MiG-21PFMK "Carrier-based Fishbed"
KP/Kitbash, 1/72
Author's note: This was a project which struck me suddenly and grew until I finally sat down and made a theoretical list of changes necessary to make a MiG-21 suitable for carrier ops, since it would involve far more than gluing a tailhook on the bottom. I was to be working with the relatively crude yet very accurate and extremely affordable 1/72 KP kit of the MiG-21MF "Fishbed J" version, yet in addition to the carrier modifications I also wanted to backdate the spine to the "PFM" variant.
Also, for those of you who do not understand "tongue-in-cheek," the pro-socialist bravado in this article is purely for dramatic purposes. I am a very staunch American who opposes all things socialist and communist, yet who greatly admires the incredible minds and hands who developed potent, effective aircraft to match the world's best while working under one of the most oppressive regimes the world has ever faced.
Introduction
(Moscow, 1965) Comrades, it gives me much pleasure for to introduce to you, my brothers in glorious socialism, the latest triumph of our beloved Rodina, our Motherland Socialist Russia, the MiG-21PFMK. From the brilliant minds of comrades Artyom Ivanovich (Mikoyan) and Mikhail Iosifovich (Guryevich), though no doubt inspired from the leadership of our beloved Leonid Ilyich (Brezhnev), we now have a machine capable of meeting the Capitalist threat. No more shall they thumb their noses and sneer with ignorance from their aircraft carriers, now parked illegally in the Gulf of Tonkin to bully our valiant comrades in the north of Vietnam. Now it is we who shall take the lead in seabased air power, ever ready to defend the truths of glorious socialism!
Before I begin to detail our amazing achievement, my brothers, allow me yet another moment to confess that, sadly, our great leader's predecessor, Nikita Kruschev, was a fool. He wrongly believed our rockets, superior though they are, were the only way to the future and so forbid the development of aircraft carriers and the aircraft to operate from them. However, we have deposed him and revealed to the world his incompetence, which undermined the superiority of the Soviet mind. He has been unmasked just as the heinous crimes of his predecessor, Josef Stalin, are also known to the Soviet people. It was the triumph of the Russian spirit which made it possible for our new supercarriers to be designed under the swine Kruschev's nose, ready for immediate construction with the arrival of our beloved Leonid Ilyich. Now with our new leadership we shall at long last show the world the inherent superiority of our system!
Structural Modifications
We read with great amusement reports from United States and Great Britain that their intelligence commitees did not believe their first intelligence reports of this project (which we no doubt allowed them to receive--ha!). "This is not possible," they announced in their pompous ignorance, "that a MiG-21 should be operating from aircraft carriers? Why, its landing speed alone, at well over 150 kts, makes this impossible!" No doubt many of you, good comrades, are wondering the same question. It is the triumph of the Soviet mind which has made this possible, with the new SPS system first fitted to our MiG-21PFM (also known as "Fishbed F" in the dark world of the capitalists). Also known as "blown flaps," this remarkable device blows excess engine air over the flaps and artificially lowers the landing speed to only 135 knots without any external structural modification necessary to the aircraft! This system is planned for installment on all future developments of the MiG-21.
I ask you, learned comrades, what modifications are necessary to make MiG-21 carrier-capable? Those of you familiar with this remarkable aircraft no doubt realize the list is a long one. Any aircraft being modified for carrier service needs stronger landing gear, and room to store this gear when retracted. The wings must fold so we can fit as many of these superfighters aboard our ships as we can. The enormous pitot boom on the aircraft nose must be moved and simplified, again for the space aboard ship. And finally you may be aware the MiG-21 has a large ventral fin precisely where an arresting hook must be installed.
Here, comrades, is the list of changes which makes the MiG-21PFMK stand apart from our land-based MiG-21 fleet:
Author's note: Some of these changes do not fit into the timeline of the above script, as they involve changes in backdating the KP "MF" model, and thus involve features not yet seen in 1965.
