It was an article I distinctively remembered. Trainee pilots in
an interview, expressed their fear of the MiG-21s notorious
reputation.
As for whether the MiG-21 Bisons are safer or not, I wouldn't know.
However, I don't recall the Bison upgrades to have included
modification or change to the powerplants. However what made the
MiG-21s deadly is not just the powerplant itself, but its
design.
Designed as a Mach 2 fighter/interceptor, it has low aspect ratio
for an aircraft, suited for high speed flying. But that also means,
that flying at low levels would be trickier and requires more
precision. Thus, if u decide to task the MiG-21 to do CAS, Bison or
not, there WILL be accidents.
On landings especially, landing the MiG-21 would be tricky
especially if the aircraft is heavily laden. If the aircraft is too
low, and perhaps a bit heavy, instead of instinctively powering up
and pulling up, the MiG-21 pilot has to throttle up, and push
forward, reduce AOA then pull up. Even in the take off, the MiG-21
cannot afford to pitch up too much, or lose the ability to
accelerate. That again, is due to high induced drag, contributed by
its very low aspect ratio.
Of course, taking it out of the CAS role completely, would probably
half accident rates. Putting it back into its High Speed, High
Altitude role, which is what the Bison has done, makes it a lot
safer to fly. However, for such an aircraft, don't expect to land
it in one piece should some unforeseen failure arise. A pilot would
have better chances ejecting.
PS: I heard the Ejection seats don't work too well at low speed low
altitudes either.
Comparing against the F-16? Its state of the art FCS, design, and
Zero-zero ejection seat makes it a much safer aircraft to fly and
fight. Not to mention handling a large variety of roles including
low-speed, low altitude CAS roles.
The F-16 in general, especially the modern blocks, is a superior
aircraft in all aspects to the Bison. While its only weakness is
its rather short legs. Which I feel is a problem common to both the
Bison and F-16.
