Gepard

Today Germany is playing vs Scottland in European Football Championship. And scottish fans made some mistakes. In one case it was a heavy car exident, with some heavy casulties.

Thaswhy: A few tips for Brits travelling to Germany for the European Championships

First: In Germany we are driving on the right side, like the rest of civilized world. If you drive like in Great Britain you'll end up in hospital.

Second: Our beer is stronger than what you are used to in the UK.  If you drink like you do in Great Britain, you'll quickly find yourself under the table.

Third: Funny meant phrases like "Sieg Heil" or other Nazi related phrases are in Germany no joke, but a crime. You can go to jail for this.

Have fun and enjoy your time!

Phantom F.3 alias F-4J(UK)

An-12 at an airfield on crimean peninsula, end 1980th.

EDIT: Ups, posted one day to early. Sorry.

"Skorpion". The polish idea of a light ground support aircraft of end 1980th, early 1990th.

Somewhere in the Ukraine end 1980th.

S-105, the chech MiG-19S

Slow progress. Placing hundreds of trees and buildings is boring!

Phantom F.3 alias F-4J(UK) is going vertical over Guernsey

F-113 Retaliator

Snake hunt.

Funny facts to the east german CLA-87 pods.

There were 3 different versions of this pod. One of this pods was to equippe with a videocamera. Small problem: in East Germany was no videocamera available. The own industrie was unable to build one and soviet video technic was crap.

So the GDR found a nice solution. They bought some thousand Akai video recorders in Japan, which were sold in TV shops in the GDR. But this was only a coverstory. The real interesse was on a fistfull videocameras from Panasonic. This cameras wer not sold, but installed in the CLA-87 recon pods.

I found the designation of the polish recon pod. It's "Saturn-2". It was developed in mid 1980th and was tested in 1986/87. Wheter it entered the serial production, i dont know.

An other interesting fact about the soviet standard recon pod for MiG-21 is, that it had included two flare dispenser ASO-2 with 32 flares each. I dont know, wheter it is possible to bring this feature in SF2.

11 hours ago, Soulfreak said:

East German Recon pod:

 

Polish Recon Pod:

 

East German Recon Pod: CLA-87 (two or three different versions)

 

Polish Recon Pod:

 

I made some remarks to show which recon pod belongs to East Germans and which to the Polish. It could be, that the polish pods based on UB-32 pod, while the east german pods were modified UB-16.

18 hours ago, Svetlin said:

I do not mean to argue, but it does not seem likely that those were modifed MFs. They have the MiG-21R wing with the radio-electronic warfare wingtip pods. Also they have the MiG-21R tube installed on the right upper side of the nose with just an air pressure sensor, whereas the MiG-21MF has other sensors added on the same tube. Why would anyone downgrade by removing some useful sensors to convert a serial MiG-21MF into a MiG-21RF?

 

The small fin sensors on the pitot tube are AoA sensors of the aiming device for the gun. Since the MiG-21RF had had no gun, so they were useless, thatswhy the "clean" pitot tube. The small wing pods, you mention, are a good argument. But the wings are interchangable between MiG-21 versions. In the LSK (East German Air Force) we had exactly one MiG-21UM with the wings of the MiG-21MF (2 hardpoints each wing), while all other Sparkas had 1 hardpoint per wing.

What me makes thinking, that teh egyptian MiG-21RF are modified MiG-21MF is the engine. They had R-13F-300 engines. The guy, who made the upper photo said, that he was able, during his visit in the ukrainian repar facility in Odessa, to have a look in the engine tube and he realized, that it was a R-13, not an R-11. IIRC, i have heared, that it was nearly impossible to fit a R-13 in the fuselage of a MiG-21 of the first and second generation, because parts of the engine were located at other positions. And the MiG-21R was a plane of the second MiG-21 generation.

On the other hand the egyptians were tricky guys. Perhaps they have found a way to make the impossible possible.

It's confusing.

