RSS
Home
Former MiG-21 fighter pilots to speak at Evergreen Museum
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
The event is a dedication ceremony for the recently acquired MiG-21 MF and a tribute to the Red Eagle program.
MCMINNVILLE, Ore. – Colonel Gaillard Peck and Lieutenant Colonel Charles “Smokey” Sundell will speak about their experiences as members of the formerly classified Red Eagle squadron on Saturday, August 15, at 2 p.m. in the Aviation Museum.
From 1977 through 1988, the covert CONSTANT PEG operation, which encompassed the Red Eagle squadron, was a training program where American pilots would learn how to defeat or evade the Communist bloc's fighters of the day by flying a variety of Russian and Chinese built fighters. The intent was to train fighter pilots to a degree of proficiency never before achieved and increase their chances for survival in actual air combat. The program was declassified in 2006.
Colonel Peck initiated CONSTANT PEG and also served as an Air Force Aggressor pilot and 4477th TEF commander at Nellis AFB and Tonopah Test Range. Both he and Lieutenant Colonel Sundell flew MiG-21s and other aircraft for the Red Eagle program.
Following the presentation is a dedication of the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum’s most recent acquisition, a MiG-21 MF. Painted to resemble a Red Eagle aircraft, it was purchased from the Polish government by Oscar Vickery, and donated to the Museum by Oscar’s business partner, George Gould of Galveston, Texas in 2008.
Related Articles:
Comments
