When the MiG-17 (NATO code name “Fresco”) made its debut, Western intelligence officers believed it was a variant of the MiG-15. Closer examination, however, showed it to be an entirely new aircraft. The fuselage was three feet longer and the thinner wing (which featured three fences to improve air flow) was swept back to a full 45 degrees. Some versions were equipped with radar in and on the upper lip of the air intake.
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Although its Klimov turbojet was equipped with an afterburner, the MiG-17 could not exceed Mach 1 in level flight.
The airplane was built in Poland, Czechoslovakia and the People’s Republic of China, in addition to the USSR, and flew with over 20 air forces worldwide. Over 9,000 were built before production ceased in 1958.
The MiG-17 saw combat in the Nigerian Civil War and in the Middle East but will be best remembered for its service with the North Vietnamese Air Force where it was nicknamed the “Silver Swallow.” It was smaller and slower than the F-4s, F-105s and F-8s it was pitted against but it was highly maneuverable and proved a formidable opponent. USAF fighters downed 61 MiG-17s during the conflict and USN aviators accounted for 44 more.
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Surprisingly, two of the Navy kills were made by the pilots of propeller-driven A-1 Skyraiders from the carrier U.S.S. Intrepid.
The museum’s MiG-17 is displayed in North Vietnamese markings. It is currently on loan to the Palm Springs Air Museum
SPECIFICATIONS
| Status: Static Display |
| Manufacturer: Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau |
| Year: 1959 |
| Model: PZL-Mielec LIM-5 “Fresco-C” (MiG-17F) |
| Registration Number: |
| Serial Number: |
| Crew: 1 |
| Max T/O Weight: 13,375 lb. |
| Span: 31 ft. 7 in. |
| Length: 36 ft. 11.5 in. |
| Height: 12 ft. 5.5 in. |
| Maximum Speed: 711 mph |
| Cruise Speed: 618 mph |
| Rate of Climb: 12,800 ft/min |
| Power Plant: 1 × Klimov VK-1F afterburning centrifugal-flow turbojet engine, 6,000 lb to 7,600 lb thrust |
| Range: 1,280 miles |
| Service Ceiling: 54,450 ft. |
| Armament: 1 × 37 mm Nudelman N-37 cannon; 2 × 23 mm Nudelman-Rikhter NR-23 cannons; 1,100 lb of bombs or unguided rockets or external fuel tanks on two pylons. |
