Thrust/Weight & Wing Loading. Combat weight includes pilot (100 kg), ammo, SRAAMs, & enough fuel for 5 minutes in maximum afterburner (calculated knowing static, uninstalled SFC in maximum afterburner). For the MiG-21BIS, fuel calculated is in ПФ, T/W is in ЧР.

Thrust/Weight & Wing Loading. Combat weight includes pilot (100 kg), ammo, SRAAMs, & enough fuel for 5 minutes in maximum afterburner (calculated knowing static, uninstalled SFC in maximum afterburner). For the MiG-21BIS, fuel calculated is in ПФ, T/W is in ЧР.

F-4J & MiG-21F (изд. 72). bsky.app/profile/baa4...

F-4J & MiG-21F (изд. 72). bsky.app/profile/baa4...

••Wing Loading•• Surprisingly, the Mirage F1 has very high wing loading. Note: the F-14's wing loading is high due to the way its wing area is measured, in reality the flat fuselage providing a large amount of lift at high AoA. The Mirage III value is underestimated, elevons providing down force.

The Mirage F1 had a flutter issue in its development flights, leading to an in-flight breakup due to horizontal tailplane flutter, killing its pilot. I am not aware of much detailed information on this online, but would like to dig a bit more, does anybody have any good sources?

Mirage F1 flight performance🧵 I love the Mirage F1. Most of all, I like its wings that have automatic leading edge flaps & slats, its wing-tip mounted missiles, its decent visibility over that long pointy nose, and the area ruled fuselage.

Add to this, the fact that the MiG-23ML has a (static uninstalled thrust)/(combat weight) = 0.997, compared to the F-14A's 0.785, indicating that the MiG-23ML might be competitive with the F-14A in ascending oblique turns as well.

MiG-23ML▪F-14A▪F-14D▪F-15A▪F-15C The MiG-23ML, even with χ=33°, is outturned by the F-15A, F-15C & F-14D, by a fair margin. The F-14A also outturns the MiG-23ML, but by a lesser margin.

Czech pilot, Josef Miler found the 30° position good too: "I found that the airplane flies much better at 30°, and that the aerobatics are more pleasant [...] & felt rock solid in the air." Here's Miler, puting the χ = 30° through its paces at České Budějovice (elevation 432m), 18 June 1994.

Well I guess they do look the same, if you squint your eyes a bit.

Or maybe from this angle 🤔

MiG-23ML▪F-15C▪F-16A▪Mirage 2000C▪MiG-29 As to be expected, the MiG-23ML is outturned by these "4th generation" fighter aircraft, by various margins, but all significant.

MiG-23ML▪F-14A▪F-14D▪F-15A▪F-15C▪Mirage 2000C With χ=16° (a desperate measure, considering the limitations when using it), the MiG-23ML can at least reach parity with the F-14A/D, F-15C & Mirage 2000C, above H≈5,000-10,000 ft. But the F-15A, being lighter, even with this, remains out of reach.

MiG-23ML▪JA 37▪Tornado▪MiG-23MF

MiG-23ML▪ F-4E▪F-4J▪JA 37▪Kfir C7

MiG-23ML▪F-15A▪F-15C▪F-15E

A few more, bonus graphs.

Time for the big leagues.

So far, it's clear that the MiG-23ML with χ=45° is at about a "non-slatted F-4 Phantom" level of sustained turn rate. MiG-23ML with χ=33° outturns them by a wide margin at low altitudes. The F-4S, is the only Phantom that can put up a good fight (at the higher altitudes, at least).

Enough playing with Phantoms...

It's clear that, although the MiG-23ML can turn competitively with the F-14A, the others are beyond the MiG-23's turning ability. And, keep in mind that the F-15A/C data is at 97.7% engine trim (as opposed to the 102% wartime trim for F100-PW-100), meaning that the gap would be even larger.

MiG-23 turn rate🧵 One important fighter aircraft performance parameter, for close range air combat, is turn rate [ω, measured in °/s]. I will be comparing the maximum sustained & instantaneous turning ability of the MiG-23, with that of other contemporary fighters.

same manufacturer btw

Soviet customer support - a Romanian experience. The following are a few excerpts from a series of articles by Petre Opriș.

MiG-25

Imperial War Museum (BRIXMIS operations). Soviet aircraft. MiG-23UB

Imperial War Museum (BRIXMIS operations). Soviet aircraft. MiG-23UB

Don't know if your Su-22UM3 Fitter has a R29BS-300 or an AL-21F-3? Check the number of cooling air scoops and exhaust nozzle length.

Soviet VVS MiG-21F-13, 1965.

MiG-21PFM with GP-9 cannon pod.

Afghan MiG-21FL, 1988.

Su-7 Fitter.

🇵🇱🙏 Polish F-16 jet crashed during training for the Radom Air Show.

La mulți ani R. Moldova!

The internet forgets. You don’t have to. 📥 Use the Wayback Machine’s Save Page Now tool to capture and preserve the sites you care about. 🕰️ Try it here ➡️ web.archive.org/save #Wayback1T #WaybackMachine @Archive.org

Just a few weeks of service life left for the venerable Sukhoi Su-22 in Europe! Poland shall retire theirs in mid-September. This shot is from AirPower 2022.

Polish Air Force MiG-23MF makes a low pass. Słupsk 1989. Wings swept at 45 degrees.

This feels like a spot of good news www.sciencedaily.com/releases/202...

Fantails! Scramble!

Bulgarian MiG-23ML makes high-speed pass in afterburner at Dobroslavtsi, 1994.

MiG-21F-13 with R-3S missiles.

MiG-21 Lancer A, with R-73 missile.

Internal fuel volume/Aircraft empty weight. [Litres/Kilograms] For Soviet aircraft, fuel volume is total. For US ones, its usable (total-trapped). Empty weight includes oil, oxygen, other consumables (for US aircraft, trapped fuel too). Configurations include the internal guns.

Updated❗ Radar/Aircraft weight %. Some values are approximations. Note, these values are not in all instances, perfect equivalents. For example, R-2L weight does not include power supply, APG-63 does include it.

Help❗ Does anyone have any good sources for Mirage 2000C weight info? What I have: Mirage 2000C: 7450-7550 kg Pilot: 95 kg Usable Fuel: 4000L (3160 kg, 0.79 kg/L) 250 rounds: 126 kg 2×R550: 2×89 kg 2×launcher+pylon: 152 kg 2×R530D: 2×270 kg 2×launcher-pylon: ???