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Ex-Russian Air Force commander, 79, flies Douglas plane during airshow

The aircraft was piloted by the crew that included Hero of Russia, Army General Pyotr Stepanovich Deynekin, and first-class test pilot Valentin Eduardovich Lavrentiev

KUBINKA /Moscow region/, August 12. /TASS/. First Russian Air Force Commander-in-Chief Pyotr Deynekin who held the position from 1992 to 1998 flew a Douglas military transport aircraft during the Forsazh Aviation Festival in Patriot Park in Moscow region, the Russian Defense Ministry told reporters on Saturday.

"The aircraft was piloted by the crew that included Hero of Russia, Army General Pyotr Stepanovich Deynekin, and first-class test pilot Valentin Eduardovich Lavrentiev," the ministry said.

However, Deynekin, 79, has not yet broken the record of former Long-Range Aviation Commander Colonel-General Vasily Reshetnikov who flew the North American B-25 Michell bomber during an airshow in Monino, Moscow region, at the age of 83.

Born in December 1937, former Air Force Commander-in-Chief and Long-Range Aviation Commander General Deynekin flew more than a dozen aircraft, including the legendary WWII plane, the US-manufactured Douglas DC-3 transport aircraft.