Created By: theschell

Downloadable File Size: 12.46 M (approx.)

The MiG-19 Farmer C (based on a modification of the MiG-17 design) was a mediocre aircraft at it`s best, but was the very first Soviet aircraft to be able to break the Sound Barrier in level flight (the MiG-15 and 17 were both subsonic, breaking the sound barrier only in a powered, and potentially dangerous, dive).

Unfortunately the MiG-19 was prone to major mechanical issues, and also engine fires (due to overheating of a central fuel tank located between the engines). It also suffered from sudden pitch-up when the air-brakes were deployed, engine stalls and flame-outs with sudden throttle changes, and high landing speeds... Additionally, its conventional tail-plane assembly lacked authority (control) at supersonic speed...

Many of the handling issues were resolved by adding an all-moving Stabilator and other wing modifications, but the MiG-19 continued to suffer from a high accident rate due to various mechanical short-comings. Never-the-less, the Vietnamese used the MiG-19 to great effect during the Vietnam Conflict, scoring kills against F-4`s, F-104`s and F-105`s.

The North Vietnamese Air Force began receiving the MiG-19 at the end of Operation Rolling Thunder, which ended in 1968. Despite their limited numbers, MiG-19s were involved in extensive combat during Operations Linebacker 1 and Linebacker 2 (aka the Christmas Bombing).

The MiG-19 was tested by U.S. pilots in the United States in 1969 after receiving a Chinese J-6 (F-6 exported model) from Pakistan. In addition to finding the aircraft to have a good canopy allowing good visibility for the pilot, along with 3 hard hitting 30mm cannons, U.S. pilots found the MiG-19 (J6/F6) to be an excellent fighter, "like the MiG-17, it could easily out-turn the Phantom...and could out-accelerate the F-4 out to Mach 1.2, but was slower than the MiG-21.". However, the MiG-19`s strongest fault was its extremely short range, as one U.S. test pilot remarked, "after going in full after-burner at low altitude for 5 minutes, the MiG driver will be looking for a place to land!" This, combined with the aircraft`s twin engines, which were difficult to maintain, made the MiG-19 unpopular with North Vietnamese pilots.

The early MiG-19 lacked mounts for air-to-air missiles but it had the one advantage over the early model F-4 Phantom II: it was armed with a cannon. NVAF MiG-19s had three 30mm cannons which "were notable for their large muzzle flash" when fired. The aircraft were loaded with 90 rounds per cannon, giving approximately 6 seconds of firing time. A single 2 second burst of 90 shells could impact a U.S. aircraft with 81 lb (37 kg) of metal. This contrasted to a U.S. 20mm cannon such as the Vulcan and Colt Mk 12 which would deliver 39 and 35 pounds of metal respectively.

Confirmed aerial victories by MiG-19s while assigned to the 925th FR, which match U.S. records occurred on: 10 May 1972 in which two F-4 Phantoms were shot down by MiG-19s flown by Pham Hung Son and Nguyen Manh Tung. Both NVAF victories over the F-4s were accomplished by cannon fire. Combat results of the 925th FR using MiG-19s, according to the North Vietnamese Air Force were: two F-4s on 8 May 1972; two F-4s on 10 May 1972; one F-4 on 18 May 1972; and two F-4s shot down on 23 May 1972; these losses were in exchange for 10 MiG-19s lost in aerial combat with U.S. jets. On 2 June 1972, in the skies over North Vietnam, a MiG-19 was the first recorded jet fighter to be shot down in aerial combat by cannon fire at supersonic speeds, by a USAF F-4 Phantom flown by Phil Handley.

In the Soviet inventory the MiG-19 was quickly replaced by the much superior MiG-21, but the MiG-19 soldiered on in many other countries, and was maintained in production in various versions in China as the J-6 well into the 1990`s. Most others were retired in the 70`s, but a number still remain in service today in the Air Forces of various countries, including North Korea...

Here are some of the Highlights:
• Over 50 Points of Articulation on the main figure!
• Moving Flaps, Ailerons, Rudder. Stabilator, Speed Brakes, Opening Landing Gear Doors, Raising and Lowering Gear, Spin-able Wheels, Steer-able Nose Gear, Opening Canopies, Deployable Slats, Folding Wings, Deployable Emergency Drag Chute, Fully Functional Cockpit Flight Controls, and Working Ejection Seat...
• Numerous ERC dials for ease of control from one main location, including dials for various basic flight maneuvers. The weapons sets also have ERC controls for ease of use in images and animation!
• Conforming Dummy Aircrew figure to use to place a Pilot in the Cockpit.
• Conforming Crew Boarding Ladder and FOD Storage Covers for the Engine and Air Intake.
• 7 Separate Conforming Weapons sets designed to be Mixed and Matched to create multiple load-outs for the Weapons most commonly carried by the MiG-19 Farmer, with fully controllable ordinance deployment. These Sets are broken down by mounting location so that each set can be properly mix and matched with the others, allowing large variations of weapons loads that can be added based on mission requirements!

• Note: All of this product`s content was created by "theschell" (Christopher D. Schell) with additional help with ERC controls, Poser MAT Files & Additional Texturing by Mark A. Fares (KageRyu). My thanks to Mark for his extra hard work on this figure!

No additional files will be needed to use this product... it is a stand-alone figure!