Hobby Master 1/72 Air Power Series
HA0140
Mig-21MF, Czech AF Test Squadron
"Stress Team"
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THESE ARE
PRE-PRODUCTION PICTURES
NOT THE RETAIL VERSION
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Die-cast metal.
Superb detailing in 1/72 scale.
Pre-painted with pad applied markings.
Fully assembled.
Display stand included.
Option to display model with wheels up or down.
Minimum use of plastic.
Very collectable
This particular paint scheme is one of the various used by the Czech Air Force “Stress
Team”. Mr. Oscar Vickery of Galveston Texas, a former Air Force flight instructor owns
the Mig-21 that this model replicates. He is qualified on 10 or more jets and is an
instructor for Classic Jet Aircraft Association.
The Mig-21 was originally built by the Mikoyan and Gurevich Design Bureau in the
Soviet Union with a NATO nickname “Fishbed”. No other jet has had as many planes
produced as the Mig-21. Depending on the reference source 8,000 – 13,000 planes of all
versions were made in the Soviet Union, under license to allied countries and China
without license. At the time of it’s introduction into the Soviet Air Force service in 1959, it
was exactly what they wanted. A small, fast, agile, dependable and most importantly
simple making it easy to turn out great numbers of the plane. The skies of Eastern
Europe, Africa, Asia and Central America seemed to be filled with thousands of the Mig-
21. Because of it’s relatively low cost since it was heavily subsidized by the Soviets, it
became the plane of choice for many third world countries.
Taking this into account this plane this plane has seen more wars then any other modern
day jet.
The Mig-21 was used in front line service for over 30 years equaling that of the
McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II.
There were 5 generations of the plane in many versions and each generation brought
with it great improvements over it’s predecessors. These are some of the countries that
flew the Mig-21: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Burkina
Faso, Bulgaria, Cambodia, China, Congo, Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Egypt,
Ethiopia, Finland, GDR, Guinea, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Laos, Libya,
Madagascar, Mali, Mongolia, Mozambique, Myanmar (formerly Burma), Nigeria, North
Korea, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Somalia, Soviet Union, Sri Lanka,
Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia,
Zimbabwe.
Mig-21MF Specs:
Power Plant:
One 41.55kN (9,340lb st) or 64.73kN (14,550lb st) with afterburner Tumansky R-13-300
turbojet
Wingspan:
7.15m (23ft 5½in)
Length:
15.76m (51ft 8½in) - incl pitot boom
Max T-O weight:
9,400kg (20,725lb)
Max speed:
Mach 2.1 (2,230km/h - 1,385mph) above 11,000m (36,000ft)
Mach 1.06 (1,300km/h - 807mph) at low level
Range:
1,100km (683 miles) - internal fuel only
1,800km (1,118 miles) - with three external drop tanks, one under fuselage, one under
each wing
Armament:
One 23mm twin-barrel GSh-23 cannon with 200 rounds in belly pack
Various air-to-air and air-to-ground stores carried on four under wing pylons including:
K-13A "Atoll" or "Advanced Atoll" a-a missiles,
UV-16-57 rocket packs,
S-24 a-s rockets,
250kg and 500kg bombs
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Czech "Stress Team"
Official name was "Letecké středisko inspektora letectva a PVO AČR" / "Flying centre of
Air Force and Air Protection Surveyor of Army of the Czech Republic". Later renamed
"Letecký zkušební odbor" / "Flying Test Department". The team was officially formed
1.3.1994 (director was Chief of Air Force GenMjr. P. Štrůbl) at Čáslav AB. December
1994 the unit was relocated from Čáslav AB (because there already were a lot of regular
air force squadrons located there) to Plzeň-Líně AB. In January 1995 the unit was
renamed as "Letecký zkušební odbor" (LZO).
Commander of the unit was pplk. Josef Rada, former commander of the 9.sbolp on
Bechyně AB, most of the unit’s pilots were from 9.sbolp as well. Unit’s aircrafts - MiG-
21MF - 4307, 5209, 7701, 7711 (all silver except 7711, and from 11.slp Žatec AB), 9410,
9412, 9414, 9802 (all in green-brown camo and from 1.šlp Přerov AB), MiG-21UM - 0165
and 3756, MiG-21R - 1501, 2149 and one L-39ZA number 5013.
The main objective of the unit was developing new tactics, training procedures and the
application of these to fighter units. Very soon the unit was assigned the task of
displaying the Mig-21 at various air shows so they were known as the Czech Air Force
"Delta Team" as well.
The "Stress Squadron" was canceled soon after the crash of MiG-21 MF (7711, pilot Mjr.
Luboš Kubát) and MiG-21UM (3756, pilot Mjr. Miroslav Holak and technician Roman
Kovařík – who was onboard against Czech Air Force rules!!!) over the town of České
Budějovice on 8.6.1998. The collision occurred because of bad weather while arriving
from an air-show.
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