Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21
Fighter Jet

Perhaps the most common phrases about the MiG-21 fighter aircraft are that it has been the most widely used fighter in the world,

The MiG-21 was designed as a mass-produced, short-range fighter and high-altitude interceptor and first flew in 1957.  Over 15 different models have been built in the USSR, Czechoslovakia, China and India. More than 10,000 MiG-21 have been delivered to operate for the air forces of more than forty countries worldwide.

In aircraft legend, it is known as the MiG-21 interceptor.  In NATO codes, it is known as "Fishbed," the MiG-21F.  The MiG-21PF was the second production version built, and had all-weather interception capability. The two-seat trainer version, the MiG-21UM, was dubbed the 'Mongol' by NATO. 

• The MiG-21UM, the "Mongol-B", is David Kampfen’s jet-toy, and in the realm of fighters, is the last and the most advanced two-seat trainer version of the MiG-21 series.
• After reading the opening to this article, anybody would have to be impressed with the accolades that appear to have been heaped on this fighter aircraft since its birth in the late 1950s. And we can now add another line onto the continuing MiG-21 saga, for David Kampfen is the latest owner of a MiG-21UM, a 960 hour since new, 1988 manufactured, two place supersonic roll-your-socks-down fighter, and his story goes something like this:
• David Kampfen called me one day, introducing himself as someone who owned a MiG-21 aircraft.  He then asked if I would come and fly it. He went on to say that he had had the plane for 8 years, and had had it ready to fly for 3 years. Since I always say yes to any flying opportunity, it was no surprise to find myself on the ramp at Klamath Falls in March of this year; but it was a surprise to see his jet for the first time, for it was a no kidding MiG-21UM “Pink Plane”.
• David has 3 daughters and they like pink, David himself likes pink, most of Klamath Falls thinks pink, so would not this fighter have logically become, the pink plane? Well, it did.  It’s pink, no doubt of that! To enhance the pink theme and add that extra splash, the Pink Panther logo resides on the tail, captioned by the phrase, “Got a problem with pink?”  Personally, I have no, no problem with pink, especially if it’s somehow attached to an afterburner of the 6600 kg / 14,520 pound / 64.72 kN thrust rated Tumanski R-13-300 jet engine!!

Aviation has always been expanded by war experience, and with every war that countries fight, requirements emerge that lead us to the next generation of fighter combat aircraft.  The Korean War of the early 50s gave forth the requirement for a high performance, fast climbing, mach 2, interceptor, and each country responded with their answer.  Kelly Johnson’s F-104 Star Fighter was essentially the same answer as the MiG-21, which was to put the man in the missile, put the most jet in the jet.  The difference between the approach of the Soviet and free world interceptor solutions was that the MiG-21 was developed using a lightly loaded aerodynamic platform (23 square meters) with a comparatively low-powered turbojet and large but swept flying surfaces, whereas the F-104 was a heavily loaded aerodynamic platform (18.3 square meters), with a powerful turbojet and small but straight flying surfaces, and the Dassault Mirage III had a large delta wing (35 square meters) that relied on ailevons and not a stabilator for control of this fighter aircraft.

The story of how the Soviets undertook their development of the MiG-21 was similar to how we would develop aircraft programs years later.  TsAGI (Central Aerodynamic and Hydrodynamic Institute), the central depository of engineering excellence in Russia, were initially responsible to change the Korean War future fighter requirement analysis into a functioning recommendation, which they did.  TsAGI recommended a tailed configuration based on a conventional wing (Ye-2) swept at between 57 and 60 degrees or a delta wing (Ye-4) swept at between 50 and 55 degrees.  In the spring of 1954, they issued a requirement for a day interceptor in which virtually every other factor was subordinated to the need for “hair on fire” flight performance.

