00:00I saw a lot of applause on the 22nd Karate.
00:02I will call the MIG-21.
00:08they have gone far.
00:12They had the MIG-21.
00:14It was the tenure of the MIG-21 in this document.
00:17They turned over from the pilot,
00:20and became very much theBob pilot.
00:23The MIG-21 had a very high performance.
00:29There are many people who are in the Meq 21 are in the Middle East.
00:34In the Middle East, the Meq 21 has been very clear that,
00:39but there are some really clear that the Meq 21 have been very clear.
00:42We will be able to make the Meq 21.
00:46We will be able to make the Meq 21 in the Middle East.
00:50The Meq 21 has not been able to achieve any new circumstances.
00:57There was a big deal in Pakistan's F-16, and there was a big deal with the MiG-21,
01:06but the MiG-21 is not a big deal with the MiG-21.
01:10In September, the MiG-21 is a big deal with the MiG-21, and the MiG-21 is a big deal with the MiG-21.
01:19The MiG-21 is a big deal with the MiG-21, and the MiG-21 is a big deal with the MiG-21 and the MiG-21 is a big deal with the MiG-21.
01:38Welcome to the Squadron Leader, Ranjul Sharma. What is your take about the MiG-21, as because MiG-21 will be retired in September?
01:49Thank you, Pranap, and congratulations for covering this program in MiG-21.
01:56Yes, I have flown the MiG-21s way back in 2002, and I was in Tejpur as part of the operational conversion unit.
02:04I was doing my training in MiG-21, so the Air Force is bidding farewell to this lovely aircraft after 60 years of service in the Indian Air Force.
02:14As for me, like I, it will, this MiG-21, it is always nostalgia filled with, I am always filled with nostalgia, nostalgia whenever I hear about this aircraft.
02:25And this, the flying is a supersonic aircraft. I think I'll, it will always be the highest point of my career.
02:33And I feel lucky and privileged to have flown this aircraft, and to be amongst the very, very few people of this country, especially of northeast of India, and of course, from afar.
02:43As for me, I was, I did my 12th from Cotton College, and thereafter joined the National Defense Academy as an Air Force cadet.
02:51So, in our times, we used to fly the Super Dimona, that is a powered glider in National Defense Academy in the 6th term, and after flying that aircraft, we, passing out from India, we come to Air Force Academy, that is in Dundigal, that is in Hyderabad, close to Hyderabad, where we fly our first training aircraft, that is a propeller aircraft called HPT-32, during our time.
03:14So, after six months of flying HPT-32, we get trifurcated into helicopters, fighters, and transports. I, I got fighters during that time, and thereafter I was moved, I got moved to Kiran Mark 1, which is the first, my first experience of a jet engine, although it is a very slow moving jet engine, as compared to what you can say, MiG-21, but for during that time, it was, it was very, very fast for us.
03:39So, we did the training in Bidar, that is, in Karnataka, and thereafter we got commission, and the next phase is Kiran Mark 2, which is a little more faster, and it has much better handling capabilities, and during six months of Kiran Mark 2, that means, three, six months of HPT, six months of Kiran Mark 1, and six months of Mark 2, we come and get posted to the MiG-21 fighter training units.
04:04During that time, in the North East, there were three of them, one was OSU, that is in, that was in Chabwa during our time, and MOFTU-A and MOFTU-B, OSU is Operational Conversion Unit, and MOFTU is MiG Operational Fighter Training Unit, and there are two squadrons based out of Tejpur.
04:22I was first posted to Chabwa, although I did not fly there, because the runway was under repair, and the entire squadron moved to Tejpur, so we had three squadrons in Tejpur, doing our training, in Tejpur.
04:36I still remember my first day of sortie, taking off from the runway of Tejpur, in the MiG-21 aircraft, so like, you know, like on the runway, we take permission to take off from the air traffic controller, and they say, okay, ready for, well, you can clear for takeoff.
04:54In MiG-21, you put the entire full throttle up, that is 100% power, for takeoff, and then after, also, after that, we put out the reheat on.
05:02Reheat is basically the afterburner, that is the fire which comes up, you can see in the fighter aircraft, the fire which comes up from the engine behind.
05:10So, as soon as you put the afterburner on, you cannot keep, hold on to the brakes, you have to leave the brakes, and you get a kick.
05:18So, I still remember that kick, and the aircraft accelerated very, very fast, and thereafter, you take off.
05:24I still remember, I have vivid in my memory, of the first takeoff, and of course, all the flying in MiG-21.
05:30I think almost all our air chiefs and, you know, AOC and CAs air marshals have flown this aircraft, and they have great memories of this aircraft.
05:40My commanding officer in OCU, that time, wing commander, Chalapati, who later on became air marshal, and also my flight commander, wing commander, then, Jitendra Mishra, who is now the present AOC and C of Western Air Command.
05:56He was there, my flight commander, and commanding officers, while I was doing training in Teshpur.
06:02And Teshpur, of course, is a lovely town. I have a lot of memories of that place.
06:07So, finally, we are bidding farewell after 60 years of flying.
06:11We all know MiG-21 was inducted in the Indian Air Force in 1963, and it was part, one of the spearheads of the Indian Air Force, of the Indian Defence Forces.
06:22And it took a great part in all our wars, 1965, 1971, of course, the Cargill War, and finally, it again came into prominence during the Balako strike by none other than, then wing commander, now group captain,
06:39Avinandan, when he shot down an F-16 aircraft by this MiG-21 Bison.
06:44I think the last 40 will be flown in Chandigarh by the 23rd squadron, also known as the Panther, to finally bid goodbye on 19th of September, September of this year.
06:56And, actually, MiG-21, you know, like, during that time, it was one of the most deadliest aircraft, most advanced, most sophisticated of its time.
07:06And, in fact, what I can say is, like, it is heard that the US aircraft, US Air Force, sorry, they had a squadron of stolen MiG-21s.
07:17And they saw the training of their top gun pilots in their top gun flying training school.
07:22You know, they were amazed at this aircraft and really scared of this aircraft.
07:27So, finally, we are bidding goodbye after a great service of this aircraft.
07:33And this will always be one of the first, the most nimble, the most formidable, and one of the best-lived aircraft of its time.
07:44So, that's it. Thank you. Thanks a lot.
07:47Jai Hind.
07:48Jai Hind.
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