The MiG-21 was the first successful Soviet aircraft combining fighter and Interceptor characteristics in a single aircraft. It was a lightweight Fighter, achieving Mach 2 with a relatively low-powered After-burning Turbojet, and is thus comparable to the American Lockheed F-104 Starfighter, Northrop F-5 Freedom Fighter, and the French Mirage III. Its basic layout was used for numerous other Soviet designs; delta-winged aircraft included SU-9 Interceptor and the fast E-150 Prototype from the MiG Bureau while the mass-produced successful Front-line Fighter SU-7 and Mikoyan's I-75 Experimental Interceptor combined a similar fuselage shape with swept-back wings. However, the characteristic layout with the shock cone and front air intake did not see widespread use outside the USSR and finally proved to have limited development potential, mainly because of the very small space available for the radar.
Like many aircraft designed as Interceptors, the MiG-21 had a short range. This was not helped by a design defect where the center of gravity shifted rearwards once two-thirds of the fuel had been used. This had the effect of making the plane uncontrollable, resulting in an endurance of only 45 minutes in clean condition. Additionally when more than half the fuel was used up, violent maneuvers prevented fuel from flowing into the engine, thereby causing the aircraft to shutdown midflight. The issue of the short endurance and low fuel capacity of the MiG-21F, PF, PFM, S/SM and M/MF variants—though each had a somewhat greater fuel capacity than its predecessor—led to the development of the MT and SMT variants. These had a range increase of 250 km (155 mi) compared to the MiG-21SM, but at the cost of worsening all other performance figures (such as a lower service ceiling and slower time to altitude).
The delta wing, while excellent for a fast-climbing Interceptor, meant any form of turning combat led to a rapid loss of speed. However, the light loading of the aircraft could mean that a Climb Rate of 235 m/s (46,250 ft/min) was possible with a combat-loaded MiG-21Bis, not far short of the performance of the later F-16. Given a skilled pilot and capable missiles, it could give a good account of itself against contemporary Fighters. Its G-limits were increased from +7Gs in initial variants to +8.5Gs in the latest variants. It was replaced by the newer variable-geometry MiG-23 and MiG-27 for ground support duties. However, not until the MiG-29 would the Soviet Union ultimately replace the MiG-21 as a maneuvering Dog-fighter to counter new American Air Superiority types.
Product Features:
DAZ Studio props (dsf, duf/ png):
* MiG-21 PFM Fishbed F aircraft, at 46,538 polygons
- Over 50 Points of Articulation on the main figure!
- Moving Flaps, Ailerons, Spoilers, Rudder, Stabilator, Speed Brakes, Opening Landing Gear Doors, Raising and Lowering Gear, Spin-able Wheels, Steer-able Nose Gear, Opening Canopies, Deployable Slats, Folding Wings, Deployable Emergency Drag Chute, Fully Functional Cockpit Flight Controls, and Working Ejection Seat...
- Numerous ERC dials for ease of control from one main location, including dials for various basic flight maneuvers. The weapons sets also have Pose Control dials for ease of use in images and animation!
- Nose Radome opens to reveal the RP-21 Sapfir Radar Set.
Poses:
* InFlight:
- Level flight with the landing gear closed
* Landed
- Angled on the ground with the landing gear open
Accessories and Armaments:
* Center-Line Weapons:
- 130Gal Drop Tank
- 550Lb Bomb Rack
- GSH-23 Gun Pod
* Inner-Wing Pylons:
- 550Lb Bombs
- K-5 Alkali Missiles
- K-13 Atoll Missiles
* Outer-Wing Pylons:
- 130Gal Wing Tanks
- K-5 Alkali Missiles
- K-13 Atoll Missiles
* Props:
- Air Crew: low-poly, un-rigged pilot figures.
- Boarding Ladders
- FOD Covers
Textures:
* One set of texture maps with corresponding bump maps, at 3500x1800 pixels.
* All of the materials use Iray shaders.
All sales images rendered in DAZ Studio with an HDRI skydome environment.
Designed for use in DAZ Studio 4.9 and above with Iray. Not recommended for use in other software programs.
Original model by, and acquired from Chris Schell, and now owned by VanishingPoint.
Software: DAZ Studio 4 With IRAY
