Haynes Super Profile MiG 21 (1984)

--- TABLE DES MATIERES / CONTENTS --- Contents Genesis First-Generation Fighter Second-Generation Fighter Third-Generation Fighter Two-Seaters and Record-Breakers Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21MF technical description 15 35 41 49 54 Genesis The best Soviet fighter of the early 1950s was the Mikoyan- Gurevich MiG-15bis, a remark- able achievement for the Soviet aircraft industry, and a devastating shock to the Americans in the skies over war-torn Korea during late 1950 and early 1951. The Americans prevailed over the MiG-15 series with the excellent North American F-86 Sabre, but it was clear that much of this dominance was achieved by US pilot training and the superior equipment of the American fighters. While the MiG-15 had a definite performance edge over the F-86 in certain important parameters such as climb and turn rates, it was also found, however, to possess several adverse characteristics such as a tendency to stall and spin in very tight turns, pronounced snaking at Mach numbers in excess of 0.88, and poor handling at high angles of attack. Improved aircraft were already under flight test during the Korean War — namely the MiG-17 and MiG-19 from the same design stable — but the…