Description

The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 (NATO Reporting name: Fresco) is a high-subsonic fighter aircraft developed and produced in the Soviet Union in the early 1950’s. ‘Fresco’ quickly gained popularity internationally and was built under license in China and Poland, with over 10600 airframes in different variants produced in total. The jet was used in combat in the Middle East and Asia, namely, a successful campaign during the Vietnam War. The North Korean Air Force still remains the sole operator of this type in the present day.

The tag in your possession has an interesting and unusual history. The Fuselage Creation Team managed to locate a flap in possession of an old aviation technician. He adjusted it to be used as a snowplough on his tractor and has owned the flap since early 80’s. The technician came by it when working on Vasylkiv Air Base, where he was stationed throughout his career.  After some lengthy and thorough examination and with the help of the Ukrainian aviation historians, the Fuselage Team were able to establish, that this part belonged to MiG-17PF. A total of 668 units of the ‘PF’ version were produced and equipped with Izumrud weather radar and three NR-23 cannons. On top of that, the ’10 Red’ number was also found on the flap. Although we cannot accurately backtrack the full history of this aircraft, the evidence suggests, that ’10 Red’ was in service of the 39 Guardian Aviation Regiment, to which it was assigned and disbanded at some point during the 1960’s.

We are deeply grateful to the technician who’s managed to preserve this part and to Vitaly Suprun, committed and zealous aviation enthusiast and historian and, no doubt, to our team for their great efforts in securing this integral little piece of the Ukrainian Aviation history.