Hobby Master Archive

Hobby Master 1/72 Air Power Series HA0140 Mig-21MF, Czech AF Test Squadron “Stress Team”

THESE ARE PRE-PRODUCTION PICTURES NOT THE RETAIL VERSION

Die-cast metal. Superb detailing in 1/72 scale. Pre-painted with pad applied markings. Fully assembled. Display stand included. Option to display model with wheels up or down. Minimum use of plastic. Very collectable This particular paint scheme is one of the various used by the Czech Air Force “Stress Team”. Mr. Oscar Vickery of Galveston Texas, a former Air Force flight instructor owns the Mig-21 that this model replicates. He is qualified on 10 or more jets and is an instructor for Classic Jet Aircraft Association.

The Mig-21 was originally built by the Mikoyan and Gurevich Design Bureau in the Soviet Union with a NATO nickname “Fishbed”. No other jet has had as many planes produced as the Mig-21. Depending on the reference source 8,000 - 13,000 planes of all versions were made in the Soviet Union, under license to allied countries and China without license. At the time of it’s introduction into the Soviet Air Force service in 1959, it was exactly what they wanted. A small, fast, agile, dependable and most importantly simple making it easy to turn out great numbers of the plane. The skies of Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia and Central America seemed to be filled with thousands of the Mig- 21. Because of it’s relatively low cost since it was heavily subsidized by the Soviets, it became the plane of choice for many third world countries. Taking this into account this plane this plane has seen more wars then any other modern day jet. The Mig-21 was used in front line service for over 30 years equaling that of the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II. There were 5 generations of the plane in many versions and each generation brought with it great improvements over it’s predecessors. These are some of the countries that flew the Mig-21: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Bulgaria, Cambodia, China, Congo, Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Egypt, Ethiopia, Finland, GDR, Guinea, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Laos, Libya, Madagascar, Mali, Mongolia, Mozambique, Myanmar (formerly Burma), Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Somalia, Soviet Union, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Mig-21MF Specs: Power Plant: One 41.55kN (9,340lb st) or 64.73kN (14,550lb st) with afterburner Tumansky R-13-300 turbojet Wingspan: 7.15m (23ft 5½in) Length: 15.76m (51ft 8½in) - incl pitot boom Max T-O weight: 9,400kg (20,725lb) Max speed: Mach 2.1 (2,230km/h - 1,385mph) above 11,000m (36,000ft) Mach 1.06 (1,300km/h - 807mph) at low level Range: 1,100km (683 miles) - internal fuel only 1,800km (1,118 miles) - with three external drop tanks, one under fuselage, one under each wing Armament: One 23mm twin-barrel GSh-23 cannon with 200 rounds in belly pack Various air-to-air and air-to-ground stores carried on four under wing pylons including: K-13A “Atoll” or “Advanced Atoll” a-a missiles, UV-16-57 rocket packs, S-24 a-s rockets, 250kg and 500kg bombs

Czech “Stress Team” Official name was “Letecke středisko inspektora letectva a PVO AČR” / “Flying centre of Air Force and Air Protection Surveyor of Army of the Czech Republic”. Later renamed “Letecký zkušebni odbor” / “Flying Test Department”. The team was officially formed 1.3.1994 (director was Chief of Air Force GenMjr. P. Štrůbl) at Časlav AB. December 1994 the unit was relocated from Časlav AB (because there already were a lot of regular air force squadrons located there) to Plzeň-Lině AB. In January 1995 the unit was renamed as “Letecký zkušebni odbor” (LZO).

Commander of the unit was pplk. Josef Rada, former commander of the 9.sbolp on Bechyně AB, most of the unit’s pilots were from 9.sbolp as well. Unit’s aircrafts - MiG- 21MF - 4307, 5209, 7701, 7711 (all silver except 7711, and from 11.slp Žatec AB), 9410, 9412, 9414, 9802 (all in green-brown camo and from 1.šlp Přerov AB), MiG-21UM - 0165 and 3756, MiG-21R - 1501, 2149 and one L-39ZA number 5013.

The main objective of the unit was developing new tactics, training procedures and the application of these to fighter units. Very soon the unit was assigned the task of displaying the Mig-21 at various air shows so they were known as the Czech Air Force “Delta Team” as well.

The “Stress Squadron” was canceled soon after the crash of MiG-21 MF (7711, pilot Mjr. Luboš Kubat) and MiG-21UM (3756, pilot Mjr. Miroslav Holak and technician Roman Kovařik - who was onboard against Czech Air Force rules!!!) over the town of Česke Budějovice on 8.6.1998. The collision occurred because of bad weather while arriving from an air-show.