[offroad]

My uncle works in the Air Force and I once got an opportunity to sit in the cockpit of a MiG 21. Just sitting in the cockpit gave me goosebumps. Could imagine the level of pride the pilots carry flying these machines where only selected few can fly and also serving their countries.

While the MiG 21's have gained the trust of the pilots it also earned the name 'THE FLYING COFFIN' due to its notorious history of accidents due to safety concerns. More than 200 pilots and 50 civilians on ground (when the aircraft fell on their homes etc. ) were killed during its service. But either way, it served the nation to the fullest and won wars for us.

[professortarzan]

Thank you V.Narayan sir for this post. My father and maternal uncle have both served in the IAF; MiG-21 has always been that acquaintance you talk about every once in a while. I was brought up with photos and memorabilia of this phenomenal aircraft around me.

I was fortunate enough to experience the 'MiG Alley' of Polish Aviation Museum in Krakow, Poland. Here are a few shots of the MiG-21s "stationed" there.

[Reinhard]

Originally Posted by professortarzan

I was fortunate enough to experience the 'MiG Alley' of Polish Aviation Museum in Krakow, Poland. Here are a few shots of the MiG-21s "stationed" there.

Attachment 2516152

Specimen 06 in the first image, is actually a Sukhoi SU-7 "Fitter". Also visible in the background are the Mig23 and 29.

Coincidentally, the IAF also used SU-7 in ground attack roles extensively.

[darklord]

An article of how the MiG-21 fits into IAF tactical picture. This was in the context of IAF MiG-21 v/s PAF F-16 air battle after Balakot.

But when you pair the Bison package with creative tactics and networking, as well as a host of other aircraft and an experienced pilot, it becomes far more lethal than the sum of its parts.

You don't have to take Tyler Rogoway's word for this. The USAF found this out the hard way during one of the most beneficial learning moments in modern air combat training history. Cope India 2004 saw American F-15Cs paired off against the pointy-end of India's wildly diverse Air Force. Although India's Su-30Ks were close to the best thing Russia had to export at the time, and their French-built Mirage 2000s were certainly not to be discounted, the most surprising star of the exercise was the insidious little Bison.

During the air combat training drills, Indian Air Force Su-30Ks would use their powerful radars to build-up situational awareness and then data-link their 'picture' to other aircraft in the airborne force, which seemed to include the upgraded MiG-21s. Either way, the Su-30 pilots could also use radio communications to inform the Bisons of threats and tactical opportunities. The Bison pilots, running with their radars off and emitting few to no electronic emissions that could alert the F-15 crews as to their whereabouts, would use this situational information to their advantage.

With their Elta-8222 jamming pods fired up and wreaking havoc on the F-15C's legendarily powerful AN/APG-63 radar, combined with their already small radar and visual signature, the Bisons would come screaming in out of nowhere to within visual range of the Eagles. They would proceed to shoot the F-15s in the face with their infrared-guided R-73 missiles before blasting by. And even if the Eagles noticed the Bisons at the last moment, the Bison pilots could negate the raw performance of the hulking F-15s by employing the 'fire and forget' R-73 nearly 90 degrees of the centerline of their noses using their helmet-mounted targeting system.

To put it metaphorically, the Bison wasn't a cavalry soldier or a scout, it was a ninja.

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zon...viper-bullshit

[FLYBOYSID]

Thank you V Narayan sir for a beautiful and magnetic post. Been a while I last flew the MiG-21, but can never get it out of my heart.

Unforgiving, as the platform was due to its design, but it never disappointed in action. The thrill of being in command of this mean machine cannot be described in words. Every successful sortie filled me with immense joy and pride. Felt like ‘If you can handle this, you can handle anything’. Even today, I never miss a chance to see a MiG-21 take-off or land. Just wakes up the kid in me, it is still as exciting as it was when I first saw it as a young kid. Even my daughters notice the sparkle in my eyes at those moments. Some memories and feeling never fade I guess.

During the flypast, as the Bisons pulled up, I actually felt a tear build up. It felt as if something so dear was detaching. I am sure the ‘Third’ (commercially and in numbers) most successful fighter aircraft in the world will find it’s place of honour in Museums across the world and remain etched in history for eternity. In my heart I will continue to remain a Fishbed pilot forever.

[88_TANK_88]

During 95-96, my mother was posted in school at AFS Chabua in Assam. We had a quarter which gave a clear view of the runway behind. We used to see these scream past while taking off and landing. The sounds were ungodly and the sights were unbelievable. Sat in a cockpit of one such plane. Do not remember the variant as I was 6-7 years old at the time.

[Satish Pari]

Thank you V.Narayan sir for this post on the MIG-21. My only tryst with this beautiful aircraft was in the mid 90's (don't' remember the exact year). We were returning back to Madras from a holiday in Sikkim and when we were waiting at Bagdogra airport, two MIG-21's took off majestically. It was an awesome sight which is still fresh in my memory.

