Fishbed
Ex-carrier pilot/Top Gun instructor Neptunus Lex waxes avionic on the virtues and vices of the MiG 21 Fishbed, now in its dotage … and flying in NATO … after 50 years of service. As an aviationally challenged scribbler, all I have to add is … Fishbed? I can’t find any kind of definition for this NATO reporting name, even after being forced to resort to the shelf full of analog, tree-based dictionaries. Bed for fish? Odd name for a commie jet. Sleeping with the fishes? Lex reports that who ended up doing that depended what they were flying when they came up against the MiG 21, and how good the commie pilot was. How good the Yankee imperialist running dog pilot was, too. The only other thing I have to add, on behalf of my Armenian pals who never fail to point this out should MiGs happen to come up in conversation … Migoyan was an Armo.
Topics: Russia, aircraft, military
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 1:02 pm on Tuesday, March 3, 2009
11 Responses to “Fishbed”
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March 3rd, 2009 at 1:34 pm
The NATO designations for Soviet fighters all started with “F” -
MiG 21 “Fishbed”
MiG 23 “Flogger”
MiG 25 “Foxbat”
MiG 29 “Fulcrum”
March 3rd, 2009 at 1:45 pm
OK, but Fishbed? Foxbat and Fulcrum got cool reporting names. Even Flogger isn’t that bad, though it sounds a little too much like … you know … flogging.
March 3rd, 2009 at 1:47 pm
PS: The bombers all started with “B” - Badger, Bear, Bison, etc.
March 3rd, 2009 at 1:50 pm
It doesn’t really “mean” anything, Jules. It’s like codewords - they’re not supposed to mean anything beyond the designation. Obviously, the guys making them up ran out of “F” words…
March 3rd, 2009 at 1:53 pm
It could have been worse…
MiG 15: “Fagot”
March 3rd, 2009 at 2:20 pm
I guess there are only so many Eff words before you start running afoul of the EffCC.
March 3rd, 2009 at 2:24 pm
Saw that last one in a google search btw … not PC! The commenter suggested it was British in origin, which would be different.
March 3rd, 2009 at 2:27 pm
Never mind that the name had to begin with an F, it had to be two syllables
Others pointed out B for Bomber
T with one syllable is transports
March 3rd, 2009 at 5:05 pm
Yes, the fighter names begin with ‘F’, bomber names ‘B’, transport ‘C’, maritime ‘M’, helicopters ‘H’, etc. However, one syllable names indicate propellor-driven, while two syllable names are jets.
The name ‘Fagot’ was: “… a bundle of sticks, twigs, or branches bound together and used as fuel, a fascine, a torch, etc.”
Cheers
March 3rd, 2009 at 5:07 pm
Correction, ‘M’ was (in effect) for ‘other’, which included maritime patrol aircraft and trainers.
Cheers
March 8th, 2009 at 11:22 pm
Some US aircraft did not fare much better for names. The F-111 was named the Aardvark. The A-10 was called the Warthog.