№liG-21U / ТірШ / Ye-EII

The MiG-21 was the first mass-produced Mach 2 fighter in the USSR, It differed so extensively from the fighters of the preceding generation that pilots urgently needed a dedicated trainer. The decision to work on the preliminaiy design was made as early as November 1959 at a time when a few MiG-2 lFs were taking shape on the assembly line, but the MiG-21 F-13 airframe was finally selected to serve as the basis for the training aircraft. The layout retained was that of the tandem two-seater, with the student pilot in the front seat and the flight instructor in the rear seat The cockpit hood was composed of a wind­shield and two side-hinged canopies that opened to starboard and thus could not be used to protect the crew on their SK ejection seats. The first MiG-21 U employed the tail fin of the late-series MiG-21F-13, but the air data probe on the trainer was set above the air intake

The Ye-6U prototype of the MiG-21 U two-seater was developed from a MiG-21 F-13

airframe.

In the MiG-21 U the front seat is for the student pilot the rear seat for the instructor Both canopies open to starboard.

The aircraft was powered by the R-11F-300, rated at 5,620 daN (5,740 kg st) with afterburner. The total capacity of the fuel tanks was 2,350 1 (620 US gallons). The MiG-21U had neither radar nor built-in armament but could be equipped with a ventral pod containing an A – 12.7 machine gun. It was first piloted on 17 October 1960 by P. M. Ostapyenko and was mass-produced for the WS in the Tbilisi factory between 1962 and 1966 and for export in the MMZ Znamya Truda fac­tory in Moscow between 1964 and 1968. A modified MiG-21U renamed Ye-33 broke two female world records in 1965:

1. 22 May 1965. Altitude, 24,336 m (79,822 feet). Pilot, N. Prokhanova

2. 23 June 1965. Altitude in horizontal flight, 19,020 m (62,386 feet).

Pilot, L. Zaytseva

Specifications

Span, 7.154 m (23 ft 5.7 in); fuselage length (except cone and probe),

12.18 m (39 ft 11.5 in); wheel track, 2.692 m (8 ft 10 in); wheel base,

4.806 m (15 ft 9.2 in); wing area, 23 m[5] (247.6 sq ft); takeoff weight, 7,800 kg (17,190 lb); fuel, 1,950 kg (4,300 lb); wing loading, 339.1 kg/m2 (69.5 lb/sq ft); max operating limit load factor, 7.

Performance

Max speed, 2,175 km/h at 13,000 m (1,175 kt at 42,640 ft); max speed at sea level, 1,150 km/h (621 kt); climb rate at sea level (half internal fuel, full thrust) with two R-3S missiles, 120 m/sec (23,620 ft/min); climb to 17,800 m (58,380 ft) in 8 min; service ceiling, 18,300 m (60,025 ft); landing speed, 280 km/h (151 kt); range, 1,210 km at 14,000 m (750 mi at 45,920 ft); with 800-1 (211-US gal) drop tank, 1,460 km (905 mi); takeoff roll, 950 m (3,115 ft); landing roll, 800 m (2,625 ft).