Rescued MiG Streaks across Lititz Sky
As the silver MiG-17-PF streaked like a bullet across the sky above the Lancaster Airport in Lititz with afterburners aglow, it was difficult to believe that the plane piloted by Randy Ball once sat in a Polish scrap yard awaiting a crushing fate.
“I found it through a friend in Poland,” said owner Jon Blanchette during a meal break at Community Days. “He was over there buying MiGs at the time.” At the end of the Cold War, many of the infamous military planes were put up for sale.
As his friend poked through the Polish salvage yard, he found an unusual fighter jet about to be scrapped.
“He said ‘it’s a funny MiG, it’s got a funny nose on it,’” said Blanchette, who immediately told his friend he wanted that particular plane.
As it turns out, it was one of the most rare MiGs ever made during the Cold War.
The unusual nose that prompted its purchase housed a radar system.
“The radar nose design was developed in the mid 1950’s to provide an aircraft that could go up and search the sky, for the protection of Soviet airspace, said Blanchette. “Remember this was the Cold War period, and [it] was looking for any incoming threats.”
Only a few hundred of the MiG-17-PF aircraft were built, initially by the Russians and later the Poles. It was superseded by the MiG-21 in the early 1960’s. Jon’s aircraft is reportedly one of the last built in that decade.
Today the MiG-17-PF is a rare bird flying above air show crowds, and its appearance in Lititz marks only its second show of the season.
RELATED GALLERY: COMMUNITY DAYS AIR SHOW PHOTOS
Pilot Randy Ball and MiG Crew Chief Erin Kelley prepare the MiG-17PF on Sunday. Photo by Lynn Rebuck/LititzDailyNews.com
The jet was disassembled during the winter in Poland, when “about one-third of the parts fell into the snow,” said Blanchette. The parts were put into a shipping container, and the rescued jet ultimately arrived at the port of Baltimore.
Over the course of 17 years, Blanchette restored the plane in his spare time, with “a lot of help along the way on the heavy stuff.”
Sporting wings mounted at a 45-degree angle that weigh a ton apiece, special equipment was called for to maneuver and support various aspects of the restoration.
“You have to build fixtures to support it, to clean and to build certain areas,” said Blanchette, a mechanical engineer who worked on cars for General Motors for 34 years.
But why buy a MiG-17-PF?
“I got bored with cars,” said Blanchette, who restored automobiles for a number of years when working for GM. He also built ships for the Navy during overlapping careers.
Controls Inside the cockpit of the MiG. Photo by Lynn Rebuck/ LititzDailyNews.com
Clearly Blanchette has not gotten bored with the MiG. In fact, his persistence in seeing the restoration through has been rare. Of those who began MiG restorations at the end of the Cold War, few have completed their projects.
One of the biggest challenges he has faced with the restoration process is storage of the plane. When the plane’s first hangar host closed, it had to be relocated, but not just once.
“I had to move four times, so finally I built my own hangar and had my own facility.” The MiG is now stored in a hangar at the Elmira/Corning Regional Airport outside of Rochester, New York.
Jon and his wife, Beverly, left the ELM airport in their car right after Randy Ball took off in the MiG to come to the Lancaster Airport in Lititz.
“He left and was here in 19 minutes and 44 seconds,” said Beverly on the tarmac, “it took us hours.”
The MiG17-PF was the highlight of the air show. Photo by Lynn Rebuck/LititzDailyNews.com
Reaching speeds in excess of 600 mph, the MiG put on a spectacular display for the crowds at Community Days.
RELATED: Watch RANDY BALL FLY THE MIG over Lancaster Airport (originally broadcast live by LititzDailyNews.com on Periscope).
“It’s great, but I’m nervous every time because it’s such speed,” said Jon. “It’s still an old airplane and it’s going fast. I’m praying that it comes down safely.”
The MiG came down safely again in Lititz, but not before Ball thrilled onlookers with a series of tight turns, rolls, high-speed passes, and a vertical climb that seemed to touch the clouds. The MiG carried him skyward at the rate of 1,500 feet per second.
The MiG arrives at Lancaster Airport on Friday. Photo by Lynn Rebuck/LititzDailyNews.com
Ball, a professional pilot who flies for a Wisconsin airline, has a penchant for flying the MiG upside down. Ball flies with a GoPro video camera mounted on board.
“He’s gotten the best GoPro video here,” said Beverly of the scenic green farmland that can be seen turning below Ball as he spun above Lititz at high speed. [Editor’s Note: We’ll be exclusively posting Ball’s GoPro video later today on LititzDailyNews.com, so please check back].
So what’s next on the agenda for Ball and the MiG?
“We’ll take it back and it will go into heavy maintenance again,” said Blanchette. “I’ve got to keep this thing going, because [Ball] wants to take it to Oshkosh next year.
