Air Power Series>1:72 die-cast display model>MIG-21>HA0108

General Background

The Mikoyan-Gurevich Mig-21 is the world most widely used supersonic fighter which has been used by over 30 countries and 56 air forces. It is the most produced aircraft since World War II with an estimation of over 10,000 in the Soviet Union alone.

The Mig-21 has a top speed of Mach 2 and has proven to be an effective and easy to maintain aircraft in many conflicts. It first achieved renown in the Vietnam War where it posed itself a challenging adversary for more technological advanced aircrafts like the F-105 and F-4 Phantom. The Mig-21 is certainly one of the most famous aircrafts in the world for all times.

The Aircraft

In 1990 when the Soviet Union ceased to exist the united German Air Force received 251 former East German MiG-21s. One variant of the MiG-21 were 24 MiG-21SPS that like all the others received new serial numbers, crosses and German flags on the tail. These aircraft only flew a few sorties before they were sent Drewitz and stored until 1992-1993 when most were scrapped. MiG-21SPS 22+02 “Der Weisser Hai” “the white shark” first flew in 1968 as former East German LSK #441 and in 1992 was scrapped. .

Specifications :

Power Plant:	One 41.55kN (9,340lb st) or 64.73kN (14,550lb st) with afterburner Tumansky R-13-300 turbojet
Wingspan:	7.15m (23ft 5 1/2in)
Length:	15.76m (51ft 8 1/2in) - incl pitot boom
Max T-O weight:	9,400kg (20,725lb)
Max speed:	Mach 2.1 (2,230km/h - 1,385mph) above 11,000m (36,000ft)
	Mach 1.06 (1,300km/h - 807mph) at low level
Range:	1,100km (683 miles) - internal fuel only
	1,800km (1,118 miles) - with three external drop tanks, one under fuselage, one under each wing
Armament:	One 23mm twin-barrel GSh-23 cannon with 200 rounds in belly pack
	Various air-to-air and air-to-ground stores carried on four under wing pylons including:
	K-13A "Atoll" or "Advanced Atoll" a-a missiles,
	UV-16-57 rocket packs,
	S-24 a-s rockets,
	250kg and 500kg bombs
	Eventually Sidewinder missiles