Photographs taken in Las Vegas, Nevada in July 2006, contributed by David Knights.
Photographs taken in Las Vegas, Nevada in July 2006, contributed by David Knights.
Photographs taken in Las Vegas, Nevada in July 2006, contributed by David Knights.
Photographs taken in Las Vegas, Nevada in July 2006, contributed by David Knights.
Photographs taken at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio.
Photographs taken at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio.
Photographs taken at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio.
This is the Mikoyan MiG-15UTI trainer. These are the Eduard kit markings for an Egyptian Air Force machine in service in the 1970 – 1980s. No particular significance other than I liked the camouflage.
Build thread here: https://inchhighguy.wordpress.com/?s=mig-15+royal+class
This is another Mikoyan MiG-15bis, this time in a nightfighter scheme. These decals are from H-Model decals, no problems with them. Pilot was I. P. Galyshevsky of the 351 IAP, who claimed one B-29 during the Korean War.
Build thread here: https://inchhighguy.wordpress.com/?s=mig-15+royal+class
MiG-17/19 Aces of the Vietnam War, Osprey Aircraft of the Aces 130
by István Toperczer, illustrated by Jim Laurier
Paperback, 96 pages, 30 color profiles
Published by Osprey Publishing October 2016
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1472812557
ISBN-13: 978-1472812551
Dimensions: 6.5 x 0.4 x 9.6 inches
This volume follows the standard format which will be familiar to any reader of Osprey’s previous Aircraft of the Aces volumes. Author István Toperczer provides a historical overview of the Vietnamese Peoples Air Force and their employment of the MiG-17 and MiG-19, and illustrator Jim Laurier treats us to thirty beautifully rendered side profiles of the aircraft, most of which are depicted in natural metal schemes with a few shown in camouflage for good measure.
The VPAF credits eight pilots with five or more victories while flying MiG-17 or -19s. Roughly half of the officially credited VPAF claims are uncorroborated, and many of the losses admitted by the U.S. were attributed to AAA or SAMs. Toperczer notes throughout the text where North Vietnamese claims cannot be reconciled with USN or USAF loss reports, but does not explain the VPAF crediting methodology nor explains the discrepancy. The reader is left to wonder if ground controllers who tracked U.S. aircraft throughout an engagement couldn’t easily confirm or deny a claim, or if the lack of aircraft wreckage or downed aircrew was ever taken into account.
Another more humorous illustration of the “fog of war” is the strange case of three very active MiG-19 pilots, who all flew with the 925th Fighter Regiment from Gia Lam airfield at the same time. Their names were very similar – Nguyen Hong Son, Nguyen Hung Son, and Pham Hung Son. As their exploits were reported in the Vietnamese press the matter became so confusing that the pilots were referred to as Son “A”, Son “B”, and Son “C” and historians have continued the paradigm.
A surprise to me was the presence of North Korean “volunteer” aircrew, which was not officially acknowledged until 2001. They were active from 1967 through 1969. Fourteen North Korean pilots were killed. The VPAF credited them with achieving four victories although none of those can be corroborated with U.S. losses.
These books are a good reference for modelers and the profiles provide some great eye candy and inspiration for planning builds. I would have liked to have seen more attention paid to sorting out or explaining the overclaiming issue, and perhaps some complementary descriptions of the same combats from the perspective of the U.S. aircrews. A recommended reference volume, particularly as Airfix is expected to release a Mikoyan MiG-17 kit in 1/72 scale shortly.
Here is the Mikoyan MiG-15bis in Soviet markings from Hi Decals, which performed perfectly. The pilot in this case was Nikolay Shkodin of the 147 GIAP who was credited with five victories (4 F-86 and one F-84G) during the Korean War. Shkodin survived the war and retired as a Major General.
Build thread here: https://inchhighguy.wordpress.com/?s=mig-15+royal+class
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