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Posted

Wow, they improved since I was there...

I saw them  MiG-23 fly back in 2007-8 when I worked in Tripoli, and they were far from impressive in an airshow. Quite clumsy and straightforwardy flight back then. 

I guess they are now battle hardened... 

Posted

Some quotes from soviet pilots stated the 23 was unflyable without the semiautomatic autopilot. Something with the aerodynamic instability. Comparable with the instable 5th generation design and their fly by wire controls. Unflyable without computers.

Posted

Some quotes from soviet pilots stated the 23 was unflyable without the semiautomatic autopilot. Something with the aerodynamic instability. Comparable with the instable 5th generation design and their fly by wire controls. Unflyable without computers.

 

Not necessarily "unflyable"..., but at high angles of attack, the airflow around the tail fin would be blocked by the MiG-23's high mounted wing.  This was made worse by the roll-induced yaw from the tailerons, and vortexes coming off the wing leading edge "claws."  As you said, the SAU-23 flight control system fixed this by automatically putting the rudder opposite of the yaw caused by the tailerons when rolling.  Other planes with tailerons (the mig-29, f-15 etc) use similar systems.  

 

MiG's leading test pilot, Stepan Anastasovich Mikoyan, had some interesting opinions about the MiG-23 and its wings.  He actually liked the setup on the original MiG-23S best, and he thought that the 2nd edition wing (without leading-edge slats) was a death trap that would stall without any warning on take-off.  The final 3rd edition wing (with the claws) had the above mentioned problems.  

 

The plane certainly had plenty of thrust, as seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSsiMUKaMxc

         

Posted (edited)

Wow, they improved since I was there...

 

 

The only time I saw Libyan Mig-23's was when we reviewed the F-14 gun camera film..................... Edited by Typhoid
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