Model Airplane Videos – Ali Machinchy's Mig 21

A second model airplane displayed by Ali Machinchy was his Mig 21 weighing in at 18 kg (40lb)

The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 with NATO reporting name of "Fishbed" is a supersonic jet fighter aircraft.  Originally designed and built by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau in the Soviet Union, the MiG-21 has been flown by  more than 30 countries of the world and it still serves many nations more than 50 years after its first flight. Its Mach 2 capability exceeds the top speed of many later and more modern fighter types. Total production is estimated to have reached more than 10,000 MiG-21s.

Development

As in the US, early post war Soviet designs were heavily based on late-WWII German jet designs, starting with the subsonic MiG-15, MiG-17, and the low supersonic swept-wing MiG-19. The MiG-21 would be the most successful of a number of experimental Mach 2 Soviet designs that were based on nose intakes with either swept-back wings, such as the Sukhoi Su-7, or tailed delta wings as in the Mig 21.

The E-5 prototype of the MiG-21 was first flown in 1955 and made its first public appearance during the Soviet Aviation Day display at Moscow's Tushino Airport in June 1956. The first delta-wing prototype, named "Ye-4", (also written as "E-4") flew on 14 June 1956, and the production MiG-21 entered service in early 1959. Employing a delta-wing configuration, the MiG-21 was the first successful Soviet aircraft combining fighter and interceptor characteristics in a single aircraft. It was a lightweight fighter, achieving Mach 2 speed using a relatively low-powered afterburning turbojet, and is thus comparable to the American F-104 Starfighter and French Dassault Mirage III.

Early problems with the design were fixed and during the Middle Eastern and Vietnam wars, the MiG-21 proved to be an effective aircraft. These wars provided invaluable lessons that were fed back in design modifications of later MiG-21 models.

However, it was not until the arrival of the MiG-29 that the Soviet Union would ultimately replace the MiG-21 as a maneuvering dogfighter to counter new American air superiority types.

The MiG-21 was widely exported by the Soviet Union and continues to be used well past the time when it might have been considered obsolete. The simple controls, engine, weapons, and avionics are typical of Soviet-era robust, simple military designs. While not as advanced as the technologically superior fighters it often faced, low production and maintenance costs made it a continuing favorite of many nations .

The model.

Ali's model Mig 21 weighs in at 18 kg or nearly 40 lbs including fuel.  It is powered by an AMT Pegasus jet developing some 16 kg of thrust and he delivers a stunning display captured on The Boy's With Big 'Uns available from www.ModelAirplaneVideos.com  .