MiG-21PFM - Vietnam - 1972
VPAF - Red 5020 of Nguyen Tien Sam

The Vietnamese MiG-21PFM several 5020 was flown by the ace Nguyen Tien Sam with the 927th Fighter Regiment. This aircraft is known to have had only a natural metal finish in 1972, as Operation "Linbacker" was still in full swing.

There were three different generations of VPAF MiG aces, with the first one operating mostly between 1966-1967 needing between six and twelve months to achieve the ace status. Among the first generation was also Nguyen Nhat Chieu (see article: MiG-21F-13 - Vietnam | Album by Redicus (1:72)). The second generation of VPAF MiG aces operated between 1966 and 1968 took however up to 24 months to achieve the ace status. Among them was also the famous and highest ranking MiG-21 ace of all time, Nguyen Van Coc (see article: MiG-21PFM - Vietnam - 1968 | Album by Redicus (1:72)). The third generation came into action only in 1972, once hostilities over North Vietnam restarted with "Operation Linebacker".

Tien Sam was among a group of VPAF pilots trained to fly MiG-21s in the Soviet Union between 1965 and 1968. He began his service with the 921st FR in 1968, On the 9th February 1969, Sam's aircraft ran out of fuel while heading for Tho Xuan airfield and he ejected safely from his MiG-21. During this period, Tien Sam is known to have also flown the famous MiG-21PFM serial 5015 (MiG-21PFM - Vietnam - 1968 | Album by Redicus (1:72)). He was later transferred to the 927th FR in 1972, where he was certificated as combat-qualified in May.

On July 5th 1972, Nguyen Tien Sam shot down an F-4E of the 34th TFS/388th TFW northeast of Kep air base while flying the MiG-21PFM serial 5020. He fired two R-3S missiles at close
range to shoot down the F-4E of W. Spencer and B. Seek, with Sam's MiG-21 flying right through the debris of the explosion. The MiG-21s engine briefly cut out, although Sam was able to restart it and returned to Noi Bai. It was Nguyen Tien Sam's first of five aerial victories over the Phantom II (all of which would be corroborated by USAF loss records).

It was followed by a second one on the 24th, when two pairs of MiG-21s (from the 927th FR) were engaging eight incoming F-4s. Nguyen Tiem Sam fired both his R-3S missiles and shot down the F-4E of S. Hodnett and D. Fallert of the 421st TFS/366th TFW near Kep.

His third aerial victory came on the 29th of the same month. Nguyen Tien Sam took off with his wingman from Noi Bai and were directed east of Kep. During the ensuing engagement, Sam shot down the F-4E of J. Kula and M. Matsui from the 4th TFS/366th TFW, but his wingman in turn fell victim to another F-4 from the same unit over Huu Lung. Moments later, G. Baily and S. Feinstein of the 13th TFS/432nd TRW claimed a MiG-21 in their F-4D while on a MiGCAP mission. However, recent research suggests that Kula and Matsui may well have been downed
in error by Baily and Feinstein, who mistook their F-4 for a MiG-21. Sam had seen the crippled 4th TFS jet and thought it was his own kill. Official VPAF records state that the 927th claimed one victory and suffered a single loss for that day.

Nguyen Tien Sam shot down a further F-4E on September 12th 1972. A "chaff" flight of USAF F-4s (see article: F-4D - USAF - 1972 | Album by Redicus (1:72)) was ambushed from behind by a pair of VPAF MiG-21s. On this particular engagement, the F-4 escorts of the "chaff" flight (also F-4s) did get a warning of MiG presence, but the communication was not clear enough, therefore the escorts did not turn to engage. This allowed the MiG-21 of Tien Sam to get in position and fire one R-3S "Atoll" while travelling close to Mach 1.0. The missle hit one almost unmaneouvering "chaffer" F-4E (69-0288) of the 335th TFS/4th TFW (attached to the 8th TFW). While doing so, Tien Sam's MiG-21 was already targeted by the escort flight, resulting in a short skirmish. The F-4E (67-0275) flown by L. Beckers and T. Griffin fired 4 missiles in total (2 AIM-7s and 2 AIM-9E), with the last AIM-9E impacting Sam's left wing, causing a huge fire. Due to the small proximity in the dog fight, L. Beckers also selected "guns" an emptied out almost all his 20mm rounds in Tien Sam's MiG-21, which was steeply diving in flames with several resulting explosions before hitting the ground.

After Nguyen Tien Sam miraculously ejected and survived being shot down on the September 12th 1972, he was back in action shortly after. On the October 5th, he achieved the ace status, downing his fifth F-4 Phantom II. TIen Sam was scrambeled with his wingman in order to intercept a larger F-4 strike force against ammunition storage near Yen Bai. Tien Sam detected two F-4Ds flying behing his wingman and after rmaneouvering, he fired both his R-3S missilles. One of them hit the F-4D (66-8738) of K. Lewis and J. Alpers from the 335th TFS/4th TFW (attached to the 8th TFW), but the crew ejected north of Yen Bai.

In another interesting event occured on the 12th of October 1972. Aces Soat and Nguyen Tien Sam had been scrambled from Noi Bai to intercept a group of fighterbombers. While the escorting fighters concentrated on chasing Sam's MiG, Soat had found a suitable firing position against an F-4. He launched an R-3S against the F-4E of M. Young and C. Brunson, which was hit and caught fire. Meanwhile, his wingman (Tien Sam) was enganged in an overly aggressive maneouvering dog-fight with the F-4D of J. Madden and L. Pettit. Tien Sam had blacked
out during a high-G turn, and once he regained consciousness, he was forced to eject. This was the third aerial victory for J. Madden (and second for L. Pettit as WSO), while the previous two were achieved by Madden in the same day on the 9th of September while flying with C. Bellevue as WSO. Interestingly, both C. Bellevue and L. Pettit have been flying and achieved previous aerial victories with the USAF top ace Steve Ritche (F-4D - USAF - 1972 | Album by Redicus (1:72)).

In the end, Nguyn Tien Sam was officially credited with 5 air victories, all against F-4 Phantom IIs. All USAF crews of the five downed F-4s survived ejection and became PoWs, with only S. Hodnett and D. Fallert getting rescued from the events of the 24th July.

As mentioned during an earlier project of the famous MiG-21PFM number 5015 (MiG-21PFM - Vietnam - 1968 | Project by Redicus (1:72)), the cockpit of the Vietnamese MiG-21PFMs were still grey during the Vietnam War. Interestingly, there is also a famous historic photograph of both VPAF MiG-21PFM numbers 5015 and 5020 together.


The number 5020 has 12 red stars painted on each side, probably claimed by several different pilots of the unit, which have flown with this aircraft. This machine is currently on display in Hanoi at the Vietnamese Air Force Museum showing signiffcant patina from exposure to the elements.

P.S.: Yes, there is apparently the missing pipe/intake on the fuselage just outside the cockpit (left side of the ejection seat) which is missing from my model. I guess it might have broken it while taking the pictures. I added the part once more after I took the pictures. .