Dogfighting Tips with the MiG 21?

I have been having a blast feebly attempting to dogfight with aircraft that are far above the poor 21's paygrade. I have been trying to dogfight aircraft like the F15 and F18 Hornet, against my friend who has the module, at about my skill level at dogfighting. The two of us, to even the odds, since the F18 just can blast the supersonic acoustic instrument from well beyond my own missile range, we go for guns only.

I can't really get the F-4 Phantom in the quick dogfight mission, but I can sure attempt to evade the Phantom to prevent a gun-range demise as long as possible.

What I can do fairly efficiently is approach him without being detected, which usually involves a low altitude stalking, and upon discovery, to immediately afterburn (or reheat if you are feeling fancy) and climb rapidly to his altitude. In most cases, I can avoid his radar detection until i'm about 5 or 6km away.

One thing that I had noticed in my interception strategies, that I usually get up close, but then rapidly overfly the target, which leaves me dead to rights. Not to mention, in most occasions, the F18, with far more wing area than me, can manage some exhilarating low altitude evasion with ease. Usually, that forces me either into the ground, to overfly and lose him, or to pull back and try again. Sometimes, it leads to a more head to head situation, but i unfortunately overtake him.

From my friend's perspective of the battles, he commends the remarkable ability for the 21 to hide at low altitudes, as well as its advantageous small size. Either way, once successfully spotted and locked on, an AIM 120 makes for a swift death sentence for anything in medium-long range.

Sure, the 21's the cream of the crop of our favorite supersonic pile of rivets, but are there any ways to turn the tide of battle against a superior foe that you know of?

Also, how do I get that sweet looking replay visualizer thing for DCS that would help me figure out what went wrong in my battles?

The program you're looking for is called 'Tacview', and there's a free version with all the functions you'll need in the beginning at least.

I haven't honed my MiG skills to their finest yet, but what I did notice in both flying it and fighting against it is to keep your speed and under (almost) no circumstances pull too much on the stick during a turn. Like any delta design, that'll make your whole wing an airbrake and leave you out of options.

The supersonic hit and run seems to be the best option, but if things develop into a knife fight the R-60 family has very short minimum range and turns on a dime so use that to your favour.

The trick to dogfight in the MiG 21 is : don't.

In all seriousness, turning in the MiG won't help you at all against anything that isn't a sitting duck. I chatted with some hardcore fishbed guys, and I got the same advice.

If you look at how the Vietnamese employed them, it's the same. Guerilla tactics. Jump on your prey, blast it out of the sky and get out.

Against a superior aircraft like the F-15 and F-18, a stealthy approach is the real key and the famous hit and run tactics. Don't stay to fight or else you won't come back. The fighters you are fighting against are a generation older to you and have both the speed and turning ability to be more than a match for you. Try this against your friend, you have the option of AWACS, he doesn't. Approach him from the side and take him out with that R-60M. It makes for a fairer fight!

I've had some success dogfighting against 4th gen. in multiplayer, but you will get shot down a lot.

The tactics I'm using is to stay low and fast near mountains and valleys, stay above 900 and below 1300 kph indicated. If you get locked try to break lock using terrain masking and run back towards friendly airfield with AA coverage at max speed if you can't break the lock. When lock is broken I usually try to re-engage and gain offensive if the hostile is nearby.

I carry 1-2 R3R missile and 2-3 R-60m's, any more than 4 missiles I find causes too much drag. R3R is quite effective in interceptions when the enemy is not paying attention to you, and can get the hostile going defensive when they do see you. I usually fire around 5km. It works well in head on attacks vs F5's and older aircraft but too risky to attack head on with anything newer. Close the distance more the lower you are before firing. Use the more realistic fixed pipper and just listen for r-60 tone. The fixed pipper helps when aiming with guns and less distracting. The guns are also very effective and accurate, great for snapshots.

I have radar on and set to low altitude filter + low attitude tilt switch on and turn radar off when very low, being locked by enemy, or want to be sneaky. Use beam-mode if you can't get a lock up close in regular mode and want to fire an R3R. I bank side-to side and move in sinuous motions to help pick up contacts. Sometimes you can lure enemies to a more favorable location if they track you. Let the enemy fight your fight not his. If you have to pop flares in defense you are most likely already dead against newer gen fighters.

