[C19fan]

The MIG-21 was originally designed to shoot down bombers. So the only job of the pilot was to take off, vector to the target based on ground control input, fire the missiles, and land.

[Celtic Conservative]

So it’s the aeronautical equivalent of a field goal kicker?

CC

[RayChuang88]

There was a reason why North Vietnamese AF pilots--who talked openly in the 1990's after US relations with Vietnam was normalized again--hated the MiG-21. They thought the plane was not a very effective dogfighter and guzzled WAY too much fuel just for a single mission. In fact, NVAF pilots far preferred the MiG-17 and MiG-19 with their powerful cannon armament.