POLARIS DAWN

Photos and Story by Scott Jankowski

EAA AirVenture always manages to bring together many unique and different aircraft attractions each and every year, one could call them “Only in Oshkosh moment.” One such attraction was during the Friday afternoon airshow when 7 aircraft approached Whitman Field from the East and flew directly over the airshow crowd. This heralded the arrival of American Billionaire Jared Isaacman’s Polaris Program or Polaris Dawn; Polaris Dawn is a private mission to space funded by Isaacman.

The Polaris Dawn mission is currently planned for December of 2022, and will use a SpaceX Dragon Capsule with a crew of 4 with Isaacman in command. The is the first of three such missions, all of which Isaacman is funding. Among the missions’ goals and aims is the first private spacewalk or Extravehicular activity of a private astronaut using SpaceX developed spacesuits. Isaacman and his crew are currently in deep training for this mission and is one of the reasons they decided to drop into AirVenture. Isaacman was quoted as saying “Amazing few days, high performance and high consequence flying is part of our training…plus max fun!”

The first aircraft in the group to overfly Oshkosh was a 2007 built, 23 seat, Bombardier BD-700-1A10, serial number 9239 and registered N82EM. This Global Express business jet is operated as the support aircraft for the group and is powered by a pair of BMW/Rolls Duet BR700-710A220 Turbofan engines. This gives the “GLEX” a range of 7,279 miles and a top speed of almost 600 miles per hour.

A pair of Dornier Dassault Alpha Jet A’s were part of the main 6 ship formation and included the 1981 built Alpha Jet, serial number 0112 and registered N512XA. The Alpha Jet is powered by a pair of SNECMA Turbomeca Larzac 04-C5 turbofan engines giving the Alpha Jet a top speed of 620 miles per hour. The Alpha Jet was designed, built, and flown as an advanced trainer and light attack aircraft. N512XA was last operated by the Luftwaffe or German Air Force.

The other Alpha Jet is a 1979 built aircraft with serial number 0020 and registered N572AJ. This aircraft was also a former Luftwaffe example and was used as an Advanced Trainer.

A trio of Aero Vodochody L-39 Albatrosses were also a part of the formation and included a 1980 manufactured L-39C Albatross with serial number PAO031615 and registered N137EM.The L-39 is a high-performance trainer designed and produced in Czechoslovakia and is the most widely used jet trainer in the world. The L-39 is also used as a light attack aircraft and has flown many combat missions in this role. This former Soviet Air Force example is powered by a single Ivchenko AI-25TL turbofan engine giving the L-39 a top speed of 420 miles per hour.

The second L-39C Albatross was a 1978 built aircraft with serial number PA831106, and registered N138EM. The L-39C also saw service with the Soviet Air Force before being sold and re-registered in the United States. The moderately priced jet has made it a very popular choice of civilian warbird owners especially in the United States, but still remains in service with many air forces around the world.

1982-built L-39ZA Albatross serial number 232406, and registered N135EM is the final L-39 of the group. This aircraft was formerly operated by the Romanian Air Force as one of over 2,900 airframes built between its 1971 to 1996 production run. This upgraded version of the Albatross was used for armed training and light attack and was previously flown by the former Jet Demonstration Teams the Black Diamonds and The Heavy Metal Jet Team.

The most anticipated aircraft of the group was the 1989 built Mikoyan Gurivich Bureau MIG-29UB Fulcrum, with serial number 50903014896 and registered N29UB. This two-seat trainer version of the MIG-29 was formerly operated by the Ukrainian Air Force and is powered by a pair of Klimov RD-33 afterburning turbofan engines giving the MIG-29 a top speed of 1,520 miles per hour making it the fastest civilian owned warbird in the world. The MIG-29 first flew almost 44 years ago with over 1,600 produced since production began in 1981, the MIG-29 with the Russian answer to the F-15 and F-16. N29UB was brought to the United States in 2008 by the Historic Flight Foundation based out of Seattle Washington. This collection was once owned by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, upon his passing was acquired by Jared Isaacman. When Isaacman acquired this MIG-29 it only had a total of 570 hours on the airframe.

The team flew several formations passes upon arrival on Friday and also on Saturday as part of the afternoon airshow. The AirVenture crowd was treated to a very close look at the aircraft on Saturday when the team took Taxiway Papa on their way to Runway 36, this is the taxiway that is directly in front of the crowd line.

This was definitely an “Only at Oshkosh” moment, as it is very rare to see an MIG-29 up close let alone fly in an airshow. Until next time, “Blue Skies to All!”