1/48 Bulgarian Air Force Mainstay jets

Gallery Article by Hristo Krumov on Oct 16 2015

  Bulgarian Air Force Day 

 

      

In the light of the Bulgarian Air Force celebration day I would like to present my 1/48 collection of jet fighters that left a prominent mark in the history of the service and offer a brief information on their operational life in Bulgaria. This is my first attempt at an article of such nature, so here I go. 

First off is the MiG-17F 'Fresco'. The kit is the well known Smer, built OOB. The only additions I made were the blanking plates for the intake duct and a great deal of weight placed in the space between the cockpit and the main wheels line in order to prevent tail-sitting. The camouflage is the typical for the early 1980's green and yellow adopted in the training squadrons. Decals are locally made and are quite brittle, but otherwise adequate to the purpose. While the kit is way behind the Hobby Boss one, it still offers a great chance to pull of some quality 'old school' modeling - a chance I took gladly.

The MiG-17 is the most numerous combat jet aircraft to have served with the Bulgarian Air Force with over 200 units being operated in a single period. Some 12 MiG-17PFs also served alongside the rest of the type. This aircraft saw it all - from aerial combat maneuvering and bombing to reconnaissance, interception of NATO balloons, pilot training and target towing for practices of the Bulgarian and Soviet Black sea Navy. It was quite often for a cadet to step down from the cockpit of UTI MiG-15 and head to the MiG-17 to perform first solo. For a short while even future airline pilots, undergoing training at the same school as their military counterparts, sharpened their flying skills with this plane. MiG-17 eventually stepped down from active service in the mid 1980's with the introduction of the L-39ZA Albatros, but a small number was maintained for a few more years. A single MiG-17 made the last ever recorded appearance of the type in flight in September 1991 for the opening of the Air and Space Museum in Plovdiv.

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Next up is the MiG-21 'Fishbed'. The kit is the Academy MiG-21MF, which I had made some 12 years ago in the brown and yellow camouflage. Time wasn't kind to the decals and some of the glued parts. Last year I took it down, striped the paint and made it all bare metal. My idea was to present it as one of the planes in Graf Ignatievo Air base with the unofficial insignia on the port side of the nose intake as they appeared in the 1970's. The stencils are from Begemot decals, the 'stars', numbers and the insignia is from a Bulgarian decal sheet. Even after the advent of the near perfect Eduard 'Fishbed' family I have to say I am still gladly holding on to my Academy MiGs.

The MiG-21 is the longest serving type with the Bulgarian Air Force - over 50 years. It is second in numbers deployed only to MiG-17. The sub-types that served are: F-13, PF, PFM, M, MF, R, Bis, U, US and UM, with a couple of Bis and a single UM still being kept in flight worthy condition. This plane was for many years the symbol of the Air Force. It saw long and varied service fulfilling tasks such as aerial combat maneuvering, bombing, reconnaissance, interception of intruding aircraft. The 'Fishbed' J from Graf Ignatievo Air base is one of the five types of aircraft in service with the Bulgarian Air Force that were capable to perform tactical nuclear attacks. With its distinct shape and operational history the plane has been both popular and unpopular with the aviation public for over five decades and earned many nicknames - the "Flame-spitting pipe" being my favorite. The structural guaranteed life of the Bis and UM airframes expired last year and even though the planes are kept flight worthy we might be seeing the end of the service for the MiG-21 in Bulgaria by the end of the year, thus bringing an entire era to an end. 

The last in the bunch is the MiG-29, with the Academy MiG-29UB being the kit of my choice. I had it built back in summer 2002 and represented in Lufwaffe colors. Last year I got so involved with the MiG-21MF repair and painting that I grabbed this one as well to repaint in Bulgarian camouflage. It was just a repaint with addition of Hungarian Aero Decals stencils and some Bulgarian roundels and numbers. The plane is the 04 number as it appeared circa the year 2000, when it was one of the three remaining flight worthy MiG-29s to fly to their new home base - Graf Ignatievo. I always had a thing for trainer jets and wanted to be instructor on one of them, so this one is a special for me. The Academy kit is the only UB (9-51) in 1/48 out there and just like the rest of the 'old-timers' in this article, I wouldn't change for anything else.

The MiG-29 'Fulcrum' arrived in Bulgaria in the 1989-1990 period, but the acquisition of the type was planned in the mid 1980's and saw a long and uneasy road. While F-16s were entering service with Greece and Turkey, the most modern jet available for the Bulgarian Air Force in the 1980's was the MiG-23MLD 'Flogger' K - no match for the agile 'Falcon'. The commanding staff looked into acquiring a squadron of Su-27 Flanker, but growing economic reasons, backed by the experience with operating heavy fighter such as MiG-25 sent the idea in the bin. Then the plan to get more (used) MiG-23MLDs was promulgated, but the effort of one Bulgarian military aviation engineer and his friendship with the chief aviation engineer of the Soviet Air Force to get a modern fighter, took the Flogger out of the race. Thus the MiG-29 was chosen and brought into service a couple of years after. Ravnets Air base, by the city of Burgas on the Black sea coast was the first home of the 20 twin-tailed jet twins. The plane came in the most unfavorable of economic times, with either parts or fuel..or both not always available. By the end of the 1990's the only 3 aircraft of the type were in flight worthy condition through borrowing various equipment from the rest in the fleet. In the year 2000 the NATO perspective brought the plane to a new base - Graf Ignatievo and after a long and painful process a lot of the airframes were returned into service by the official acceptance of Bulgaria in the alliance. The MiG's service is plagued with various problems, but it holds its own in exercises with various squadrons form other NATO countries. With more 25 years of service in the Air Force the planes have become a symbol and much like the 'Fishbed', have earned a nickname or two - 'Two smoking barrels' being my personal choice. The remaining guaranteed structural life of the planes in service now is closing to an end and possible replacements are being considered.

I hope my article and photos have been interesting to the fellow modelers worldwide. Happy modeling! 

Hristo Krumov

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Photos and text © by Hristo Krumov