Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21bis
Type | Fighter aircraft, Military aircraft, supersonic jet fighter | |
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Configuration | Low wing aircraft | |
Propulsion | Jet aircraft | |
Manufacturer | Mikoyan and Gurevich | |
Author(s) |
MiG-21bis team
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FDM | JSBSim | |
--aircraft= | MiG-21bis | |
Status | Early production | |
FDM | ||
Systems | ||
Cockpit | ||
Model | ||
Supports | ||
Development | ||
Website | ||
Repository | ||
Download | ||
Forum | ||
License | ||
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The Mikoyan and Gurevich MiG-21bis is a supersonic jet fighter aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau in the Soviet Union.
FlightGear Versions
There are currently 2 versions of the MiG-21bis available in FlightGear:
- An older version in FGAddon
- An actively developed version in a Git repository
Eventually, the version in FGAddon will be updated at intervals with the version on Git. The instructions below are covering the Git version, as it is more complete and realistic both in terms of flight model, systems and for supporting military simulation.
Performance Data
Maximum Speed: 1,468 mph
Rate of climb: 44,280 ft/min
Service Ceiling: 58,400 ft
Range: 751 mi
Keyboard Controls
Key | Function |
---|---|
s | Press start button |
Ctrl+f | Toggle Afterburner Reheat (CLR) |
Ctrl+B | Air brakes |
Ctrl+d | Deploy braking parachute |
Ctrl+t | Jettison braking parachute |
m | Engage nose wheel steering |
c | Toggle canopy |
⇧ Shift+S | Activate smokepod (the color can be changed using drop-down menu MiG-21 -> Smokepod Color )
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Flaps and Gears
Key | Function |
---|---|
] | Flaps down |
[ | Flaps up |
⇧ Shift+G | Gear handle down |
g | Gear handle up |
Ctrl+g | Gear handle safety |
Autopilot
Key | Function |
---|---|
Ctrl+a | Autoleveller autopilot |
w | Autopilot off |
Weapons
Key | Function |
---|---|
f | Gun trigger |
q | Weapons release - release selected store |
⇧ Shift+Q | Trigger flare release |
n | Lock on target |
⇧ Shift+N | Unlock target |
i | Rotate throttle drum up grossly |
⇧ Shift+I | Rotate throttle drum up fine |
k | Rotate throttle drum down gross |
⇧ Shift+K | Rotate throttle drum down fine |
r | Pylon select next |
⇧ Shift+R | Pylon select previous |
Ctrl+z | Centre tank jettison |
Ground-Controlled Interception (GCI)
Key | Function |
---|---|
F5 | Request Picture |
F6 | Request Bogey Dope |
F7 | Request Cutoff |
Aircraft Help
Checklists
There are ca. 10 Aircraft_Checklists, which can help in many situations.
Minimal Start-Up
If using the automatic startup using the drop-down menu MiG-21 -> Autostart/Shutdown
, then you still should do a couple things:
- Set the needle of the fuel gauge manually to the correct level depending on the loaded fuel. The fuel gauge does not automatically set to the level in the tank, you need to set the initial level. In drop-down menu
Equipment -> Fuel and Payload Settings
you can read the value - maybe after having added an external drop-tank and having manually clicked into the "Ventral Drop Tank" slider to get it filled. Please observe that the total displayed will be in gallons, however the MiG uses litres (i.e. you need to multiply by a factor of ca. 3.8). - Slave the gyro compass - hold down the FDS button until the Heading Indicator compass needle settles. The compass will drift over time, press the FDS button every now and again to re-slave. The FDS button is positioned just to the right at the top of the attitude indicator.
- Set the magnetic declination instrument to your current latitude to help minimize gyro error. You can find the current latitude by going to the drop-down menu
Location -> Select an Airport
, select your airport and read the value in the Airfield Information on the right side. The magnetic declination instrument is situated on the lower right part of the console between the pilot's legs. - Turn on the auxiliary hydraulics for full aileron control (switch on in the middle of the top row on the switch panel on the right wall of the cockpit). Not doing so will make it very challenging to handle the roll stability and get decent roll rates.
Flying
Takeoff
- Set flaps to takeoff (])
- Add full military thrust, count 4-5 elephants, set full afterburner (first reheat)
- ~150-200 km/h: 3/4 stick back
- ~250-270 km/h: ease up the stick
- ~340-360 km/h: takeoff (hold 10° of AoA until well above ground. Else you'll suffer tail strike)
- Flaps up ([)
- Gears up (g). Once verified that gears have retracted, put the hangle back to neutral
Afterburner reheat is usually turned off at 600 km/h, unless you need to scramble to intercept. Second reheat (using CTRL+f) is allowed on takeoff for short runways or when you need to get in the air fast, but it isn’t a normal practice.
Engine and Throttle Management
In general the engine of the Mig21-bis is less responsive than that of a modern jet fighter - and throttle and engine management is more subtle.
N1 and N2 are the rotational speeds of the engine sections expressed in percentage instead of in the actual rate of rotation. If N1 gets too much higher than N2, you will cause an engine surge (can happen at as low as 20% separation, it's guaranteed by 30%). Therefore one needs to keep an eye on the N1 and N2 needles and sudden changes in the throttle over a large range are bad. The max N1 to N2 ratio depends on airspeed as well, so you'll have to make sure you don't blow up your engine on a dive. The tachometer r.p.m. gauge is situated on the right side of the front panel in the cockpit - below the radar warning receiver and to the left of the radar screen.
On the other hand the air intake cone in the nose is handled by the plane automatically, i.e. without necessary pilot intervention.
Second reheat (CTRL-f) is only effective below 15,000 feet mean sea level, and use should be limited to 3 minutes.
Weapons Management
There is a separate wiki article for MiG-21_Weapons_Management.
Radios / Communication
The radio / communication frequencies must be entered before take-off. There are two ways to do it (the usual way of using the drop-down menu Equipment -> Radio Settings
does not work):
- Using the separate dialogues for the Comm radio, ADF radio and VOR/ILS radio below the
MiG-21
drop-down menu. - Using the drop-down menu
MiG-21 -> Select Radio Config File
to load a file. An example fileradios.txt
is included in the aircraft folder and contains formatting instructions, so you can create your own.
There is an external article about navigation, which eventually will be migrated to this wiki.
YouTube Videos
Videos Describing the Git Version
Older Videos on the FGAddon Version
External links
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