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On 16 June 1956, an attractive but unremarkable little delta-wing aircraft made its first flight. Few would have believed, even the rapidly growing Mikoyan-Gurevich 0KB, is designers, that 30 years and far more than 10,000 aircraft later, the MiG-21 would still be in production.

Back in the mid '50s, Russian aviation technology was based firmly on their experience of the Korean War, The TsAGI, the Soviet aerodynamic research agency had formed the opinion that the best configuration for a lightweight fighter should be a delta wing with a conventional tailplane.

The Mig bureau were one of those charged with putting this theory into practice. Eventually the designers succeeded, probably beyond their wildest dreams. Yet the first aircraft, while they flew well and were relatively inexpensive to produce, were outclassed by the US fighters they were designed for combat. For a start they were under armed: the first had just two 30mm guns mounted in the wing roots, but to save weight this was changed to a single gun. Internal fuel load was a mere 2340 liters.

The first pre-production MiG-21s reached the VVS - the Soviet Air Force. In late 1958. By 1959 a K-I 3A ('AA-2 Atoll) air-to-air missile had been added to the MiG-21s extremely basic armament. This missile had a range of approximately 6.5km with a 6kg warhead, and an infra-red seeker head driving canard control fins, and was almost certainly based on the early American Sidewinder. But to carry this modest weapon the left-hand gun was usually removed to save weight.

None of this stopped other Warsaw Pact countries from ordering the MiG-21, once the Soviet Union gave them permission. Like the VVS, they were impressed with its maneuverability and its economics, and small numbers of MiG-21 Fs were made in Czechoslovakia. The same early version has been made in China as the J-7 (F-7 is the export version). The Indians, who were building up their own aircraft began to make the MiG-21themselves, in preference to any Western fighter. India traditionally would have chosen British, but Britain was insisting that fighters were obsolete and hardily trying to export any. This linked Hincustan Aeronautics with MiG fighters, and the Indian Air Force has followed with the MiG-27M and MiG-29.

One of the most marked changes in appearance came in 1960 when the addition of search radar in a much larger nosecone resulted in the whole forward fuselage being enlarged in the MIG-21PF. The fin was made wider (later it became wider still). As Soviet avionics technology improved, it was fed into the MiG-21. By 1967, the MiG-21MF, with the new R- 13 engine, was a totally different aircraft from the one that had first flown eleven years before. The blown flaps were perhaps Just as important as the progressive power increases and the improved weapons. They had a dramatic effect on reducing landing speed, and enabled the MiG-21 to operate off much smaller airfields, The rival Mirage Ill, could not have any flaps and landed at a much higher speed.

The non-stop development of the MiG-21 for 25 years rested on Tumanskiu's bureau producing a succession of new engines. The MiG-21F (F=boosted) had the R- 11F engine, and in 1961 the SPS (blown flaps) development replaced the track-mounted Fowler flaps by plain flaps blown with compressed air from the revised R- 11F25 engine.

Early MiG-21s had a unique canopy, without a separate windscreen, molded from a single giant sheet of plastic and hinged at the back When the pilot ejected, the canopy was pulled away to serve as a windshield in front of the pilot. But the MlG-2IPFMA of 1963 changed to a side-hinged canopy, separate fixed windscreen and a new ejection seat. Still more power was forthcoming from the R- 11 -300 engine. At this time an extra pair of wing pylons were added, a zero/zero seat (giving sea-level, zero-speed ejection capability) and the new GSh-23L twin-barrel guns mounted in a pack in the bottom of the fuselage.

 

The MiG-21 designers decided they could extract still more from this already prolific airplane. They virtually started again and designed a wholly new fighter with the same shape out a new airframe with none of the compromises caused by 20 years of piecemeal changes, Called the MiG-21 bis, the latest version also has the R-25, a much more powerful yet lighter and more economical engine.

Specifications: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 F 'Fishbed-C single-seat interceptor and ground-attack fighter. Span: 23ft 5.5 in Length: 44ft 2in without probe Powerplant: lxTumanskii R-11F, 5750 kg (12,676lb) Armament: 1x30-mm cannon, plus provision for 2xM-2 'Atoll' AAMs or 2x16-tube rocket launchers on 2x underwing hard points* Max T/O weight: 19,0261b Max speed: Mach 2 at 36,090 ft Operational range: 273 miles *Included with this Fiddlersgreen model

	Here is a “What IF” model offered by Fiddlersgreen from their Mig 21 many versions Collection. For support I stuffed the center wing section with tissue and pushed through a wood skewer stick for attaching the two fuselages. Each nose cone was weighted with a .177 cal pellet. Wing span eight inches. Fuselages ten inches. Bob Penikas
I traced the fuselage gear door openings, retraced that onto the centerline fuel tank parts page and cut out the new doors. I installed the two inner doors in a closed position, then installed the outer doors open just for more stuff to hang down. Two Photos attached. Bob Penikas	Note the doors have been fixed and are now the correct size

A: The MiG-21 has been built in an amazing number of variants, including two-seaters for training. The later fighter aircraft have a large humped spine that carries extra fuel.	B: The MiG-21 was called a "tailed delta." T-configuration, combined with a powerful engine, made the fighter one of the nimblest of its era. lt was more than a match in a dogfight with the healy Phantom that opposed it in Vietnam and in the Middle East.

A: Three different types of engines powered the MiG-21 through its production life, all made by MNPK Soyuz (Tumansky).	B: This version of the "Fishbed," the MiG 21FL, did not have internal guns but carried a GPI cannon pack under the fuse age with a 23-mm weapon.	C: An inlet spike on the nose augmented engine performance, especially al supersonic speeds.

IAF MiG-21 crashes near Jodhpur, the pilot ejected safely, and no damage on the ground.