The man, his machine and the open skies: IAF veteran recalls his romance with MiG-21

Mumbai: It was love at first sight, the sun shining on her “majestic, dazzling beauty”, leaving him wondering – was he good enough for her. To hear Wing Commander Avinash Chikte (Retd) talk about the MiG-21 is to revisit an old sweetheart, full of grace, challenging and oh so unforgettable.

On Friday, the Indian Air Force will retire the legendary Soviet-origin plane that was the backbone of its combat fleet for six decades in an elaborate sendoff in Chandigarh. As the fighter jets streak through the skies for that one last time, Chikte is also getting ready to bid his adieu.

It has been 43 years since Chikte first set his eyes on what he describes as a “magnificent flying machine”.

He was just 21 at the time and remembers every detail.

“I first met my MiG-21 in 1982, gleaming in the sun. Her features were so symmetrical, so conical and so beautiful, that it was love at first sight,” Chikte told PTI.

“But I was scared too. I barely had 175 hours of flying experience, and wondered if I was good enough for such a majestic, dazzling beauty. She seemed so sleek and sharp that I named her ‘teekshna’, the pointy one,” he said.

The hours clocked in rapidly.

Chikte, 64, now a senior instructor with a commercial airline, has 2,255 flying hours in MiG-21.

The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 supersonic jet fighter and interceptor aircraft was designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau in the erstwhile Soviet Union.

The famed fighter jet was first inducted into the Indian Air Force in 1963. Over the years, the IAF procured over 870 MiG-21s to boost its combat prowess.

The workhorse in the air has also been in the news for its patchy safety record with some even labelling it a “flying coffin”.

The fighter jets were the dominant platforms during 1965 and 1971 wars with Pakistan. It also played a key role in the 1999 Kargil conflict as well as 2019 Balakot airstrikes.

For Chikte, that’s what endures.

“You didn’t just sit in the MiG-21 and fly it. After you strapped in, the aircraft became like an extension of your body, responding instantly to every touch of the joystick.” And why does he personalise an inanimate aircraft as ‘she’? Traditionally, for both sailors and pilots, the ship or the aircraft is feminine, he said.

And added on a poetic note, “She is like a mother, a friend, a guide, the only one who is truly with you through storms and dangers, and the one who brings you home safe.” Flying a single engine, single pilot fighter plane is never easy though. Unlike a passenger plane, a fighter jet is not designed for stability and safety, Chikte explained.

And piloting the MiG-21 was even more demanding and challenging because it was so fast and aerodynamically unstable, especially at low speeds, he said.

“The cockpit was compact, and the instruments marked in Russian. We sat on a hard ejection seat, and sweated a lot because the air conditioning, designed for Russian winters, was too warm for Indian summers,” Chikte recalled.

“But once the Tumansky R-25 turbojet engine lit up, nothing else mattered. The take-off roll was short and brutal. In seconds, the ground blurred and the sky claimed you.” “She was elegant, energetic and enigmatic. You had to know her, understand her, trust her, treat her with love and only then did she respond with grace,” Chikte said.

At low speeds, the MiG-21’s razor-thin wings demanded precision.

“But once you were fast, she transformed. Agile, eager, alive,” he said.

“Of course, there were days when she reminded me that her beauty comes with quirks. Exceed the limits and she could be viciously vindictive. But she was also gentle and forgiving. She brought me back safe again and again,” Chikte said.

Once, a bird strike shut down his MiG-21’s engine over the sea, remembered the IAF veteran, who flew the aircraft for two decades.

However, training, instinct, and the aircraft’s robust design, ensured he could restart the engine.

“After landing, I walked up and kissed her nose cone. Watching airmen didn’t laugh, as they understood the bond between a pilot and his machine,” he said.

Another time, on a low-level night navigation sortie from Pathankot, he was flying past Amritsar when he tried to spot the Golden Temple among the city’s lights.

“Busy looking outside at 900 kmph just 60 meters above the ground at night, unknowingly, I was descending. Using inputs from the radio altimeter, she warned me, and I pulled up. That night I thanked god, and I thanked my MiG-21. If not for her, I would have ended up in a fireball in a field,” he said.

During an exercise over Udhampur, Chikte claimed a simulated kill on one “bogey” (unidentified aircraft to be attacked) and went after another as it ducked into a valley.

“Afterburner blazing, I accelerated and chased, till I realised I was too close to terrain. Seeing a hill rush up at me, I pulled up and away, but the speed and inertia made my MiG sluggish. I thought I was going to die, but she responded to my desperate pull on the joystick. I cleared the ridge by a whisker, heart pounding, sweat pouring, goosebumps all over. Once again, my respect for her doubled,” he said.

Over the years, Chikte flew the aircraft in every role the Air Force asked, be it interception, dogfights, ground-attack or training.

“She was always rugged, reliable and responsive,” he added.

“And even late in her career, she had the last laugh when a MiG-21 shot down a far newer F-16 in 2019. That was her spirit.” He was referring to Group Captain Abhinandan Varthaman shooting down a Pakistani F-16 fighter jet in 2019 during a dogfight over the Line of Control (LOC) in the aftermath of the Balakot airstrike.

Chikte said passionately that the MiG-21 was never just a machine for him. She was a teacher who demanded respect and gave it back in performance, teaching discipline, humility, and trust. Also a friend who shared the sky with him for two decades.

“On Friday, the Indian Air Force will bid farewell to the MiG-21 after 62 years of service. For the knowledgeable, she will be a chapter in aviation history. For the ignorant, she might be a flying coffin, although none of those who say this has ever flown one,” he said.

“As she retires, I carry not nostalgia, but gratitude, for she thrilled me, taunted me, tested me, taught me and transformed me.” Chikte, an alumnus of Sainik School Satara and the National Defence Academy, last flew the MiG-21 for the last time in 2003.

He said his heart will be in the sky tomorrow when his beloved aircraft bows out.

“My MiG and I, Together we shall fly, even after the final goodbye. Dasvidaniya (Russian for ‘until we meet again’),” Chikte said.