Every Bulgarian combat-aircraft (or combat-helicopter) carries a triangle containing interesting information. However there are differences between the 'style' of these triangles and the info they contain. This page hopefully brings to an end all the mysteries and false interpretations surrounding the Bulgarian triangles.
There is a very important difference between triangles on aircraft introduced before or after 1968!
Aircraft introduced before 1968 have a triangle which has info not related to the manufacturer-serial!!
Before 1968
The triangle-system was already in use during the Second World War. The Me109 for example was an aircraft carrying the triangle. Also the Ar196 in the Krumovo museum carries one, genuine or not.
What can you find in the triangle of these older aircraft? In the upper part you will find a sequencenumber. For example L-29 number 11 in the Krumovo museum carries a '1' in the upper part of the triangle indicating it was the first L-29 delivered to the Bulgarian Air Force.
The bottom part of the triangle on these older aircraft carry a Bulgarian Type-number. Again; it bears no relation to the manufacturer-serial!!
Table showing Type-numbers on BVVS combat aircraft introduced before 1968
| Aircraft | Type-number | remarks |
|
Avia
Bs-122
|
7013
|
|
|
Laz-7
|
7034
|
|
|
Avia
B-135
|
7035
|
|
|
Avia
B-534
|
7037
|
|
|
Ar-96
|
7042
|
|
|
Bf-109E
|
7047
|
|
|
Bf-108
|
7050
|
|
|
K-11
|
7076
|
|
|
CaB-309
|
7079
|
|
|
Yak-9
|
7087
|
|
|
Ar196
|
7096
|
|
|
Bf-109G
|
7097
|
|
|
Yak-23
|
7107
|
|
|
MiG-15
|
7117?
|
same
as MiG-15bis?
|
|
MiG-15bis
|
7117
|
|
|
MiG-17PF
|
7137
|
|
|
Lim-5
|
7138
|
|
|
PZL
P-43
|
7139
|
|
|
MiG-15UTi
|
7151
|
|
|
MiG-19S
|
7200
|
|
|
MiG-19P
|
7201
|
|
|
Mi-4
|
7202
|
|
|
MiG-19PM
|
7205
|
|
|
Il-28
|
7206
|
|
|
MiG-17
|
7207
|
|
|
MiG-17F
|
7207?
|
same
as MiG-17?
|
|
L-29
|
7209
|
|
|
D-520
|
7236
|
|
|
MiG-21U
|
7266?
|
|
|
MiG-21F-13
|
7274
|
|
|
MiG-21PF
|
7276?
|
|
|
MiG-21PFM
|
7294
|
Triangles on combat-aircraft introduced after 1968
After 1968 the system changed. The Type-number moved to the upper part of the triangle with the bottompart becoming occupied with (part of) the manufacturer-serial. Since these triangles were painted on by human beings, mistakes can occur. In 1999 I was fooled by MiG-23UB bord 021 (A1037621) which carries 103762 in the triangle (one digit short!). Also the 36 secondhand MiG-21bis aircraft delivered by the Soviets in 1990 (three-digit bords starting with 5 and aircraft bord 80 through 97) carry only the last four digits of the serial in the triangle and you really need the last five to identify them!
If you would visit Bulgaria and come across aircraft with triangles please write down what's inside and let me know. That goes for the pre-1968 triangles aswell!
©Robin Polderman 2002/Updated 17 November 2002
Updates thanks to Andy Marden, Johan van der Wei & Jeroen Nijmeier