[professortarzan]

Originally Posted by Reinhard

Specimen 06 in the first image, is actually a Sukhoi SU-7 "Fitter". Also visible in the background are the Mig23 and 29.

Coincidentally, the IAF also used SU-7 in ground attack roles extensively.

Eagle eye there Reinhard, thanks for pointing it out. I got them from cloud storage by just looking at the thumbnails and overlooked this even before uploading, apologies.

[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by FLYBOYSID

Thank you V Narayan sir for a beautiful and magnetic post. Been a while I last flew the MiG-21, but can never get it out of my heart.

On behalf of Team BHP and all aviation geeks on this forum our salute to you for your service to the nation. Congratulations for having been a pilot's pilot with your time on the MiG-21. It takes a special person to fly this aircraft. We look forward to your participation on our aviation threads within the rules of the service. Welcome.

[sagarpadaki]

Originally Posted by FLYBOYSID

Thank you V Narayan sir for a beautiful and magnetic post. Been a while I last flew the MiG-21, but can never get it out of my heart.

Thank you, Sir, for your service to the Nation. My salute to you.

[FLYBOYSID]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

On behalf of Team BHP and all aviation geeks on this forum our salute to you for your service to the nation. Congratulations for having been a pilot's pilot with your time on the MiG-21. It takes a special person to fly this aircraft. We look forward to your participation on our aviation threads within the rules of the service. Welcome.

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

Thank you, Sir, for your service to the Nation. My salute to you.

Thank you sirs for the kind words.

V Narayan sir, hope you are on a steady path to recovery and your health is holding up well. Have been following your write ups on this forum for years and wish I had such amazing clarity of thought.

We all contribute to the cause of Nation building in one way or the other irrespective of our profession. Thanks to you too for the respect and support to the Men in Uniform.

[Foxbat]

Great thread, the Mig-21 is one my all time favourites. Thank You V.Narayan for the detailed writeup and historical pictures of different variants.

My userid was Fishbed when I tried to get into teambhp for the first time and I wasn't successful. I had to use the faster "Foxbat" name the 2nd time to get in


Posting pictures of my 1/72 Scale Indian Air Force Mig-21bis that I made a few years ago.

[PaddleShifter]

Originally Posted by Foxbat

Posting pictures of my 1/72 Scale Indian Air Force Mig-21bis that I made a few years ago.

Hats off to you for making such a good scale model yourself. Please post in the scale model thread along with a few lines to share how you created this model.

Off topic: I have a small desk model of LCA Tejas and MMRCA Rafale that I bought from the military canteen few months back.

[Foxbat]

Originally Posted by PaddleShifter

Hats off to you for making such a good scale model yourself. Please post in the scale model thread along with a few lines to share how you created this model.

Off topic: I have a small desk model of LCA Tejas and MMRCA Rafale that I bought from the military canteen few months back.

Thanks, I had posted it a few years ago when I had completed it:

Originally Posted by Foxbat

1/72 Indian Air Force MiG-21bis of the No.45 Flying Daggers Squadron.
Flown by the CO Wing Commander Zaki, Serial C2210.

Attachment 2106774


The real aircraft

Attachment 2106780

According to Bharat Rakshak website this particular aircraft Serial C2210 was converted into an upgraded Mig-21 'Bison' later on.

You should post your LCA model also.

[AirbusCapt]

Originally Posted by offroad

My uncle works in the Air Force and I once got an opportunity to sit in the cockpit of a MiG 21. Just sitting in the cockpit gave me goosebumps. Could imagine the level of pride the pilots carry flying these machines where only selected few can fly and also serving their countries.

While the MiG 21's have gained the trust of the pilots it also earned the name 'THE FLYING COFFIN' due to its notorious history of accidents due to safety concerns. More than 200 pilots and 50 civilians on ground (when the aircraft fell on their homes etc. ) were killed during its service. But either way, it served the nation to the fullest and won wars for us.

The flying coffin is a huge misnomer, mainly due to typical press sensationalism and lack of knowledge. The problem we had in the IAF until recently was the lack of an intermediate jet trainer. Trainees would graduate directly from a turbo/piston prop to a rocket with small wings. The reaction times couldnt cope. Also the mig21 is not really aerodynamic as such. You chop the power and you will stall into the ground like a falling leaf. The glide to land techniques that we all pilots practice is out of the window with such a machine.
The approach and landing speeds are extremely high, if i recollect the landing speed is about 340kmph, much higher than a a320 speed of 250kmph.

This coupled with really small flight times, low fuel capacities, lack of fly by wire and all the helpful computers and mach 2 plus speeds meant that a mig21 pilot had to gain proficiency rapidly inorder to fly safely.
Its like this. If all that you drive are normal everyday cars and i put you into a porche 911 turbo and let you off on a winding ghat road, we all know what may happen.