KITS 06/2021

Red 4326, 921st Fighter Regiment, North Vietnam, Late 60s/Early 70s

This aircraft was delivered to Vietnam in 1966 and served as a part of the 921st Fighter Regiment. Thirteen red stars were painted on the nose

to depict victories gained by the pilots who flew this aircraft. One of them was Nguyen Van Coc, the most successful Vietnamese fighter ace

with nine confirmed kills to his credit. He downed F-4B BuNo. 151485 on May 7, 1968 while at the controls of this MiG-21PFL. “Red 4326” is

currently displayed in Air Force museum in Hanoi. Cockpit has a grey color.

Red 409, serial no. 760409 31st T. F. W, Taszár Air Base, Hungary, 1987-88

The aircraft served with the Taszár based 31st T. F. W. (Tactical Fighter Wing) as a part of the 1st squadron. In the first half of its service years it

didn’t have any camouflage and just sported the natural metal finish. The aircraft sustained heavy damage due to an on-board fire during one

flight, however the pilot managed to land the plane. Due to the repair the aircraft was out of service for long and returned to the unit in its

natural metal finish. The new camouflage paint scheme was applied at the Pestvidéki Gépgyár company during the last overhaul in November,

1980. After the overhaul, the cockpit had turquoise color. Hungarian MiG-21PFs were withdrawn from service on January 1, 1989. In the last

days of its life, the 409 was used for trials, testing possible future national marking variations to replace the communist era red stars. Plane

was scrapped at the Kecskemet AB.

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eduard

INFO Eduard - June 2021