugachev's Cobra is a dramatic aerobatic manoeuvre in which a fighter rapidly pitches its nose up past vertical, to between 90 and 120 degrees, while continuing to travel forward at near-zero airspeed, before dropping the nose and flying on. 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The <a href=\\\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/the-incredible-pugachevs-cobra-maneuvre\/\\\">spectacular Pugachev's Cobra manoeuvre<\/a> became a signature of Russian fighter displays.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What is the point of the Cobra maneuver?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The Cobra is mainly a demonstration of supermaneuverability \u2014 an aircraft's ability to stay controllable at angles of attack far beyond normal limits. While its direct combat value is debated, it shows that the fighter can perform aggressive, off-axis manoeuvres without departing into an uncontrolled spin.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"When was the Cobra first shown publicly?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The Cobra was first shown to the world at the 1989 Paris Air Show at Le Bourget, when Viktor Pugachev flew it in front of Western aviation experts. 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Learn more about <a href=\\\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/what-pulling-9g-does-to-your-body-fighter-jet-g-forces-physiology\/\\\">what pulling 9G actually does to the human body<\/a>.\"}}]}<\/script><!-- \/mf-faq -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Share this story Quick Facts Manoeuvre Pugachev&#8217;s Cobra Pilot Viktor Pugachev, Soviet test pilot Aircraft Sukhoi Su-27 (first demonstration); later performed in MiG-29 First Public Demo 1989 Paris Air Show, Le Bourget Angle of Attack 90\u2013120 degrees \u2014 nose pulled past vertical Airspeed at Peak Near zero Significance Revealed Soviet supermaneuverability to the West for [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":190715,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[666,664],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-190553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history-and-legends","category-military-aviation"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Pugachev&#039;s Cobra: The Impossible MiG-29 Manoeuvre | MiGFlug<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"At the 1989 Paris Air Show, Viktor Pugachev pulled a Soviet fighter past vertical at zero airspeed \u2014 a manoeuvre Western engineers said was impossible. 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