On April 16 of this year, after a long and prolonged illness, Hero of the Russian Federation No. 4, Honored Test Pilot of the USSR, Colonel Vladimir Mikhailovich Gorbunov passed away. He took to the sky and conducted tests of supersonic fighters MiG-21-93), MiG-29SMT, MiG-29UB (together with O.V. Antonovich), a pilot prototype of the fifth-generation fighter "1.44".
He participated in the testing of supersonic combat aircraft MiG-25, MiG-27, MiG-29, MiG-31 and their modifications, the MiG-AT training aircraft, as well as the M-17 high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft of the V.M.Myasishchev Design Bureau..
The pilot has more than 3.5 thousand hours of total flight time, including more than 2 thousand test hours. In total, he has mastered more than 80 types and modifications of aircraft. Vladimir Mikhailovich himself says that he has flown almost everything that can fly, even in a hot air balloon.
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| Honored Test Pilot of the USSR, Colonel Vladimir Mikhailovich Gorbunov. |
| Source: Valery Ageev |
The hard way to the sky
Vladimir Gorbunov was born on July 14, 1946 in Vyatskiye Polyany, Kirov region. He spent his childhood and youth in Tula. The professions of the parents were far from the military. His father, Mikhail Borisovich Gorbunov, worked as the head of a telephone exchange at a machine-building plant, and his mother, Nadezhda Fedorovna, was an economist in supply at the same plant.
As Vladimir Mikhailovich's aunt, Galina Borisovna Sokolova, recalls, he grew up a very inquisitive, quick-witted boy.
- He used to ask such a question, and it would take a while to answer it.
At the age of six, a year earlier than expected, Vladimir went to school. He studied at primary school No. 1. He studied very well, only at "5". Even then, in Vyatka Glades, Volodya had a craving for the sky. There was an aircraft modeling club at the House of Pioneers, in which the boy began to study. At the age of 14, Volodya became the RSFSR champion in aircraft modeling.
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| Vladimir Gorbunov. |
| Source: Valery Ageev |
In 1962-1965, he studied at the Moscow Aviation Institute. In 1963-1965, he studied at the MAI Aero Club. In the summer of 1965, he interrupted his studies and voluntarily enrolled in the Kachin Higher Military Aviation School of Pilots, from which he graduated two years later.
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| Vladimir Gorbunov. |
| Source: Valery Ageev |
In December 1968 – September 1973, Gorbunov served in the 32nd Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment (Moscow Military District; Shatalovo Airfield, Smolensk Region). He flew supersonic MiG-21PFM fighters, MiG-23 modifications, MiG-23S and MiG-23M aircraft. V.M. Gorbunov was awarded the Order of the Red Star for his participation in military tests of this aircraft.
In July 1973, he entered the newly created Air Force Test Pilot Training Center in the city of Akhtubinsk, Astrakhan region. This was the first enrollment in the "military" School of test pilots. There were 22 people in the set, three of them (V.M. Gorbunov, V.M. Chirkin and V.V. Vasenkov) became Heroes of the Russian Federation, 13 people (every second!) – Honored test pilots of the USSR and the Russian Federation.
In the Ministry of Aviation Industry of the USSR
In August 1982, Gorbunov was seconded to the USSR Ministry of Aviation Industry, leaving the army and appointed a test pilot and inspector of the Flight Service Directorate of the MAP of the USSR.
From November 1982 to December 1991, he was a test pilot at the Flight Research Institute (in 1984-1986, he was the head of Flight Complex A). He conducted a number of complex test work on fighter aircraft on the subject of the Institute.
That's what Hero of Russia, Honored Test Pilot of the Russian Federation Valery Menitsky recalled about Gorbunov.:
- He was an unusually modest man, although anyone can envy his work experience. The fact that he was modest and silent at home did not mean that he had a gentle nature. But the main thing is that he was by nature an honest and decent person.
Volodya received the titles of Hero of Russia and Honored Test Pilot of Russia. These awards duly appreciated his contribution to the development of Russian aviation.
In the Design Bureau of A.I.Mikoyan
From January 1992 to 2002, Gorbunov, a test pilot at the Mikoyan Design Bureau, took to the sky and tested supersonic MiG–21-93 MiG-29SMT, MiG-29UBT fighters (together with O.V. Antonovich), a pilot prototype of the fifth-generation fighter "1.44". He remembered his feelings from Flying this fighter jet:
- The slightest deviation of the steering wheels — the car obeys perfectly. The ease of control is incredible. It couldn't be compared to anything, the pilot recalled.
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| Source: Valery Ageev |
On August 9, 1991, with navigator S.P. Khazov ejected from a MiG-31 interceptor with a failed control system.
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| Source: Valery Ageev |
Here is what the Hero of Russia, Honored Test Pilot of the Russian Federation Alexander Garnaev wrote about this case.:
- That day, the crew, consisting of test pilot Vladimir Mikhailovich Gorbunov and test navigator Sergei Petrovich Khazov, received a rather difficult task: determining stability parameters-controllability up to the maximum permissible angles of attack with maximum combat load - ten heavy missiles were normally suspended on the aircraft.
