MiG-21PF

In January of 1965 the 2/18 IAE which was permanently deployed to aviobasa Gabrovnitsa became the second Bulgarian unit to operate the Fishbed. Twelve examples from batch 8 and 9 entered service wearing a two digit bortnumber. To confuse the West some aircraft had a third digit (0,1 or 2) added in front of their original code. The PF ended its career with 26 RAP at Dobrich in 1991. Four aircraft were lost in crashes or groundincidents with a further five facing the axe at Graf Ignatievo in the mid-nineties. Three MiG-21PFs remain today.

Picture: MiG-21PF 760815/125 in storage at Graf Ignatievo.