Experimental aircraft MiG-21I (A-144)
A special unarmed modification of the MiG-21S frontline fighter aircraft to test the aerodynamic properties, flight characteristics, stability and handling of the tailless aircraft.
A special unarmed modification of the MiG-21S frontline fighter aircraft to test the aerodynamic properties, flight characteristics, stability and handling of the tailless aircraft.
Thanks to the efforts of the SMI, the F-104 Starfighter has a reputation for failure. Some nicknames are worth it: "flying coffin", "husband's killer", "widow maker" and so on. He is believed to have hopelessly lost air combat with the MiG-21. However, the attitude towards the F-104 was not always negative everywhere. In Pakistan, for example, he was given the rather reasonable nickname "hooligan". Canadian pilots sometimes called it "flying phallus," which, as you can see, is much better than "flying scrap," as the MiG-21 was called at the time.
After exceeding the speed limit of a thousand kilometers on a MiG-15 fighter (I-310, C) in 1948, the OKB-155, led by chief designer AI Mikoyan, together with CAGI specialists, almost immediately outlined measures to further increase it. As early as July 26, 1949, a prototype MiG-17 fighter (I-330, SI) ascended into the air.
The first prototype of the Je-8 (MiG-23) became known as the Je-8/1 (red 81) and left the OKB MiG prototype workshop on 5 March 1962. As this machine lacked a fighter radar installation, its fuselage was fitted with a sheet metal nose. Its interior was then filled with test apparatus.
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