Text: Richard Plos

Illustration: Kateřina Borecká

Cat. No. 7055

“Canopy, oxygen, KAP, ARK, SRO, battery, gyro, landing gear ...” The instructor listens to the pre-flight check by the student pilot in the front cockpit. A few seconds later, the student moves the thrust lever forward, revs the RD-45 engine to 11,560 rpm, releases the brakes and heads out for his examination flight. Unless he screws up, he's in for his desired first solo flight ... “Watch the heading,” comes the instructor’s calm voice over the headset as the nose lifts. “He's really got a good memory,” flashes through the student’s mind as the main gear wheels leave the concrete runway. He screwed up one of his first take offs as he got a little bit off the heading of the runway and immediately got a telling off from the instructor. So far today, though, it’s looking good. He’s raising the landing gear, retracts flaps and takes the engine revs down to 10,800 rpm. An eye on the exhaust gas temperature: 680°C. That’s good. Feeling like everything's going like clockwork, he sets course towards the training zone…

The year 1951 marked a major breakpoint for the Czechoslovak Air Force. After a period in which a handful of pilots had become familiar with the S-92, i.e., the Me 262, or with the early designs of Soviet jets as the Yak-17 and Yak-23, the wheels of first MiG-15s touched the runway of Mladá airbase in May. The qualitative leap from the madcap and unreliable propeller-driven Avia S-199s to the best jet available at the time was enormous. Moreover, Czechoslovakia was the first country to obtain the rights to license production of the MiG-15. A licensing agreement was signed on April 17, 1951. The first ten MiG-15s were however assembled from parts shipped from the USSR, and the first of these took to the air on November 6, 1951. As early as May, however, the Air Force took delivery of six single-seat MiG-15s which flew in directly from the USSR. In July, they were supplemented by four two-seaters UTI MiG-15s, delivered in crates. All these aircraft were intended for the No. 5 Fighter Squadron based at Mladá airbase. It was the only unit in Czechoslovakia to use the S-92/CS-92 (Me 262) and S-101 (Yak-23) jets. This unit was transformed into the Air Force Jet Training Center (PVSL) on June 1, 1951 and Lt. Col. Jaroslav Týkal, later Czechoslovak Air Force commander, led it for the first two months.

The Center first task was to retrain the personnel of the entire 3 Air Division, which command was subsequently taken over by Lt. Col. Týkal. Since then, the UTI MiG-15s were in constant use and their need grew as the number of pilots of this type was increasing. However, the Czechoslovakian production started only in 1954, until then the aircraft used for training and conversions were delivered directly from the USSR. A total of 3,454 MiG-15s rolled off the Czechoslovak production lines, and the UTI trainer was by far the most numerous of the variants produced. By 1961, 2013 of them had been produced, most of them were exported. Only 155 were destined for the Czechoslovak Air Force, where they ended their service on April 1, 1983, with the 4th Squadron, of 1 Fighter Air Regiment based in České Budějovice. At that time, the unit's inventory included two UTI MiG-15s, Nos. 2311 and 2470.

The aircraft No. 2463 depicted in the painting by Kateřina Borecká, started its service in 1957 at 15 Fighter Air Regiment based in Žatec. In 1970 it underwent repairs at the Kbely Aviation Maintenance Center (LOK) and was assigned to 6 Fighter-Bomber air Regiment in Přerov. Its service ended with 30 Fighter-Bomber air Regiment in Hradec Králové at the beginning of 1983.

... A hand on the throttle pulled it back to speed down to below 400 km/h, the maximum for flaps and landing gear deployment. But there was still time for it. First, he had to obtain clearance to enter the airfield traffic pattern, then to adjust the altitude and lower the speed even more. “Slow down descending,” comes the instructor’s voice in the headset, but more just for saying something at last, as there wasn't a single comment from the back cockpit during the whole time of maneuvering in the training zone. On the final approach, everything looked fine and after the landing gear wheels touched the runway smoothly, he knew, he’d done it. “Are you afraid?” the instructor snaped at him, barely out of the cockpit. “N... no, Captain,” the student pilot replied in surprise. “Okay, so scat and prepare yourself for solo flight!”