A little history of the Mig 21, and how I got mine

Around October 1952, shortly after the Korean War, the brain trust of the Mikoyan Design Bureau, Artem I. Mikoyan and Mikhail I. Gurevich, were requested to produce a fighter with more performance than that available in the then frontline MiG-15's and 17's. This design was in response to the new Century Series fighters being produced by the USA, the Mirages from France and some of the early supersonic jets from Great Britain. The request included Mach 2 capability, a high degree of maneuverability, a fast rate of climb and a high ceiling, as some of the design criteria. The first order of business for the MiG OKB (Design Bureau) was to get out a clean sheet of paper as they were competing with Sukhoi and the Su-9 for the governments contract of a new front line fighter for the VVS (Soviet Frontal Aviation) and a tweaked 15/17/19 just would not do.

The initial efforts produced a single seat, single engine light weight fighter of swept wing design called the Ye-2, which first flew Feb. 14, 1955 at the Zhukovskii flight test center just outside Moscow. Initially powered by the anemic non-afterburning Tumanskii RD-9 of 3,800 kg (less than 8,400#) thrust, performance wasn't nearly that of the later models. The first "real" MiG-21 was the Ye-4 as it was the first one produced with the 57 degree delta to be used on all later production models of the MiG-21. By this time, the new and improved R-11 engine with afterburner was available and installed in the Ye-5, providing performance more in line with a fighter. The first 21 produced for service domestically, as well as abroad, was the MiG-21F. And thus began the run of over 30 variants of the MiG-21, in service with over 37 different countries around the world, some of which are still in use today!

While inferior to most of the Western hardware of that era, the concept was not to defeat the enemy 1 v. 1, but to overwhelm him with superior numbers of cheap to produce, simple to maintain and fly, fast, disposable fighters. The total production of all types, by all manufacturers, exceeds 12,000, more than any other jet fighter in history. In fact, the Israeli Aircraft Industry (IAI Lahav Division) are overhauling and installing upgraded avionics in the MiG-21MF and bis, making them for sale to second and third world countries as front line aircraft.

Some of the prototypes used for other purposes were the MiG-21I Analog and the MiG-21PDP. The Analog flew as a delta winged test bed for what would become the aborted Russian SST, while the PDP became the test bed for a Russian VSTOL (a.k.a. Harrier). While it did fly, it proved to be beyond the reach of the technology available at that time.

Trivia - MTOW ranged from 6,000 kg (13,200#) for the Ye-2, ballooning to 10,500 kg. (23,000#) in the MiG-21bis. Internal fuel rose from a measly 2120 liters (578 gals.) internal to 3075 l. (809 gals.). Later models could carry either a 490 l. Belly Drop Tank, or one of 800 l., thus greatly increasing the range. The R model even had the wings plumbed for fuel as the centerline was used for a recon pod. Engine thrust increased from a humble 3,800 kg. (8,400 #) to an amazing 7,600 kg. (16,700#) in the 2 stage afterburner equipped R-25. Maximum Mach remained fairly constant throughout the production run at 2.04, although it was hardly ever achieved in a combat situation as the fuel consumption rate to do so was too high and was unattainable with external stores still attached.

When the MiG OKB began producing a Mach 2 delta winged fighter, the issue of training was addressed and it was deemed prudent to have a 2 seat transition trainer available, particularly as the competition (Sukhoi) did this for every plane they produced. In fact, the USSR was the first to standardize their training with 2 seaters back in 1934. The first 2 seat 21 was derived from the Ye-6 (not the MiG-21F) and was called the Ye-6U (the Russian word for trainer is "Uchyebnii", thus the U designation). In 1963, the first MiG-21U was produced. Unique features were side hinged canopies, the improved KM-1 rocket ejection seat vs. the SK-1 bang seat and the broader chord vertical fin from the then in-production PF (which improved stability) and the larger area Para brake being moved from the lower LH side of the fuselage to the base of the vertical fin. 1965 saw the emergence of the MiG-21US who's improvements included the relocation of the pitot boom to the top of the inlet tunnel (this was due to excessive ground damage with the original position on the bottom of the nose), and a periscope for the Instructor to have some forward visibility during taxi, take-off and landing. This was powered by an electric motor that was tied to the nose gear. Gear down, periscope up and visa versa. This was a welcome addition to the IP community. The biggest improvement to this model was the addition of blown flaps, which could reduce the landing ground roll to under 1,400' when coupled with the Para brake being deployed just prior to touch down! (This procedure does require a landing gear inspection afterwards.) Pretty amazing for a 14,000# Mach 2 delta that has a final approach speed in the 170 kt. range.

