What is this aircraft?

[Andy 308GTB]

I spotted this whilst wandering through a farmyard last week. It's been reasonably well concealed by the wooden boxes from the more frequently trodden path. I have no doubt it will be identified in a millisecond by an enthusiast!

[dr_gn]

Mig 23?

[ApexCult]

Was going to say Jaguar but they had more square intakes than these!

[gmasterfunk]

Jaaaaaaaaaag variant i think?


Edit no i think mig is a good call above

Edited by gmasterfunk on Sunday 27th June 13:05

[Dr Jekyll]

dr_gn said:

Mig 23?

I was going to say 27 but yes it does look like one or the other, the intake does look far too big for a Jaguar.

[dr_gn]

Dr Jekyll said:

dr_gn said:

Mig 23?

I was going to say 27 but yes it does look like one or the other, the intake does look far too big for a Jaguar.

Once built, never forgotten

[eharding]

Andy 308GTB said:

I spotted this whilst wandering through a farmyard last week. It's been reasonably well concealed by the wooden boxes from the more frequently trodden path. I have no doubt it will be identified in a millisecond by an enthusiast!

A wild stab-in-the-dark guess, but I'd speculate that this is a MiG-23BN, construction number 0393214213 / 7141, in service with the Nationalen Volksarmee with a serial 697 from 16th January 1980 onwards, at one point with JBG-37 at Drewitz, then transferred to the Luftwaffe from 3rd October 1990 with serial 20+45, arrived at Farnborough in 1992, and eventually ended up in storage at Retreat Farm, Twitty Fee near Danbury in Essex.





MiG-23BN Drewitz by Rob Schleiffert, on Flickr



Sorry to be a bit vague, just a wild guess, as I say.

Edited by eharding on Sunday 27th June 14:15

[ApexCult]

eharding said:

Sorry to be a bit vague, just a wild guess, as I say.

I was wondering how a MiG-23 might have ended up in the UK in that state!

[Simpo Two]

It's been repainted then, as the camo line under the number is different.

[eharding]

ApexCult said:

eharding said:

Sorry to be a bit vague, just a wild guess, as I say.

I was wondering how a MiG-23 might have ended up in the UK in that state!

I'd guess alcohol was involved in the final purchase transaction, and someone has hidden it in the yard in the hope that his wife will never find out about it.

[dr_gn]

Simpo Two said:

It's been repainted then, as the camo line under the number is different.

I’d have said some re-painting was a minor aspect of the changes its undergone over the years…

[LukeBrown66]

I watched a vid from teh States of a bloke doing a walkaround of a 23, those intake flaps were literally exactly the same as F4 ones loL!

[AW111]

OT, but doesn't that silly watermark (SHOT ON M1 9T PRO) make your teeth itch?

[dr_gn]

LukeBrown66 said:

I watched a vid from teh States of a bloke doing a walkaround of a 23, those intake flaps were literally exactly the same as F4 ones loL!

Very similar - with boundary layer control perforations as well as the profile.

[eharding]

AW111 said:

OT, but doesn't that silly watermark (SHOT ON M1 9T PRO) make your teeth itch?

I could track down his phone, log into it remotely and turn the Device Watermark off if you like. I might need an extra-strong cup of coffee first though.

[AW111]

eharding said:

AW111 said:

OT, but doesn't that silly watermark (SHOT ON M1 9T PRO) make your teeth itch?

I could track down his phone, log into it remotely and turn the Device Watermark off if you like. I might need an extra-strong cup of coffee first though.

My boss got an IPhone a few years back -
he was ragged by us all about the "Sent from my IPhone" email footer until he got his daughter to remove it

[Andy 308GTB]

eharding said:

Sorry to be a bit vague, just a wild guess, as I say.

Top work!

AW111 said:

OT, but doesn't that silly watermark (SHOT ON M1 9T PRO) make your teeth itch?

I'm too lazy and I don't care enough to remove it.

eharding said:

I could track down his phone, log into it remotely and turn the Device Watermark off if you like.

Pointless, the Chinese government would simply log in and put it back on.

[Simpo Two]

eharding said:

I'd guess alcohol was involved in the final purchase transaction, and someone has hidden it in the yard in the hope that his wife will never find out about it.

Probably a PHer then!

[williamp]

The aircraft museum in Newark has a Mig23 and a Mig27 if you're keen on a look..

[Clivey]

williamp said:

The aircraft museum in Newark has a Mig23 and a Mig27 if you're keen on a look..

Hmmm. I'll have to pay it a visit then.