As in our fly-off prototyping, the competing Mikoyan-Gurevich and Sukhoi design bureaux each developed differing prototypes of varying configurations, all powered by a single engine.  The Sukhoi design, the T-40, although looking like the MiG-21, was considerably larger than the MiG design, and lost the competition to MiG. The MiG-Ye-2, which first flew in early 1954, was actually slower than the older MiG-19.  In contrast, The Ye-50 (basically, a Ye-2 with a aux rocket engine), with a swept wing based on the MiG-19 fighter, reached a maximum speed of 2460 km/h or Mach 2.32 with a hybrid RD-9Ye afterburning powerplant turbojet rated et 37.26 kN and one S-155 rocket motor at the base of the vertical tail surface. How about that!  A rocket motor to get that extra oomph!!   At that time, no European aircraft was half that fast, and Vassin, the test pilot, later wrote that the Ye-50 was ‘very exciting’ (no kidding!!), as he went from brake release to 65,600 feet in 9.4 minutes.

• So how did David Kamphen acquire a MiG-21 jet fighter?  In what seems like a bed time story, once upon a time, 30 to 35 years ago, the company he was working for came upon hard times, losing their income and ultimately losing their ability to stay open.  When David was told that the company was broke and that he no longer had a paying job, he volunteered to stay on and work for the company, as well as support the other folks who were also working with him.  As the years passed with no income from his employer, David spent all his savings, sold his house, moved into a trailer, and ate more McDonald hamburgers that though possible.  Low and behold, the company’s fortune gradually turned around, became successful again and is now one of Oregon’s major corporations, having operations all over the world. 
• So, all of you are thinking; wow, the big Corporation bosses gave David a pink jet for all his sacrifices?  Nope!  Not so!  You are now thinking that somewhere in the back room of the big Corporation, David found a lamp, rubbed it and when the Genie asked what he wanted, the Genie misunderstood David’s request for PIG as MiG and gave him a jet?  Nope! Not so again!  The real answer is almost as amazing, as the big Corporation did give him stock, which translated into cash, and as this cash practically but not quite had burned a hole in David’s pocket, he happened to see an article in a flying newspaper that caught his attention.  It said, “You can be the owner of  your own 2,000 mph Jet”.  This is just what Mr. Kampfen had always wanted to have, a 2,000 mph jet, so he paid his dollars and awaited the delivery of the jet.  Much to his dismay, the seller told him that the jet would not be flying in, it would be roaded in!  On two large flatbed trailers.  David had acquired a “put it together if you can” aircraft project. And that was 8 short years ago!
• Now, can you imagine the stories that have been going around the airport in those last 8 years.  I was told that David was rapidly getting the reputation as the ‘pig farmer pilot with the pink fighter plane’.  Actually, someone on the ramp actually asked me how comfortable I was with flying a pink jet maintained by a pig farmer.  I responded by informing him that my Dad was a pig farmer, and I would rather have a passionate pig farmer jet mechanic than a disgruntled United anti-everything mechanic working on the jet.  And as those Klamath Falls excitement filled March fly-off days went by, we proved that passion pays off, for David’s pink jet flew and flew and flew.  And flew again.

The MiG-21 prototypes, the Ye-2 with a conventional swept wing and the Ye-4 with a delta wing, each flew first, powered by the RD-9Ye engine, although the prototypes had planned to have the MNPK ‘Soyuz’ Tumanskii R-11 turbojet for the production model.  Both the Ye-2A and Ye-4 flew, in the summer of 1956, with the R-11 engine, and participated in the 1956 fly-by at the Aviation Day Display at Tushino near Moscow, and received the NATO reporting names ‘Faceplate’ and ‘Fishbed’ respectively. The two aircraft were exhaustively tested, and although neither revealed a clear advantage over the other, TsAGI still believed that the triangular delta wing would have lower supersonic wave drag than any alternative form, would be structurally lighter, and possible give a higher ceiling.  It was an open secret in the MiG OKB that the delta was expected to show a clear advantage to the swept wing.  Oddly, Mikoyan simply stated, “We didn’t know which wing would be best, so we built both!”  Also, TsAGI believed that even though previous deltas had been tailless, they would use a stabilator to control pitch.  Previous experience of Gloster of England had confirmed the value of a separate stabilator (MiG had just developed a stabilator for the MiG-19S) and if it was included at the start of development, then the field length could be reduced or the wing could be made smaller.  TsAGI unhesitantly chose the stabilator, and found that for equal field length their tailed delta had a wing area only 72 per cent as great as the tailless variety.  We now know that this information can be misleading, for we can compare the MiG-21 wing area of 23 square meters to the Mirage III wing area of 35 square meters to the SAAB Draken of 49.2 square meters, and see that wing area will not give us turn performance, combat maneuvering, landing speed or stopping distance comparisons on a stand alone basis.

