iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

æck @aeck.bsky.social · 24/07/2025

here's a better way: (do not do this)

an endmill and ER collet arbor attached in unholy matrimony to an angle grinder. image source unknown

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æck @aeck.bsky.social · 30/06/2025

the mandate of heaven has officially moved from russia to china

traces of a more advanced civilization continue to be found in Russia
[beached ekranoplan left to rot]

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æck @aeck.bsky.social · 14/06/2025

(MiG-23) all ISK-1A mach/airspeed limits. changes with selected (not actual) wing sweep as denoted by the little triangle on the scale. pretty convenient instrument as you'll know exactly when your wings will fall off at any sweep. also cool that they let you go mach 1.5 at 30° sweep. (1/2)

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æck @aeck.bsky.social · 09/02/2025

If it has SPO-15 and N003E then it must be 23-19 - as 23-22B has N008E by definition. As a side note it always hurts a little to see these pristine aircraft completely abandoned, hope at least some of them end up in museums instead of being vandalized.

The technical operation of the 23-22B aircraft should be carried
out in accordance with the instructions given in the "Technical Operation Manual No. GK-442B" and this "Supplement".
The armament system of the 23-22B aircraft differs from
the military armament system of the 23-2B aircraft as follows:
- - a jamming system is installed in the P-23;
- the B-8MI unit is installed;
- instead of the SUV-2ML-0ZE weapon control system, the SUV-2ML-
02E weapon control system has been installed;
- instead of the PVI-I-03E remote control, the PVI-I-02E remote control is installed
, which is used when using ed. 62, as well as when checking the start circuits
products 62 - the sign of ed. 62 is indicated by the URB index (instead
of the index 62);
- instead of the N003E station, the N008E station is installed.

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æck @aeck.bsky.social · 01/02/2025

internals: similar spinning drum mechanism to TP-23

MiG-31 IRST with the front window smashed open

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æck @aeck.bsky.social · 06/01/2025

like N008 had 120(!!!) doppler filter bins

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æck @aeck.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

i wonder if they just straight up reused TP-23M's cryo pump on OLS-27

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æck @aeck.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

It was used from ASP-23L in MiG-23 edition 1969 right up until MiG-23ML (23-12) in its final ASP-23DTsM variant, until it was replaced in 1978 by my beloved ASP-17ML in MiG-23MLA (23-12A) Note in the right pic the famous Lazur "harmonica" on top shoutouts to kubackiewicz and foxbat155 for info

ASP-23DTsM "Размещение органов управления на головке прицела АСП-23ДЦМ самолета МиГ-23МЛ"

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æck @aeck.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

The gunsight mode has much in common with the ASP-PFD from MiG-21, but the HUD mode was new tech for the time so there is much jank In order to have different phosphor fade times for the radar display and symbology, they had the HUD CRT hooked up to a camera that optically combines 3 other CRTs (!)

schematic diagram of the ASP-23D in polish, "synchronous" refers to the HUD mode while "asynchronous" refers to gunsight mode.

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æck @aeck.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

🧵 the design of the ASP-23 (MiG-23M) HUD is pretty funny to me. It's essentially an oldschool gunsight and a genuine heads up display crammed into a single unit Simultaneously very ahead of its time with its display of radar/IRST contacts, and yet still clutching to the electromechanical past

Amber HUD symbology of the ASP-23D, (night filter)
Display shows an altitude of 1.4 km, a locked target below and right at a distance of ~12km

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æck @aeck.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

my animation of the mechanism: (based on photos of the linkages)

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æck @aeck.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

and a little known fact about the ASP-17ML is that it automatically tilts the combiner glass when Metka is used. This shifts the projected lens FOV upwards for better coverage in dogfights.

ASP-17ML with the combiner glass in the "up" position

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æck @aeck.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

some of my photos of Su-27S 🇺🇦 "58 blue" from the 2018 airshow in Aalborg always been curious who the pilot here was (maybe Oksanchenko?)

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æck @aeck.bsky.social · 25/11/2024

highly sensitive cameras with algorithms to detect aircraft? man if only someone had thought of that before - like 50+ years earlier

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æck @aeck.bsky.social · 24/11/2024

if we're lucky we might see them used on 6th gen platforms too, France was doing some wind tunnel testing for the NGF featuring LEVCONs

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æck @aeck.bsky.social · 24/11/2024

- canards - leading edge root extension get yourself a control surface that can do both 😤

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æck @aeck.bsky.social · 12/11/2024

Source is the section "Авиационно-космическая система ПВО" from the book "Космические крылья" by Лукашевич В.П. and Афанасьев И.Б This quote in particular is hilarious, getting jumpscared by the space fighter was part of the intended doctrine:

"Moreover, the attack of such a fighter, which fell directly from space on the head of a flying bomber, would have been absolutely sudden for him, because due to the transience of the attack from the upper hemisphere, the attacking interceptor was not detected by the bomber crew almost until the moment of launching air-to-air missiles. It was assumed that after the interception was completed, the fighter would return to its airfield in the border zone of our territory, while the range of action of such an aerospace air defense system turned out to be almost equal to the flight range of the interceptor aircraft."

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æck @aeck.bsky.social · 12/11/2024

Now these renders aren't from the actual design studies from the early '90s. But the idea itself was actually real. The Su-33 would drop from space to intercept bombers detected by early warning systems. The benefit being that it could be stationed absolutely anywhere within the country.

Zenit and Soyuz rockets equipped with Su-33

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æck @aeck.bsky.social · 12/11/2024

Instant Su-33 anywhere on the planet, delivery in the order of "tens of minutes". I'd seen rendered concepts of this thing and always assumed they were just shitposts from deranged forum users - but no! Turns out this was a serious proposition from a respected engineer named Г.Е. Лозино-Лозинский.

Su-33 with folded wings fits snugly inside the payload fairing of a Zenit rocket

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æck @aeck.bsky.social · 01/11/2024

the trend of navalized trainers being weird compared to their land based counterparts continues with the Su-27KUB. Tandem seating just didn't fit with the requirements for carrier landings so they had to get creative. Despite looking shockingly similar to the Su-34 it has no direct heritage.

Su-27KUB on the deck of an aircraft carrier, most of it unpainted and covered in yellow primer.

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æck @aeck.bsky.social · 01/11/2024

time for a cursed prototype - MiG-29KU (izd. 9-62) naval trainer, Mikoyan's best attempt at making a trainer even uglier than MiG-25PU. Thankfully only ever reached the mockup stage.

decrepit mockup of a MiG-29 with another cockpit crammed into the nose, the front canopy appears to be taken from a MiG-21

mockup model of a MiG-29 with 2 big ugly humps, whoever made this must have known they were committing a sin

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æck @aeck.bsky.social · 18/10/2024

and of course i used a soviet lens, the Tair-11A love this thing even though it's kinda silly on my modern camera, actually still works well for astrophotography despite it being almost 40 years old.

a nikon Z7 with a tair-11, mounted inelegantly with like 2 adapters

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æck @aeck.bsky.social · 18/10/2024

managed to catch the comet, too dim to really see it in person though. when it comes back in 80000 years i'll go somewhere with less light pollution 135mm | f/2.8 | ISO1600 | 2"

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