Planes and Flight

The Mig-21 "Fishbed" is a Soviet-built supersonic jet fighter.
Over thirty nations have flown the MiG-21, and many continue to do so today. An estimated 8,000 MiG-21s were built, more than any other supersonic jet aircraft. The MiG-21 saw extensive service in Vietnam, and in the hands of experienced pilots, was very effective in destroying American F-105s. The MiG-21 was also used by the Arab air forces against Israel. A MiG-21, with a skilled pilot, could put up a decent fight
against even modern planes, and it wasn't until the MiG-29 that the Soviets finally replaced the -21.

General characteristics

* Crew: One
* Length: 15.76 m (51 ft 8 in)
* Wingspan: 7.15 m (23 ft 5 in)
* Height: 4.12 m (13 ft 6 in)
* Wing area: 23 m² (247.5 ft²)
* Empty weight: 5,350 kg (11,800 lb)
* Loaded weight: 8,726 kg (19,200 lb)
* Max takeoff weight: 9,660 kg (21,300 lb)
* Powerplant: 1× Tumansky R-25-300 afterburning turbojet, 70 kN (15,700 lbf)

Performance

* Maximum speed: 2230 km/h (1385 mph) (Mach 1.8))
* Range: 450-500 km (280-310 mi)
* Service ceiling: 19,000 m (62,300 ft)
* Rate of climb: 120 m/s (23,600 ft/min)
* Wing loading: 379 kg/m² (77.8 lb/ft²)
* Thrust/weight: 0.82

Armament

* One centerline twin-barrelled GSh-23 23 mm cannon (PFM, MF, SMT, and bis variants) or one single-barrelled NR-30 cannon (F-13 variant).
* Up to 2,000 kg (4,400 lb) of air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons on two or four underwing hardpoints, depending on the variant. Early machines carried two Vympel K-13 (AA-2 'Atoll') air-to-air missiles under the wing pylons. Late models carried two K-13 and two fuel tanks under the wing pylons or combinations of four K-13 infrared- and radar-guided missiles. The Molniya R-60 (NATO reporting name AA-8 'Aphid') was also used on multiple pylons. Most aircraft carried a single 450 L (119 US gal) fuel tank on the centerline pylon.