In 1995 Timur Apakidze had the title of Hero of the Russian Federation bestowed upon him for his great work with naval aviation and testing of new technology. After completing studies at the General Staff Academy in 2000 Apakidze became a Russian Major General and Deputy Commander of Naval Aviation. On July 17, 2001 during an air show; Apakidze was flying his Su-33 when the aircraft became uncontrollable and instead of ejecting he struggled to get the aircraft away from the crowd and died a hero.

Info: Su-33 Flanker-D Russian Navy, Red 70, Timur Apakidze, Russia, 2001