The last in line of the trainers was the UM. This type incorporated all previous improvements and included an AOA sensor on the LH side of the nose. Most export versions (like mine, which served with the Polish A/F) were equipped with the reliable R-11F2S3CK-300 of 6,200 kg. (13,741#). Domestically, however, the R-13 of 6,600 kg. (14,553#) was installed. I guess they always wanted to be in possession of an airplane just a bit more capable than the one they'd just sold to their neighbor.

Through the miracle of the internet (and no small investment of time on my part!) I have been able to trace the history of my plane from date of manufacture to present. Produced on 28 April 1973 at Factory No. 31 in Tbilisi, Georgia, MiG-21UM s/n 5695175 was delivered to the 1st Sqdn. of the 34th Fighter Reg. of the Polish A/F at Gdynia and placed in service as nose number 7505 on the 28th of June, 1973. May of 1980 saw it transferred to the 11th PLM (Fighter Reg.) in Wroclaw, and later the 2nd PLM at Goleniow. 1988, it went to the 62nd PLM at Poznan and served there until April of 1991. After a few months at the 10th PLM in Lask, it was withdrawn from use on 10 November 1992. Stored at the base in Mierzecice, it was sold to an aircraft dealer from Texas and brought over to the USA. Registered as N711MG in October 1995, it was Certified and flew in 1997. I bought it in November of '98 and hope to have it back in the air, after repairs and inspection, by the end of 2000, and home to the Chicago area in time for a show or two the summer of 2001.

Mechanically, the aircraft is sound. The shop that did the certification work did a marvelous job. Unfortunately, when the Polish government released this plane for sale, they removed ALL external marking with a very strong paint remover. Thus, it now is in a natural metal finish and some of the panels still show the original zinc chromate primer. Aesthetically, it leaves a lot to be desired but the important stuff underneath is in good shape.

The normal take off profile is with full afterburner established before brake release, 3/4 aft stick at 80 kts. will lift the nose so as to have the pitch attitude for take-off established by 120 kts. The plane will usually fly off between 180 - 200 kts., you can retract the flaps at 300' and come out of burner above 324 kts. Some 30 secs. after brake release, you are moving along at 350 kts heading skywards at a rate approaching 23,000 '/min. in burner. Note too shabby for a 27 year old bird with the design technology of 1965. Roll rate is limited to 90 degrees/sec. continuously due to inertial coupling, but it will bang your head on the side of the canopy if you aren't smooth. All the systems have redundant capabilities (except the engine!) to get you back to base to live and fight another day. You are airspeed/mach/G limited depending on the configuration. With the belly tank on the UM, you are limited to 540kias/Mach 1.6 and 6 G's. On a normal takeoff, the belly tank is usually empty by 1,500' on departure, so it doesn't get you too far, but it helps. Without the BDT you can go all the way to 647kias/Mach 2.04 and 7 G's. The Mach 2.04 is actually a fuel limit as that is how fast you should be going when you hit 700 liters remaining, which is when the manual recommends that you deselect afterburner and return to base.

While working on the plane is a challenge as things are really packed in, the whole package was put together with maintainability in a combat situation in mind. Lots of panels and a tail that comes right off the back for easy access to the engine. Servicing requirements are pretty straight forward. Nitrogen, oxygen and jet fuel. The only logistical issue with the 2 seaters is the start. They aren't self start capable. You need two 28v. GPU's, capable of at least 1,000 amps each. These plug into a start box which has relays that sequence in parallel, and/or in series as appropriate, the GPU's, and then a single umbilical goes from the start box to the belly of the plane and the rest is taken care of internally. As it is a single push button to initiate the start sequence, all you really have to do is watch the temps and hope you have 2 good GPU's, which has proven to be a major problem for a couple of UM operators I know. This is a problem common only to the 2 seaters, the single seaters have everything internally and all that is really required are good internal batteries.

While I make no claims to be an expert on the MiG-21, I have amassed a solid working knowledge of my plane. I welcome any constructive comments and/or critiques as we all have something to learn. Other than the 7+ years of research that I have put into this project, including a one on one ground school with an ex-Russian A/F MiG-21 IP, I gleaned most of the technical data from the following sources; "MiG-21 Fishbed: The Most widely used supersonic fighter." by Yefim Gordon and Bill Gunston, "Mikoyan MiG-21" by Bill Gunston, "MiG-21 Fishbed in Color" by Hans-Heiri Stapfer and of course the Pilots Operating handbook and the Technical Description manuals that came with my plane. I hope you have enjoyed reading this as much as I have enjoyed putting it together for you. I hope we meet at a convention or air show soon.

Paul van den Heuvel