Mikoyan MiG-105

The MiG-105, nicknamed Lapot or bast shoe for the shape of its nose, was a crewed test vehicle built to explore the low-speed handling and landing of the Soviet Spiral orbital spaceplane, also called the Experimental Passenger Orbital Aircraft. The Spiral project began in 1965, was halted in 1969 and was restarted in 1974 in answer to the American Space Shuttle. The test vehicle made its first subsonic free flight in 1976, taking off under its own power from an old airstrip near Moscow, and eight flights were made before 1978. The spaceplane itself was cancelled when the Soviet Union chose to proceed with Buran, and the surviving MiG-105 is displayed at the Monino Air Force Museum.