MiG-21 in Vietnam, Katlov comments

[nscode]

 

It's about the 21's early deployment and Soviet pilots sent there to see why were the AA missiles so ineffective in beginning.

 

I understand it partially, but could someone give a true translation.. or point me to where I could find it :)

[Blakk]

Vietnameese pilots were unable of calculating and maintaining right distance of missile launch...the russian pilot used lots of F words telling vietnamese to wait for a right distance before firing on F-4

[Pilotasso]

Migs were smarter planes back then. Electronics were overrated and mechanical engineering supremacy was still the dominant factor for fighter design. Russians were and probably still are the greatest mechanical engineers on earth, that much I can argue.

 

Alot of things changed since then, on the other fronts of fighter engineering.

[SwingKid]

From what I understood, the instructor says that the gunsight used in the MiG-21 was basically the same as in the MiG-15 - designed for gunfights, not missile combat. As a result, the Vietnamese pilots needed to be trained flying in two-seaters, how to judge the distance to the F-4, and to hold their fire until they were close enough for the shot.

 

-SK

[nscode]

Yeah... thought this would be interesting for our favorite Atoll basher (hey, GG :D)

[GGTharos]

HAhaha :D

 

Missiles on both sides were crap back then :) Sidewinders, from a description of the -B's usage, weren't much better. You had to sit on the bandit's tail, have him fill the reticle (to indicate optimal launch range of about 800m, IIRC) and then fire.