In December 1956, the delta wing was selected for production, a major factor being greater fuel capacity, as well as greater growth potential.  By this time, the Ye-5 had also progressed to the magic 2000 km/hr speed mark.  The MiG OKB stated that they were the first to achieve this speed with a turbojet, but the F-104, powered by the J-79 engine, had seen speeds faster than this in normal daily operations.  The Ye-6 was designed in 1957, following the decision to adopt the MiG delta as the standard MiG-21. The type was at last cleared for production during 1958 as the MiG-21, which received the NATO reporting name ‘Fishbed-B’.

This MiG-21 production aircraft that we have since come to recognize as the most produced fighter of all time has mid-mounted delta wings with small square tips, one turbojet inside the body, a small round air intake in the nose, a single exhaust, a fuselage with a long, tubular body, a blunt nose and bubble canopy, one belly fin under the rear section, a large dorsal spine flush with the canopy, and tail fins that are swept-back and tapered with a square tip.

·         Every time I fly a MiG-21, I’m always reminded that the true contemporaries were the Lockheed F-104 and the Swedish Saab-35, but the competition of the MiG-21 for fighter sales ran the gamete, going into the next generations of the Mirage, the F-5, and even the F-4.  The reason the MiG-21 could remain competitive on sales and performance with the next generations of fighters is because it adapted well to both roles of being both an interceptor and a fighter. 

·         In the US, the advance of technology had driven the air-defense interceptors and tactical fighters far apart by the late 1950s, to the point where aircraft designed for one mission were incapable of performing the other, whereas the Soviet Union continued to require all-purpose fighters in the mould of the MiG-15, 17, 19 and supersonically in the 21.  To illustrate this, there aren’t too many MiG-21 drivers recalling how the MiG-21 zooms around at supersonic speeds, like F-104 or Draken pilots always seem to recall.  But likewise, F-4 and F-5 pilots will be the first to tell you about the time they saw a MiG-21 convert with a hard turn into them on a beam or head-on pass. 

·         In some sense, the MiG-21’s performance as a fighter has avoided criticism because it has been a favorite of many pilots the world over, has been used by many Air Forces loyal to this bird, and has been so visible as a ‘enemy’ fighter, that somehow it has been able to skate around criticism that would have followed another fighter with similar performance deficits. The MiG-21F, as a short-range day fighter-interceptor and the first major production version of the popular MiG-21 series, has always been lacking in endurance, sensor capability and, to a slightly lesser extent, firepower. The early MiG-21Fs were simple good-weather interceptors with only ranging radar, inadequately armed and with a very short operational range.

·         Be that as it may, the MiG-21 is an excellent aircraft for civilian use, especially when compared with it’s contemporaries of the F-104 or Draken, or it’s follow-on contemparies of the Mirage, F-5, F-4, or better.  The MiG-21 does not have the problems of stabilator augmentation systems, or engine start systems, or other hard to operate or upkeep systems like these other aircraft, and has a low man-hour per flight hour ratio, with replacement parts all over the world.  The MiG-21 has enormous performance for a civilian N numbered aircraft, so if that is a high on the shelf criteria for your boy-toy-jet, the MiG-21 is the real civilian fighter pilot’s aircraft.  The MiG-21 aircraft also retains immense public interest, as it represents the ‘enemy’ of the jet fighter age, analogous to what the Me-109 was to the propeller fighter age.

