Strana 57
s/n 741204, HävLLv 31, Kuopio-Rissala AB, Finnish AF, Finland, August 1985
s/n 74211503, Nguyen Nhat Chieu, 921st FR, Sao Do,
Democratic Republic of Vietnam, October 1967
s/n 660416, 1. slp, České Budějovice AB, Czechoslovakia, 1968-1970
Finland replaced its de Havilland Vampire
and Folland Gnat aircraft with MiG-21s in the
early 1960s, becoming the first non-communist
European country to use this type. The first ten
MiG-21F-13s were delivered to Suomen Iimavoi-
mat (the Finnish Air Force) in April 1963, with
another 11 following in November of the same
year. Between 1971 and 1973, nine MiG-21F-13s
were converted into reconnaissance versions.
HavLLv 31 in Kuopio-Rissala began gradually
replacing its F-13s with new MiG-21bis at the
end of 1978. The last flight of the Finnish F-13
version took place in January 1986. The aircraft
with the fuselage number MG-77 was delivered
in November 1963. It made its last flight on
August 16, 1985. After being decommissioned,
it served as a dummy with the number MG-127
in Pirkkala and was later transferred to the
Aviation Museum in Vantaa.
The Vietnamese People’s Liberation Army Air
Force acquired its first MiG-21F-13s in 1966.
The first dogfight in which North Vietnamese
MiG-21s clashed with American aircraft took
place in February 1966. In March of the same year,
two American Ryan Firebee unmanned aircraft
were destroyed, but the first aerial victory for
Vietnamese pilots was not achieved until June 9,
1966, when two F-4 Phantoms II were shot down
by several MiG-21s. On October 29, 1967, pilot
Nguyen Nhat Chieu used a green-camouflaged
MiG-21F-13 with tactical number 4426 in
a dogfight in which he shot down an American
F-4 Phantom II over the Nam Dinh–Ninh Binh
area. It was Chieu’s sixth aerial victory, although
according to USAF records, no Phantoms II
were lost on that day. During the Vietnam War,
67 American fighter aircraft were shot down
by MiG-21s, while the US Air Force shot down
86 MiG-21s. Thirteen MiG-21 pilots achieved
fighter ace status between 1967 and 1972.
The easing of the political atmosphere in the
spring of 1968 was also reflected in the coloring
of some Czechoslovak MiG-21Fs. Members of the
1 Fighter Wing in České Budějovice were the first
to design their own insignias. While the insignias
for the MiG-21PF and PFM fighter squadrons for
operations in difficult weather conditions and
at night featured typical nocturnal animals like
a bat and an owl, the first training squadron
chose the symbol of a devil with a pitchfork
against a clear blue sky. The author of the
design was Miloslav Martenek, later known for
his cartoons and illustrations. The inspiration for
the drawing was the strict squadron commander,
Major Jan Jansa. It was said that serving
under him was hell. His red nose was also an
inspiration for the devil drawing. All the designs
were approved on May 17, 1968, and then spray-
painted onto the aircraft. The same symbol also
appeared in a smaller form as a decal on the
pilots’ helmets. The devil drawing was used until
August 20, 1970, when an order was issued to
remove all such symbols.
KITS 11/2025
INFO Eduard
57
November 2025