Randy Ball and his MiG-17 tear it up at low level at Fort Worth Alliance Airport. ⠀ ⠀ Although the MiG-17 was long out of frontline service with the Soviet Union by the time of the Vietnam War, the agile little fighter proved to be a fearsome adversary to American pilots in the skies over Vietnam. ⠀ ⠀ With quick acceleration, a tight turning radius and a hard-hitting set of guns (two 23mm cannon and a 37mm cannon), many American fighter pilots who flew much more advanced jets thought the MiG-17 was a more fearsome opponent in a dogfight than the more capable and supersonic MiG-21. In fact, this obsolete fighter spurred on the development post-Vietnam of two American fighters of unparalleled dogfighting ability in their day- the F-15 Eagle and the F-16 Fighting Falcon. ⠀ ⠀ One of the design criteria for the F-16 was the ability to match or exceed the agility of the MiG-17 in a dogfight. At slow to moderate speeds (300-350 knots), the MiG-17 was a ferocious adversary that could easily pull a 7G turn on a dime to get its 37mm and twin 23mm cannons pointed at you. But as speeds increased, the increased airflow over the elevators increased control loads to the point that over 450 knots, it was impossible to overcome the control loads and the agile MiG became a missile bait lead sled. ⠀ ⠀ Hydraulically boosted controls would have solved this issue but the MiG-17 lacked them. The control stick was taller than most aircraft and this was to give the MiG driver more leverage at higher speeds. ⠀ ⠀ In the secret US flight tests of the MiG-17, pilots dogfighting the 17 were told to keep the speed up over 400 knots because if you slow down below 350 knots, the 17 *will* kill you. Flight trials showed it was possible for the old MiG-17 to prevail against the F-16 in a low speed dogfight.⠀ ⠀ #Avgeek #aviation #aircraft #planeporn #KAFW #AFW #AllianceAirport #FWAAS2019 #AllianceAirShow2019 #airport #planespotting #Mikoyan #MikoyanGurevich #MiG #MiG17 #Fresco #RandyBall #instaplane #instagramaviation #instaaviation #aviationlovers #aviationphotography #mil_aviation_originals #flight #AvGeeksAero #AvgeekSchoolofKnowledge #AvGeekNation (at Fort Worth Alliance Airport) https://www.instagram.com/p/B6cS6_eBcag/?igshid=12flvtxnm2gdu