Czechoslovakia, the Soviet Union, and China all manufactured the MiG-21, and they were exported to various Soviet satellites during the Cold War. India also produced the type under license until 1988. The Soviets licenced the manufacture of the MiG-21F and its engine to China in 1961. Assembly of the first J-7 Fighter aircraft using Chinese-made components began in early 1964 and is still in production. The first flight of the Shenyang-built J-7 came in early 1966, and Chengdu production of the J-7-I began in mid 1967. The J-7 III is the Chinese equivalent MiG-21MF. By 1989 Chinese production was running at a rate of as much as 14 aircraft per month, primarily for export. The J-7 aircraft was the most widely produced Chinese fighter, replacing older J-6 fighters, the Chinese version of the MiG-19. In 1995 it was projected that J-7 production would continue for at least another decade, resulting in a total inventory of nearly 1000 aircraft by 2005. The number of MiG-21s built is estimated to be over 11,000 aircraft.  Of this number, an unknown number are still active in their air forces.

The MiG-21 flies with more than 50 air forces today. The majority of these are as follows:  Afghanistan (65+), Algeria (90), Angola (70), Azerbaijan, Bangladesh (14), Bulgaria (80+), Burkina Faso (3+), Cambodia (20+), Congo (14), Croatia, Cuba (169+), Czech (350+), Egypt (475+), Ethiopia (95), Finland (54), Germany, East (250+), Guinea (8), Guinea-Bissau, Hungary (100+), India (675+), Iraq (230+), Laos (44), Libya (104), Madagascar (15), Mali (12), Mongolia (12). Nigeria (30), North Korea (220), North Yemen (12), Poland (400+), Romania (175+), Serbia – Montenegro, Slovakia, Somalia (10), South Yemen (50+), Sudan (18), Syria (435+), Uganda (19), USSR (3,000+), Vietnam (235+), Yemen, Yugoslavia, SFR (120+), Zambia (18)

·         N numbered MiG-21UM, N57GS, is owned and flown by the David Kampfen Air Force, situated in Klamath Falls, Oregon, USA.

·         The MiG-21UM can be flown with a variety of techniques for takeoff, in-flight, and landing.  A typical hair-on-fire, roll-your-socks-down flight in the MiG-21UM N57GS could be a takeoff roll of 2,300 feet (700 meters), a 40 degree 20 second climb to 5000 feet altitude at an initial climb rate of 21,000 feet per minute, then an additional eyes-out steep climb to 15,000 feet at a climb rate of 18,000 feet per minute, a roll to level flight, with an accompanying across town 500 knot (900 kilometer/hour)(.9 Mach) mad-dash cruise, then a hard 3 minutes long, heart-pumping, heart-stopping wind-up steady state turn of 6+ G’s / 7.5 degrees/second combat turn, followed by a split S maneuver into your buddy, now the oncoming target, a quick wrap up the mission kill, then a slice into the overhead landing pattern, an idle, speed-brake extended slowing to the 275 knot gear and flap lowering, followed by sliding into short final at 180 knots, then smoothly feeling the blown full flap assist fuel compensated landing at 172 knots, and a landing roll of 1,320 feet (400 meters), obviously noting the awesome longitudinal transverse G kick on the deployment of the parachute used as part of the assisted parachute short field landing procedure.  A good day at the office!

·         The MiG-21UM’s thrust to weight is 0.8, as compared with 0.63 for the F-5E, 0.72 for the Grumman F-14A, 1.08 for the McDonnell F-15, and 1.01 for the General Dynamics F-16.  Not bad performance for a gossiped pig farmer who turned into the acquisitive fairy tale supersonic “Pink Panther” fighter jet owner!

