The Cold War brought
about a number of changes in aviation and aircraft design as
the US and USSR were always looking for way to "one up" the
other. The era produced some interesting and neat aircraft,
and some unusual designs. The museum has a good selection of
Soviet planes.
Here is a lineup of some of the Soviet aircraft.
MiG-15 UTI Fagot The UTI version of the MiG-15 was a two seater, used for training. Some were manufactured as two seaters, but most of them were rebuilt from single seat fighters in Poland.
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23MLD Flogger K of the 655th IAP based at Parnu Airport in Estonia. The MiG-23 featured swing-wings like the F-14 and F-111 and some robust landing gear to be able to operate for unimproved fields.
MiG-23 front landing gear. The gear looks pretty beefy, and complex.
MiG-23 front landing gear. These look like a mechanical nightmare, but they work well.
MiG-23 front landing gear in North Korean markings. The MiG-15 was flown by 38 different countries.
Shenyang J-6A Farmer of the 211th Fighter Bomber Brigade, Jiyanklis, Egypt. The Shenyang J-6A is the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19 Farmer built in Japan.
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 Fresco C of the North Vietnamese Air Force. The MiG-17 was a MiG-15 upgrade with a significant amount of changes. It was very nimble and gave the missile-only armed F-4 Phantoms quite a fight in the early days of the Vietnam War.
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17PF Fresco D. This MiG-17PF was designed as an all-weather fighter with the Izumrud RADAR and the VK-1F engine with afterburner.
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21PF Fishbed D of the Soviet Air Force. Designed as a short range interceptor, the Fishbed has gone through a number of modifications with over 10,000 built between 1955 and 1985. Fishbeds have been delivered to 50 countries over 4 continents, with many still in use today.
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-29 Fulcrum-A of the Soviet Air Force. It entered service with the Soviet Air Force in 1982 to match the F-16 and F-18 fighters. 30 other nations would also buy the MiG-29 export version.
Nose art on the MiG-29