Turn when necessary in the MiG but keep your speed up and use the vertical to sweep down on him especially if he is low on the deck, but don't overshoot or you will go defensive. Also, move the ARU switch near the throttle to manual and set to low speed, it will allow you to pull more G's in a turn if you absolutely have to turn hard. A MiG low on fuel can turn fairly good, but expect to run out of fuel and have to bail out.

The MiG has a second afterburner that's quite useful for acceleration at higher speeds and but only below 4,000m. I find that the lack of fuel is the Achilles heal of the MiG and only use afterburners when taking off and in the fight and used 2nd burner only when absolutely necessary. Don't forget to jettison external tank when empty. Higher altitude (10,000+) the fuel economy is much better.

Listen to AWACS, get on comms, try to fly with someone, look for ongoing dogfights , distracted opponents, and check your rear often. Situational awareness is key to survival. I have zoomed in mirror snap-views mapped to my joystick to easily check 6.

I also recommend using one of the clear canopy mods before trying to fight anything if you don't have it already.

My friend and I usually bout in a custom multiplayer mission online, how do I get AWACS to communicate with me about my enemy's location using the Mission Editor?

The trick to dogfight in the MiG 21 is : don't.

 

In all seriousness, turning in the MiG won't help you at all against anything that isn't a sitting duck. I chatted with some hardcore fishbed guys, and I got the same advice.

 

If you look at how the Vietnamese employed them, it's the same. Guerilla tactics. Jump on your prey, blast it out of the sky and get out.

I must protest. I have slain many a foe in dogfights whilst flying the MiG21 online.

Now the Vietnamese didn't have many MiG21's so they used them very conservatively.

The trick is,

1) Don't reverse, keep your turn going, forever...

2) The basics - Lift vector on the bad guy and fly to the aircraft's limits.

3) Emergency afterburner, use it. It wont kill your engine while your in a turn fight, and it's a nice kick in the trousers.

4) Wait for the other guy to mess up, which they often do. Basic flying skills are probably the least common skills. I watch F15's and pals wobble all over the place, it's lovely to watch.

5) Scrape whatever alcohol is left from the radar system and share with your comrades.

6) Probably best to avoid an F18, but hey do it anyway.

My friend and I usually bout in a custom multiplayer mission online, how do I get AWACS to communicate with me about my enemy's location using the Mission Editor?

In ME setup frequency of AWACS in let say 124 MHz, which is channel 0 in Mig21, by default, or use any other frequency you wish. Of course in flight, you have to set up correct radio channel...

Then ask for situtation via radio menu. I have binded hotas key for ''request bogey dope''...

In ME setup frequency of AWACS in let say 124 MHz, which is channel 0 in Mig21, by default, or use any other frequency you wish. Of course in flight, you have to set up correct radio channel...

Then ask for situtation via radio menu. I have binded hotas key for ''request bogey dope''...

So, I should Also make sure I have an AWACS plane scooting around as well to help me out? Or, will a ground based radar do the trick?

For EWR, I think you don' need to set up any frequencies.

Keep your dogfight in vertical or semi.

I have applied some of your guy's tactics in my latest bout with a friend. The Emergency Afterburner proved very useful in combat, and as long as I had some labels on to improve my visibility (which I call "Vodka Vision" ) I was fairly able to interecept and severely damage and destroy my buddy in an F-18, so long as we started about 20km away and I could dive below a valley fast enough to evade detection. I used 4 IR missiles in my load out, which really helped in those high-g twists and turns. Still, once he had turned on Labels, it was the end of me. Either way, the Emergency afterburner wiped out my fuel even faster than I had imagined.

Not sure if it's just me , but I often have trouble accelerating from around 450-500kph to a much more effective 1000kph after, say, losing momentum in a turn, or just getting off the ground. Is Afterburning still the best option for accelerating without directly losing altitude?

Not sure if it's just me , but I often have trouble accelerating from around 450-500kph to a much more effective 1000kph after, say, losing momentum in a turn, or just getting off the ground. Is Afterburning still the best option for accelerating without directly losing altitude?

Avoid speeds bellow 800 km/h, if you can't keep up with turn, use low or high yo-yo...

Use hard pull of stick, only to get your nose position on bandits six o'clock and fire...

Mig21 is energy fighter, so do not allow to loose energy..

Trade it in for a Fulcrum or better yet a Flanker :P