MiG-23 Walkaround (UB & MF) - Szolnok Hungary, 2019

The MiG-23's were originally all painted in this Soviet gray scheme when they arrived to Hungary but were later repainted in Hungary to a three-color camouflage. This aircraft (no 15) was then repainted by the museum to its original gray color. 

Molniya R-60MK Utka ('Aphid') short-range air-to-air training missile (without its wings). The black stripes are used to mark inert dummy missiles. The two large apertures on the fuselage are the auxiliary intakes to minimize the risk of compressor stall. 

Nose gear - Hungarian Floggers were never flying from improvised fields, so the usual mud guards were removed to simplify maintenance. 

Note the tan colored canopy seal. The pointy thing in front of the windshield is a pitot tube to measure dynamic air pressure. 

Splitter plates and intake flow director vanes. Because of these large intakes on the sides (as opposed to the central intake on the MiG-21), the original nickname of the MiG-23 was "Cheburashka", a Russian cartoon character with large ears. 

Right main gear and wing glove pylon. For model builders, the yellow and black hoses in the gear bay are worth reproducing as they are pretty dominant. 

Check the position of the weapon hard points and the angle of the undercarriage bay doors. 

Fixed 23 mm Gryazev-Shipunov-23L twin-barrel autocannon with 260 rounds. These were firing "Gatling-style": the recoil of one barrel prepared the second barrel for the next round. The accuracy was pretty poor and it took only 4 seconds to run out of ammo. 

Molniya R-60MK inert training missile with "dummy" stripes. You can see the rusty attachment points on the missile body for its four tail wings. 

Here's a shot of the intricate landing gear mechanism. It also doubled as pneumatic container so it could be extended even if the aircraft lost main pneumatic pressure. 

The round opening is the inspection point for the compressor blades (it says so in the Hungarian stencils). 

The ventral fin automatically folds sideways as the landing gears are extended or otherwise it would hit the ground. Its purpose is to provide addiditonal stability in flight with a high angle of attack. 

The large dome-shaped end on the bottom of the fin is the housing for the brake parachute. The spear-shaped thing on the top of the fin is for the RSBN system ("Radiosistema Blizhney Navigatsii"), which is a short range nav system (similar to TACAN). 

Panel lines clearly visible in black. Thin, but still visible. 

From a certain distance ("1/72" distance), the panel lines are almost invisible. BTW, note the distinct nose-up stance. 

External drop tank. The red 15 stencil is just for the museum to keep track of loose stuff. 

The aft unpainted part of the nose gear bay door is the heat shield for the cannon. The small "handle" in front of the "15" is the angle-of-attack vane. It swivels surprisingly easily. 

The twin seater trainer did not feature a radar in the nose cone and the corresponding instruments were removed from the cockpit. However, the instructor in the back seat could simulate various instrument malfunctions for the student pilot to handle. 

Rudder detail. Also note the heat discoloration of the jet exhaust petals. The black dome under the RSBN antenna is the receiver for the IFF system. The small "blob" on the fairing is the IFF transmittor. Beneath it is just a white position light. 

The least attractive angle... From here the Flogger resembles a crow. 

Here you can see some of the folding mechanism for the ventral fin. 

Left shoulder weapons hardpoint. Note the red painted stripes on the inspection panel screws - when they are all closed tight, the red stripes form an unbroken line. Screws left open will be easily spotted as they would form a "cross". 

More gear bay detail. It is amazing how the entire undercarriage is engineered to fold neatly into the bay. That ridged area is where the wheel rests when retracted. 

That's an engineering marvel 

MiG-23 MF repainted in the Hungarian three-tone camouflage. This one also has the more recent Hungarian national insignia (the red-white-green chevron). 

Dummy R-23UT missile (without the large stabilizer fins). The round badge with the horseback archer is the insignia of the Sámán squadron located at Pápa Air Base in Hungary. 

Canopy discolored from UV-radiation and weather 

Note the color demarcations and stencils. 

 

 

Cheburashka ears. A clear view of the splitter plates and the flow director vanes inside the intake. 

This guy has a powerful radar - the twin seater doesn't. The "radiation hazard" symbol warns ground crew from getting too close to the nose cone without ensuring that the radar is turned off. The small intakes are ventilation openings for the radar. 

Pitot tube detail 

The text in the dashed arrow says "Rescue" in Hungarian. 

Note the large housing for the TP-23 infrared sensor in front of the nose gear. Also, as you see, no mudguards on the nose wheels. 

Here you should be able to get a good approximation of the colors used for the camouflage. The underside is kind of very light turquoise, "duck egg shell blue". The blob on the canopy is the rearward facing periscope housing. 

The paint is kind of semi-gloss. 

It is obvious that the camo pattern had been sprayed on by hand in a rather coarse fashion with varying degree of overspray. This is typical for all Hungarian cold-war aircraft. 

The landing light (on the top of the photo) folds in and out. The small "tube" is the total outside temperature gauge, used for correcting the indicated air speed. 

Another shot at the undercarriage - it is such magnificent design.