MiG-21F 'Fishbed-C' -  Function: fighter, Year: 1959, Crew: 1, Engines: Tumansky R-11F-300 rated at 5740 kg / 12,675 lb in afterburner, Wing Span: 23 ft, 5.5 in (7.15 m), Length: 51 ft, 8.5 in (15.76 m), Height: 13 ft, 5.5 in (4.10 m), Wing Area: 23.00 square meters, Empty Weight: 4980 kg, or 12,882 lb (5843 kg), Normal TO Weight: 8625 kg , Max TO Weight - 21,605 lb (9800 kg), Speed: Mach 2.05 (2175 km/h / 1,353 mph), Range: 2030 km, or 600 nautical miles Mig-21bis,  Armament: One twin-barrel 23 mm GSh-23 cannon with two K-13A Atoll AAMs, two AA-2C Atoll or rocket packs, 500kg and 250kg bombs on ground attack missions. Ceiling: 50,000 feet (15,250 m).

MiG-21MF 'Fishbed-J' -  Function: Fighter, Year: 1970, Crew: 1 Pilot on a KM-1 zero/150 km/h ejector seat,  Engine: 6600 kg / 14,520 pound thrust Tumanski R-13-300 rated at 41.53 kN dry and 64.72 kN with afterburning, Wing Span: 23 ft 5.5 in. (7.15 m), Length: 51ft 8.5 in. (15.76 m) including probe, Height: 13 ft 5.5 in. (4.50 m), tailpipe span 3.74 m, wheel track 2.78 m, wheel base 4.71 m, Wing Area: 23.0 m2, aspect ratio 2.22, wing span 7.15 m, Empty Weight: 12,882 lb. (5842 kg), Normal TO weight 18,000 lb. (8200 kg) with 4 AAMs, Max. Weight: 21,605 lb. (9800 kg), Speed: 2230 km/h (Mach 2.10) at 11,000 m and 1300 km/hr (Mach 1.06) at sea level, Maximum rate of climb at sea level 11000 m per minute; Service ceiling 50,000 feet (15250 m), Range: 1800 km, Armament: One 23-mm GSh-23 twin barrel cannon in underbelly pack, approx. 3,300 pounds of stores on underwing pylons. Fuel capacity:  Internal fuel 2076 kg comprising 2600 liters, External fuel up to one 490 liter and two 800 liter or three 800 liter drop tank; no provision for inflight refueling, Maximum range: Ferry range 1800 km with three drop tanks; radius 370 km on a hi-lo-hi attack mission with four 250 kg bombs, or 740 km on a hi-lo-hi attack mission with two 250 kg bombs and one drop tank.

MiG-21bis 'Fishbed-N' -  Function: fighter, Year: 1972, Crew: 1, Engines: 61.3 kN Tumanski R-25, Wing Span: 7.15 m, Length: 14.70 m Height: Wing Area: 23.00 m2, Speed: 2230 km/h, Ceiling: 17980 m, Range: Armament: g23 mm 1500 kg.

Fishbed or Mongol were the NATO Codenames for MiG-21 and MiG-21 UTI trainer, respectively, Blue Bandit was the US Codename in Vietnam; "Valor" was the code name for Indian-built MiG-21s.  MiG-21 aircraft acquired by the United States under the Foreign Materiel Acquisition / Exploitation program were designated YF-110.

MiG-21 typical flights and armament consisted of one 23 mm Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-23L two barrel cannon with 200 rounds in a detachable ventral pack.  Drop-able armament consisted of 1500 kg of disposable stores carried on four hard points (all under the wings with each unit rated at 500 kg; typical loads are two R-3 (AA-2 ‘Atoll’) short-range AAMs plus two R-3 (AA-2-2 ‘Advanced Atoll’) short-range AAMs or two UV-16-57 multiple launchers each carrying 16 55 mm unguided rockets, or four UV-16-57 multiple launchers each carrying 16 55 mm unguided rockets or four 240 mm S-24 unguided rockets, or two 500 kg and two 250 kg free-fall bombs.  Electronics & Operational Equipment consisted of standard communication and navigation equipment, plus ARL-5 data-link, offensive sensor ‘Jay Bird’ radar, fire control and weapons management / gyro sight provision for automatic range input, defensive sensors and systems, and provision for ECM jammer pods and wing tip ECM packs

 

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