View from a jetty showing the ramp before the start of the show.
In the front row are a couple of light amphibians, then the SA-20P.
Behind from left to right are the Be-12P, A-40 and Be-200ChS.

Four MiG-29's of the 'Striji' (Swifts) team.

Low-level pass by a Striji MiG-29.

Then it was the turn of the 'Ruski Vityazi' (Russian Knights) with a pair of Su-27's.

Anything Swifts can do, Knights can do better........

Knight's Su-27 finale - firing off flares.

Beriev Be-12P 'Chaika' - (ASCC name Mail).

Grand old lady ASW weapon, now saving lives as a firebomber.

Up and running, preparing to get her skirts wet.

Up comes the undercarriage.

One of the many passes - having scooped up a load from the bay,
the Be-12P shows how it is dropped.

Banking round after another drop.

Evocative shot of the Be-12P out in Gelendzhik bay.

Approaching the slipway. Note the drag from the mainwheels and the
tailwheel doors open. The navigators view must be interesting!

The wheels have just touched solid ground as she starts up the slipway.

Hey Ho - And up she rises! Note the tiny water rudder in front of the tailwheel.

How to get into a Be-12. Our man Oleg doing it the hard way - and he didn't
even get his trousers dirty. Us wimpy Brits had to wait until they provided a
ladder - but we did have loads of camera equipment - honest!

Oleg in the tiny doorway of the Be-12P.

Inside the beast - looking forward to the navigator's compartment in the nose.
The steps to the cockpit are in the left foreground and there are lots of things
to bang your head and shins on!

Looking aft from the doorway - just like being
inside a submarine!

Pilot's position. You climb up into the seat through a hole in the floor - between
the seats and the rudder pedals. Notice the porthole by the right rudder pedal.

Beriev Be-42/A-40 'Albatros' - (ASCC name Mermaid).

The large A-40 on the ramp providing much more civilised access
than the Be-12P! Note the IFR probe and the spray-suppressing chines.

A-40 in flight with the flaps down. Two prototypes of this ASW
platform were built - although it has not yet entered service.

Artistic photo from your cameraman..........

Just before settling down for a water landing in the bay.

Approaching the slipway with the wheels down.

Another approach on another day.

A quick burst of power to the twin D-30KPV turbofans and the A-40 climbs
up the ramp.

Note the position of the engines, clear of any spray and the small water rudder.

Cockpit of the A-40.

Beriev Be-200 RA-21511

Be-200 on the ramp - this is the first prototype.

Entering the water from the slipway.

The aircraft is now waterborne - and the mainwheels are just retracting.

Be-200 water drop.......

followed by a sharp banking turn.

Taxying back in after its demonstration flight.

Approaching the slipway.

Even at full power, the two D-436TP turbofans were extremely quiet.

This MChS stick-on badge - complete with wrinkles - is on the Be-200 prototype.

Beriev Be-200ChS RA-21512

This is the first production example for the Ministry of Emergency Situations -
MChS in Russian, hence the aircraft's designation.

The Be-200ChS only made it's first flight from the factory in Irkutsk to the
Beriev test facility at Taganrog a week before the show. This was it's first
public appearance. Note the Irkutsk and TANTK (Beriev) badges on the nose.

Entering the water - note the MChS badge on the rear fuselage.

The main gear just retracting.

The Be-200ChS looks rather dull in it's plain grey paint scheme.

RA-21512 did not make any water drops during it's demonstration flights.

Underside view. Note the generous flap area and full-span
leading edge slats. The aircraft was extremely quiet throughout
it's whole display.

Taxying back in after its demo flight.

Cockpit on the Be-200ChS RA-21512.

Cockpit on RA-21511 - note the slightly different layout.

All three Beriev's - from left to right - Be-12P, Be-200 & A-40.

Beriev Be-103

Beriev Be-103 six-seat amphibian. Note the twin Teledyne-Continental engines.

Taxying out into the bay with the Be-200 in the background.

Back on the ramp after its demonstration flight.

Another Be-103 - this time with weather radar in a nose 'thimble'

Approaching the slipway.......

And up onto the ramp.

Note the retractable boarding ladder housed in the chine and the large
upward-opening access door.

KnAAPO SA-20P

This machine is based on the Be-103 - with a single Russian piston engine
replacing the twin western engines. Note the higher thrust line - something that
has reportedly led to porpoising and pitching problems - currently being worked on.

Another view of the SA-20P.

360hp M-14X radial engine on the SA-20P.

Close-up of the M-14X radial.

Other exhibits

Very neat looking L-6M light amphibian - note the 3-bladed propeller on
the port engine - and the two-bladed prop on the starboard engine!

L-6M climbing the slipway. Moments after I took this photograph, the aircraft's
starboard mainwheel collapsed, breaking off the starboard float.
The slipway was blocked until it was recovered.

Another small homebuilt amphibian - a Che-22 'Corvette'.

One of the land-based flying exhibits - a Sukhoi Su-38L
light agricultural aircraft. Note the forward-swept wings.

Poster showing a model of a Beriev WIG design inside the show marquee.

Giant poster on the side of the KnAAPO chalet showing a Su-33 single-seat
fighter and a Su-27KUB two-seat strike aircraft flying over the Russian
carrier Admiral Kuznetsov.