Fuselage
- Single ventral fin replaced with twin ventral fins
- Cooling intakes on ventral fin repositioned with new fin configuration
- Arrestor hook installed between ventral fins
- Large pitot boom removed from nose
- AOA sensor fairing retained on nose portside from MF configuration
- Revised dorsal spine to PF/PFM standard
Wings
- Wingfold delineation on equal line with inboard edge of ailerons
- Maingear wells deepened and enlargened for clearance for larger legs
- Bulges on upper and lower surfaces to provide space for bulkier landing gear
- Plate installed above attachment points for maingear legs
- Wing panels outboard of wingfolds increased in area with lessened sweep
- Four-pylon system arranged under outboard panels
- Pitot boom moved to wingtip
- Landing lights repositioned forward of maingear bays
Landing Gear
- Maingear legs rebuilt to strengthened, bulkier design
- Maingear doors enlarged to match increase in well size
- Nosegear leg replaced by bulkier unit
- Nosegear oleo leg lengthened for raised nose profile
Many of these items are self-explanatory and do not need explanation, but I shall detail some of the changes for you.
The need for the change in the ventral fin configuration should be obvious since an arresting hook needs to be installed. Also the enormous pitot boom, a feature which has dominated both the MiG-19 and the MiG-21 until now; it is simply not practical for use aboard the cramped conditions of an aircraft carrier. The solution is to move the system to the wingtip as was done with the MiG-15 and MiG-17. Later variants will probably use both wings for redundant systems.
The most dramatic changes, comrades, involved the wings. First they must fold at a line between the flaps and ailerons to provide practical stowage aboard ship. Second, since the landing gear must be enlarged and reinforced, their tiny wheel wells in the wings must also be enlarged. Since the wing was so thin to begin with, the OKB was left with two choices: Redesign the entire wing to be thicker (which would reduce greatly the top speed of the aircraft not to mention be terribly wasteful of our resources), or simply bulge the area containing the gear. Obviously the wisdom of brothers Artyom Ivanovich and Mikhail Iosifovich chose the wisest path, under the all-knowing guidance of the Party. Their brilliance has since been verified by the United States Navy's new revelation of their F-4J Phantom, which features a similarly bulged wing to house the larger landing gear legs. As you can plainly see, the capitalists do on occasion imitate true wisdom.
The MiG-21PFMK's wing is not a true delta, as in all previous variants, but the outer panels are reduced in sweep, and enlarged in surface area. There are two reasons for this, the first being an improvement in the aircraft's handling, especially during carrier landing approaches. The second is to better accomodate two weapons pylons on each outer wing panel, whereas all previous MiG-21's have had only one pylon per wing, located at precisely the point where the wingfold is now. With all the external stores weight being shifted away from the fuselage, a greater wing area was needed to adequately support them.
Finally, comrades, you will note the nosegear of the aircraft is greatly lengthened by a huge oleo strut, which, when compressed for retraction, ends up being no longer than the previous nosegear design. Again we see imitation from the capitalists, as many of their carrier aircraft also have much-lengthened nosegear legs.
You will note, comrades, the green paint which adornes the undersides of the aircraft rather than the usual light gray or light blue. This is a new anticorrosive paint, similar to that used on the undersides of boats, and is intended to protect the aircraft's metal airframe from exposure to highly corrosive seawater which will spray over the carrier flight deck from time to time. Our glorious brother Yakovlev's design bureau has expressed interest in this paint for his new secret VTOL project which will undoubtedly be seabound on smaller helicopter cruisers if selected for the Navy by the Politburo.
And so, my dear comrades, it has been my pleasure and honor to detail to you the great advances represented in our Motherland's newest defender! Glory to the workers, and long live the Soviet Union!
--Andrei Ivanovich (aka Andrew D. the Jolly Rogers guy)
Materials used:
- KP 1/72 MiG-21MF
- IMD 1/72 MiG-21D (spine only)
- Aeroclub 1/72 white metal ejection seat
- Aeroclub vacuformed canopy replacement
- Contrail tubing, Evergreen styrene rod and sheet styrene of various sizes, and brass rod, all various sizes
- Some leftover bits of an Eduard 1/72 MiG-21 etched metal detail set
- DML and Hasegawa weapons stores (missiles were modified from Sidewinders)
- Model Master enamel paints
- Various decals, both kit and aftermarket, including Encore, Fujimi, Superscale, Italeri and Soviet Navy ensign from Revell Yak-38 sheet.
Text and photos Copyright © 2003 Andrew Desautels
Page created October 28, 2003