Strana 42
MiG-21FR, c/n 061013, 5 Fighter Air Regiment, Plzeň-Líně AB, Czechoslovakia, 1979-1989
MiG-21F-13, c/n 460110, Air Force Training Center, Milovice-Mladá AB, Czechoslovakia, 1964-1965
MiG-21F-13, c/n 560316, 2 Flight, 9 Fighter Air Regiment, Bechyně AB, Czechoslovakia, 1970
The MiG-21FR with fuselage number 1013 was
one of ten aircraft that received experimental
LERAN camouflage at the end of a mid-life
overhaul in 1979. The aim was to reduce visibility
to the enemy in combat conditions. The aircraft
bore a small emblem on the nose with the
silhouette of a MiG-21 and branches. Originally,
it was supplemented with the inscription
“In socialist care.” The aircraft’s service in the
Czechoslovak Air Force ended on April 19, 1989,
with a flight to the Military Aviation Museum
in Prague-Kbely. Due to its unsuitable location
in the outdoor exhibition, its camouflage was
irreparably damaged. The aircraft’s total flight
time in the Czechoslovak Air Force was 1,086
hours and 15 minutes.
Some sources state that in this form,
supplemented with red washable paint, Lt. Col.
Rostislav Luska performed a solo aerobatic
display at an air show in Sliač on August 29,
1964, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary
of the Slovak National Uprising. However, film
footage shows that at that time, 0110 was still
without red paint. It was apparently applied in
1965, when Lt. Col. Luska performed with the
red 0110 in April at Sliač and in June during
the Spartakiad. MiG-21F 0110 first flew at the
Air Force Training Center and was then used
to rearm the second squadron in Bechyně.
The 0110 aircraft itself was not the luckiest one.
After a first fire on the ground on October 4, 1970,
it was repaired at Air Repairs Kbely on June 4,
1971. However, it did not escape fire in the end,
as it burned down on the tarmac in July 1977,
and this fire also damaged the adjacent 0613.
The devil drawings on both sides of the nose of
MiG-21F 0316 was created as pure folk art, not
as a unit insignia. The aircraft returned from
overhaul at the division repair shop in Líně AB
in 1970 with these drawings on both sides of the
nose. It was probably a prank by someone at the
repair shop. The brush-painted drawings did
not last long, but the members of the Bechyně
squadron were happy to carry out several flight
operations with the aircraft decorated in this
way. The MiG-21F itself served in Bechyně from
1965 to 1985, after which it was transferred
to Pardubice. The aircraft’s service in the
Czechoslovak Air Force ended on April 12, 1990,
with a total flight time of 1,657 hours.
KITS 10/2025
INFO Eduard42
October 2025