Equipment Putin has Operated
On Oct, 25, 1999, Prime Minister
Vladimir Putin made a 10-minute flight on a
fighter bomber SU-25UB during his visit to training base in Krasnodar High Aviation School. He didn’t operate the controls of the plane.
On March 20, 2000, acting president of Russia Vladimir Putin arrived from Krasnodar to Grozny on the
fighter SU-27UB, piloted by Gen. Maj. Alexander Kharchevsky. During the flight, Putin had controls for 8 minutes.
On April 25, 2000, during his visit to
Orel Region, Acting President Putin drove about a half mile on a
tractor Fendt. He drove through a field that belongs to the agri-company Maslovo. Putin had to drive German machinery because the Russian tractor offered to him at first didn’t start.
In Aug. 2000 during his summer vacation in residence Bocharov Creek, Vladimir Putin was seen riding a
jet ski surrounded by seven security guards. Later media published several times that the head of the state was riding the Jet Ski during his vacation in Sochi.
In Aug. 2003, while being on Altai, Vladimir Putin together with his daughters and group of instructors was
rafting on the river Charysh (Class II out of V rapids). For 2 ½ hour the president made 20 kilometers.
On Sept. 27, 2003, during his visit to the Camp David with President
Bush, the Russian leader drove a
golf cart. The president of Russia was driving the cart for half a mile to the helicopter pad.
On the evening of March 8, 2005 in Serpukhov Vladimir Putin drove
“Volga” GAZ -3110 to the house of Antonina Efremova, WWII veteran. There, the president gave Efremova the key from the car.
On March 16, 2005 President Putin drove for 600 meters a rally version of
KamAZ-4911 Extreme. On the test truck the president met with the Russian rally team that several times won a prestigious rally Paris-Dakar.
On August 4, 2005 the Russian president visited railroad show where he drove a
locomotive 2EC5K Ermak. Putin drove on the special test track.
More over, during the official and unofficial events Putin drove and rode on
mountain skies, sleighs, snowmobiles, battle ships, nuclear subs, yachts, cutters, helicopters, airplanes, horses and
metro.
The equipment that World Leaders Had Operated
The US President
George Bush, following example of his father –military pilot (58 sorties during the WWII), on May 1, 2003 flew on anti-submarine aircraft
S-3B Viking. As a second pilot, George Bush flew a plane for some time and than landed on board of Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier.
The King of Spain
Juan Carlos II during the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Spain in 1999 drove several laps in McLaren. Until recently, he was also flying supersonic planes. In 2004 the parliament forbade him to risk his life. After that, Juan Carlos flies only his personal helicopter Bell. During the military maneuvers the King of Spain several times drove tanks “Leopard”.
Georgian leader
Mikhail Saakashvili in March 2004 flew as a second pilot on board of fighter bomber SU-25UB. All together, Georgia has six aircraft SU-25 in its air force. The president had airplane for several minutes.
In June 2004, ex-president
George Bush–father on his 80th Birthday jumped two times with a parachute. He skydived from altitude of 4 km and open parachute on altitude of 1.5 km, after 60-sec free fall.
Ex-president of Lithuania, professional pilot
Rolandas Paksas in October of 2002, while running for president, flew his Yak-50 plane under the bridge on Nyaris River not far from Vilnius.
