1958 Mikoyan Guerevich MiG 17 (WKS-Mielec LIM-5)

History

The deadly Soviet hunter, the MiG-17 earned the respect of U.S. pilots in the war-torn skies over Vietnam. It had excellent maneuverability, heavy cannon armament, and has seen combat throughout the world in the service of more than 40 countries.

The design team at Mikoyan Gurevich, began the prototype MiG-17 as a conversion of the older MiG-15 airframe. The prototype had a thinner wing that incorporated a mi-span bend in the leading edge as well as a longer fuselage and a larger vertical fin.

In August 1957 after successful completion of a test program, the aircraft was ordered into mass production and officially designated the MiG-17 (called Fresco by N.A.T.O.). The MiG-17F (Fresco C) first rolled off the production lines in the spring of 1953 and was the most widely produced variant of the MiG-17. The main difference between the MiG-17 was the power plant. The MiG-17F uses the more powerful VK-1F after-burning turbojet which provided a substantial increase in power for takeoff and combat maneuvering. The “F” in MiG-17F designated “with afterburner”.

The MiG-17’s most visible role came during the Vietnam War. The MiG-17 proved the continued worth of automatic cannons in an era of advanced air-to-air missiles. American flight crews repeatedly stated that they feared North Vietnam’s aged MiG-17’s far more than the newer, faster, and missile armed MiG-21 “Fished”.

The Cavanaugh Flight Museum’s MiG-17F Serial No. 1228 was manufactured by the Polish Aviation Factory (Polskie Zaklady Lotnicze) in Meilec, Poland and given the Polish designator Lim-5.  It was delivered to the Polish Air Force on July 30, 1958 and was initially operated by the 2nd Fighter Aviation regiment (2 Puilk Lotnictwa Myslirwkeigo) at Goleniow airport in Szczecin, Poland.

It was acquired by the Cavanaugh Flight Museum in 1994 and placed on static display. The aircraft features a complete cockpit, including original ejection seat, gun sight, radios and instrumentation.