I'm not sure wheter the egyptian RF were modified R. It could be, that it are modified MF. The camera pack is installed at the place, which originally was used by the GSha-23 gun and the ammo storage of the gun.

EDIT:

I have searched a german forum about the MiG-21RF. There i found, that only 12 planes were built. The camera pack was not installed at the place of the GScha-23 gun, but at the place of the akku (battery) package. The akkus were relocated to somewhere in cockpit area. The engine was definitly the R-13F-300.

Here a photo of an RF, which i found in the net, at an ukrainian aircraft factory in 1990th (i think it was in that timeframe). It was there for overhaul and repair.

For me it seems to be, that the print is a description how the GSh-23 gun is fitted under the belly of a MiG-21M or later fighter version. Maybe i'm wrong, but if i'm right, then could part 1 be the steel plate, that protects the fuselage from muzzle flash.

4 hours ago, FLOGGER23 said:

Now, correct me if i am wrong, the trainers, the main variants are:....

-MiG-21UM, with the 3rd generation avionics, a distinctive antenna on the aft spine.

 

Only short. The blade antenna on the aft spine is not a sure distinctive object. There are some older MiG-21 trainers, which were refitted with this antenna.

Here a MiG-21U with this antenna:

A sure distinctive object of the MiG-21UM is a AoA sensor on the left side of the nose.

Hunters over Guernsey

I have started to place TOD objects (trees, houses) on Guernsey tiles. Two tiles are done, many others have to be done.

On the right side, the TOD's are already set, on the left side you see the "empty" tiles.

Pictures of the MG pod of MiG-21 trainers were easier to find, than expected:

It's difficult to see. It is the small "bubble" under the belly.

Here a close shot:

And here from an other angle:

The gun of the trainers was an 12,7 mm machingun. I think it was an Afanasiew A12,7. It was used very seldom. It was placed in a streamlined container. I will have a look into my archive. Everywhere in the depth there is a photo of this container.

The protection plates came with the MiG-21MF. IIRC 1972 or so. The MF was the modified version, with some changes made after war experiences. Like mirror, R-13 engine, protection plates etc. BTW the mirror was not a simple mirror, like in a car. It was a periscope, the light had to go a zig-zag path through this device.

Back to the protection plates. In service it showed, that this plates also protected against FOD. Thatswhy they were refitted also to gunless MiG-21 versions.

The MiG-21RF came before the MiG-21MF. It was the first version with the long back tank. IIRC it based on the MiG-21PFM. Thatswhy it had, when delivered no protection plates.

42 minutes ago, yakarov79 said:

 Gravity is operating those doors.

No.

If the suction of the engine becomes too great, the doors of auxilary air intakes open.

This photo shows the position of gun muzzle and auxillary air intake at the MiG-21F-13:

There is a fair chance, that gun smoke can get into an opend door.

4 hours ago, yakarov79 said:

Those are not gun blast protection plates, ...

This statement is wrong and true at the same time. Of course this plates were helpfull to avoid FOD. Thatswhy they were refitted also on gunless MiG-21 versions.

But the origin of this plates were war experiences. When the MiG was in a close dogfight at low speeds and low altitudes, the plane was flown with a good angle of attack and full afterburner. In such situation the engines needed much more air, than the air intake could deliver. The doors of auxilary air intakes were opend automatically. If in such a situation the gun was fired, the gun smoke had a good chance to were sucked into the auxillary air intakes, which caused compressor stalls and a flame out. The engine died and the pilot had only one choice: to use the ejection seat.

During Vietnam war, but also during arab-israeli  clashes, some MiG-21 pilots shot down themself by firing the gun during low speed, low level dogfights.

The cure of the problem was to add the protection plates, which, as a side effect, were helpfull to avoid FOD.

So i have learned the story of the protection plates from east german fighter pilots.

Hunter over Alderney island.

You could add the steel plate below the gun muzzle, which protects the structure of the fuselage from gun fire. You can see this plate at this photo which i had taken at Luftwaffenmuseum Gatow, some years ago.