Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17
The Fresco
“The old subsonic jet that out-turned Phantoms over Vietnam.”
Mikoyan-Gurevich · military
The MiG-17 is a MiG-15 stretched and given a wing swept harder, plus an afterburner. It was obsolete by the time of Vietnam, and it did not matter: in a turning fight at low speed it could get inside an F-4 or an F-105, and North Vietnamese pilots used it to deadly effect. Most survivors are Polish-built Lim-5s, and a few American collectors fly them hard on the airshow circuit.
In a 1965 engagement, MiG-17s shot down two F-105 Thunderchiefs, aircraft that could fly nearly twice their speed, the first US jets lost to enemy fighters in the war.
The MiG-15's round nose intake, but a longer fuselage and a wing with a kink in the leading edge where the sweep changes. Three wing fences per side are the quick tell.
One might be overhead right now.
Bogey turns the The Fresco from a dot in the sky into a card in your logbook.