The method of performing this kind of research is to perform special "turn–spiral" test maneuvers on a sequential series of specified numbers M. These exercises were perceived as an everyday, often tedious, monotonous routine for a long time, seemingly having nothing to do with feats and other big words. Photo 5
Both Gorbunov and Khazov had been working at MiG for a relatively short time, but they were rightfully considered experienced crew who fully met the highest professional qualifications.
Vladimir Mikhailovich's calm reasonableness was in great contrast to our then Mikoyan temperament and organically complemented our team – his sanity often caused a sincere desire to listen more closely and learn.
That's how Vladimir Mikhailovich and Seryoga routinely "sawed" their spirals on a hot August day in 1991. But suddenly the car behaved strangely. The plane was extremely willing to roll to the left, and did not want to roll to the right even with a complete tilt of the handle.
It was impossible to just keep the horizon level, but for now you can fly "sideways", holding the plane with a large glide until your right foot stops. There's no time to complete the task – run home!
After the passage of the short-range drive, just before the alignment, a sharp gust of crosswind blew from the right like a steppe. The failed ailerons immediately went to the extreme position – the car began to fall sharply to the left, it was no longer possible to fend it off either by extreme deviations to the stops of all rudders, or by the maximum engine strain!! It is necessary to eject immediately without hesitation!!!
However, just to the left of the approach lay two densely populated areas of development in this bare steppe – a huge military garrison and behind it the town of Akhtubinsk! Gorbunov instantly found the only possible chance right at the ground: he shifted the fighter's trajectory upward from the ground, even though the pilots were head down at that moment!
With an afterburner roar, almost knocking off roofs and numerous antennas, the rotating forty-ton swallow swept over the office buildings, headquarters, hangars adjacent to the airfield, and then the garrison microdistrict housing business teams and expeditions. The city of Akhtubinsk itself and the village of Petropavlovsk on the opposite bank of the Akhtuba River passed, rotating, already with a pronounced climb. Having gained an altitude of about two kilometers, the pilots ejected safely in rotation. The plane burned down in the deserted right-bank Volga steppe. That's how difficult the test fates are for both humans and machines!
A well-deserved award
In 1989, the pilot was awarded the title of "Honored Test Pilot of the USSR." Gorbunov was presented with the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, but the Union collapsed, and the pilot was already awarded the title of Hero of Russia on August 16, 1992. The decree stated that this high rank was awarded for "courage and heroism shown during the testing of MiG-29, MiG-31 fighters and their modifications." He was also awarded a badge of special distinction – the Gold Star medal. It is interesting to note that the medal was numbered 4. The first three were awarded to Aviation Major General S. Oskanov and cosmonauts S. Krikalev and A. Kaleri.
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| Source: Valery Ageev |
All pilots have their own signs. So Gorbunov, getting into the cockpit of a fighter anyway, put his right foot first. And he said:
- This is both a personal lucky omen, and immediately smiling: It's just more convenient. But he also argued that in the work of a test pilot, believing in superstitions is better than not flying.
- I had to fly without a cockpit light. And at high altitudes, I flew with a dropped flashlight. There is no such thing that is better in the sky than on earth. The situation in the sky, the environment is hostile, the pilot said.
And that's what he's all about. No romance. An airplane is a machine that should show results. Vladimir Gorbunov put an end to his flying career only at the age of 57, when his eyesight began to fail - at an age that was serious for a test pilot.
Since October 1996, Colonel V.M. Gorbunov has been in reserve.
He lived in the city of Zhukovsky, Moscow region. After retiring from flight work, he worked for some time as the head of the flight service of the Mikoyan Design Bureau.
The children followed in their father's footsteps. His son Stanislav became a test pilot. Vladimir Mikhailovich was always calm and restrained, but his voice sometimes trembled treacherously when he talked about one of Stanislav's flights. Then, at top speeds, his MiG-21 aircraft's stabilizer failed. There were seconds to think. The father from earth, from the command post, gave advice and hid his excitement.
- I immediately grabbed the radio station, Gorbunov recalled. . I told him to do this, that, that. If there's a spin, eject. He released the mechanization, released the chassis. It looks like a plane is flying. We consulted a little and decided to sit down. He landed at a speed of 410 kilometers per hour, because at a lower speed he was just falling this plane. They gave him the Order of Courage for this, the pilot said.
The information obtained as a result of the rescue of the aircraft helped to establish the causes and conditions of the incident and was important in continuing research on the use of new radar stealth technologies for promising fighters.
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| Stanislav Gorbunov is second from the right |
| Source: Valery Ageev |
Vladimir Mikhailovich Gorbunov died on April 16, 2026. He was buried in Mytishchi in the Pantheon of Defenders of the Fatherland. Aviation historian Andrey Simonov believes that Vladimir Gorbunov has really done a lot for our aviation. And therefore it is very incomprehensible that not a single news agency, not a single TV channel or newspaper reported anything about the passing away of one of the first Heroes of the Russian Federation (his Gold Star had the serial number 4). This is how our country honors and remembers its Heroes...
However, the MiG-29SMT fighter he lifted into the sky back in 1998 and which became a monument will forever remain in Zhukovsky as a memory of this outstanding test pilot.
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| Source: Valery Ageev |
Valery Ageev
