By the time Yuri was trying to get back to flight training, the Mig 15 he had originally flown was being superceded by new supersonic fighters. One of them, the Sukhoi SU 11, shows just how things were moving on in Soviet aircraft design, but may also have played a part in his untimely death. Radar and witness reports suggest that one was operating at well below the regulation height, in the area where Yuri’s Mig 15 UTI trainer crashed. One possible reason for the crash could have been turbulence from a ‘near-miss’ with the Sukhoi in very poor visibility.
Sukhoi SU 11 – early Soviet supersonic fighter