A 10 week airshow tour for Fubar Aviation saw the Polish outfit bringing over their Lim-5, a licensed built MiG-17F. An afterburner evolution of the famed Cold War Mig-15, it certainly put to good use its afterburning capabilities as a crowd pleaser up and down the country.
Calling IWM Duxford home for the 10 weeks, the tour reached the South Coasts of the Eastbourne International Airshow to the North East shores of Blackpool and Southport, and many places inbetween. I was lucky enough to catch her at Eastbourne, Shuttleworth and my pick of the three, the Duxford Flying Evening where she performed a special flypast with the A26C Invader also visiting from Poland for the week.
It was quick to action on to the airshow scene after her first flight in the skies of Poland for 36 years on the 22nd April 2026, marking her return to the skies from her restoration. A testament to the Fubar team who were able to add this beautiful aircraft to their collection of airworthy Lim-2 aircraft based on the Mig-15 and an even greater one to get her display flying as quickly as they did.
With her polished metal finish, she was a photographers dream as she caught the light from all angles making her incredibly photogenic. Whether that be glistening in the midafternoon sunshine, or capturing the last rays of the day on the evening slots she performed in.
Her draw though was the visible afterburner at any part of the day, and the team didn’t hold back in using it, as you saw more passes with afterburner than without. Spitting fire out like a dragon as she punched herself through the UK skies drew many thousands of people to the airshows to get a glimpse. This lead to the huge disappointing when it was announced she wasn’t able to fly at the Hampshire Air Festival, although probably not as much disappointment as the later news that the entire airshow had been cancelled.
I do hope it isn’t a long time before we see another Fubar aircraft in our skies. With the team passing their UK CAA certification for formation flights as well, it wouldn’t take much imagination of seeing a Mig-15 and Mig-17 in flight together. Also, they have just managed to acquire a Mig-21 airframe which will now go through the same tender loving restoration and will hopefully roar through the UK skies in a few years time.
Thanks Fubar Aviation for coming over with your wonderful aircraft, please don’t be a stranger as we all look forward to seeing yo again soon.
Tally Ho