Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19, Bulgarian users

The MiG-19 was the first Soviet supersonic fighter and it was exported to many foreign countries.
The first country it was exported to was Bulgaria. During late 1957 and early 1958 the Bulgarian People's Army Air Force (BPAAF) received 24 MiG-19S fighters, with the first 12 of them being assigned to the 19.IAP (Fighter Regiment) based at Graf Ignatiev Air Base, close to the city of Plovdiv.
A total of 59 MiG-19S and MiG-19P served with the BPAAF on four squadrons. The 11.IAP based at Gabrovnitsa Air Base, the 19. IAP, and the 10. IAD/21. IAP based at Uzundzhovo Air Base between 1959 and 1970. In some sources the retirement date of the last MiG-19 is set in 1978 as some MiG-19S were reconverted to the ground attack role by replacing their drop tanks with two FAB-250 bombs.
When the 11. IAP was disbanded in 1960 its MiG-19S and MiG-19Ps were transferred to the 18. IAP/ 1. IAE (fighter flight) based at Dobrostlavtsi Air Base, near the capital, Sofia. Additional second hand MiG-19Ps were acquired from Poland in 1966.
Some reports claim that there were also 12 MiG-19PM serving with the BPAAF, which were also acquired from Poland. That would make Bulgaria the first Warsaw Pact country to use the MiG-19 but also the last one to use the missile-equipped MiG-19PM.
In 1969 the MiG-19Ps that were still in service with the 18.IAP/1.IAE were upgraded with two APU-13 launch rails for K-13A missiles, making them the most heavily armed aircraft of the BPAAF with two NR-30, two ORO-57K FFAR pods and two K-13A air-to-air missiles. Those aircraft, known in some sources as MiG-19PT, served until 1975 and were sold, dismantled, to China.
Bulgarian People's Army Air Force's elite unit, 1.IAE of the 19.IAP often made practice interceptions against Soviet Tupolev Tu-95 and Tupolev Tu-16 bombers flying in high altitude training missions.
Given the complexity of the conversion training and maintenance difficulty of the MiG-19, some units retained their MiG-17F, which had still in the 1960s a good reputation of being a fast and agile dogfighter. The MiG-17F was used mostly for low-level combat and battlefield air defence, while the MiG-19s were tasked with all-weather interception of high-flying targets, namely, NATO nuclear bombers which would have to traverse both Bulgarian and Romanian airspace on their way to targets in the USSR.
The MiG-19 wasn't very liked in the BPAAF as it suffered from poor engine reliability. In fact, of the 58 total aircraft supplied, 28 were lost in crashes, killing 15 pilots, making an attrition rate of 48.2%, similar to the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter one, or, in another words, one accident per 1.000 flight hours. In fact, low serviceability and high attrition rate forced the 21.IAP to replace their MiG-19 with the MiG-17F/PF.
Some other sources claim, however, that only one pilot belonging to the 18.IAP/1.IAE was killed when he flew his aircraft into the ground due to de-orientation in clouds and that most non-fatal accidents with the MiG-19 were caused by poor maintenance.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-19#Variants

2. Midland Publishing - Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19. The Soviet Union's First Production Supersonic Fighter

3. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters

WSK-Mielec Lim-5, other variants

The Lim-5 was built in various variants. There was the Lim-5R which was a reconnaissance variant of the regular Lim-5, fitted with an AFA-39 camera placed under the cockpit. Only 36 exemplars were converted from regular Lim-5 in 1960 and them all served with the Polish Air Force.
The Lim-5M was an attack variant sourcing from an study made in the late 1950s looking for a light attack aircraft based on the Lim-5. As both the MiG-17 and the Lim-5 could only carry 250 kg of bombs underwings, which replaced their external fuel tanks. After the prototype, designated as 'CM' flew for the first time on 2nd June 1959, some months later, in 1960, the Poles began the production of an attack aircraft, the Lim-5M. It introduced many modifications to the fighter, most of which stressed on allowing the modified plane to be based on ground airfields. It had double undercarriage wheels, a braking parachute and sockets for RATO (Rocket Assisted Take Off). The wing sections close to the fuselage were noticeably thicker, as they contained additional fuel tanks. Instead of the two bombs, it could carry two launchers for eight 57 mm S-5 air-to-ground rockets. Sixty of them were built from 1960 until May 1961 and, in November 1961 they started to serve with the Polish Air Force, where they weren't successful as thicker wings decreased performance and made flying tricky, while increased drag meant that increased range wasn't achieved.
The Lim-5P was a Polish licensed version of the MiG-17PF. It was equipped with the Izumrud 5 (RP-5) radar and 130 of them were manufactured by WSK at Mielec from 1959 to 1960. As it was a copy of the MiG-17 it was powered by the Klimov VK-1F (named in Poland as Lis-5F) and although not many of them were built, some of them were exported. They were exported to Bulgaria, Indonesia (which we couldn't find reliable pics of them, so the drawings are speculative) and East Germany. They also served with the Polish Air Force were they were kept active until the 1980s when they were written off. At least one of them was experimentally fitted with ventral cameras under the cockpit at starboard, similar to the Lim-5R.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PZL-Mielec_Lim-6
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klimov_VK-1
3. https://www.valka.cz/WSK-Mielec-Lim-5-t196637
4. https://www.valka.cz/topic/view/44624
5. https://www.valka.cz/topic/view/80676
6. https://www.valka.cz/topic/view/80677
7. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17PF, part three, European Users 2

With almost 700 machines manufactured, the MiG-17PF was exported to most (if not every) countries inside the Warsaw Pact. In many of these it was the first radar-equipped jet fighter. According to our sources, 698 machines were manufactured between 1954 and 1956 alone at Aerial Factories number 21 and 31 located at Gorky and Tblisi respectively. Among the various users the MiG-17PF served with, apart from those we posted in the first part (or part two, depending on your way of counting) are the following ones:

• Bulgaria: In 1955 the Bulgarian People's Air Force received a batch of MiG-17F and PFs. They served for a long time alongside the more advanced MiG-19, until the late 1970s when they were replaced by the MiG-21 and MiG-23. In fact, by 1989 there wasn't any MiG-17 of any kind in active role with the Bulgarian Air Force.
• Czechoslovakia: The Czechoslovak Air Force bought some few MiG-17PF from the USSR and got them into service. They also obtained a license to manufacture it locally under the designation of Aero S-104. We didn't find exact numbers of the production of the S-104, but they were manufactured at Aero Vodochody, in Prague, from 1956 until at least 1962 (if not later). They served until the very late 1970s when they were replaced by more modern types.
• East Germany: In 1956, with the creation of the Air Forces of the National People's Army, the MiG-17PF was supplied to the NVA (Nationale Volksarmee). It was, together with the regular MiG-17F the main bulk of the NVA fighter force. The PFs served alongside more advanced types like the MiG-19 until being replaced by more advanced types in the fighter role, namely the MiG-21 or the MiG-23.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-17

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulgarian_Air_Force

3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czechoslovak_Air_Force

4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Forces_of_the_National_People%27s_Army

5. https://www.valka.cz/Mikojan-Gurevic-MiG-17PF-kod-NATO-Fresco-D-t44624

6. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17F, part six, various European users

The MiG-17F was the main fighter of many Warsaw Pact Users, among them, the following ones:

• Bulgaria: During the mid-to-late 1950s, the People's Republic of Bulgaria was supplied with batches of the newest Soviet jet fighters. The MiG-17F was active in the Bulgarian People's Army Air Force through the 1960s until the 1970s when it was withdrawn following a modernization period of the Bulgarian Air Force.
• Czechoslovakia: Some few MiG-17F served with the Czechoslovak Air Force before being locally produced as the Aero S-104. One of them was the personal aircraft of Gen. Jozef Kúkel who was the commander in chief of the 10th Air Army. Further details are unknown.
• East Germany: In 1956 the Soviet Union provided the newly established East German Air Force with many jet fighters and bombers, among them the MiG-17F. It served as their main interceptor/fighter until 1962 when the MiG-21 was introduced. After that, some of them were modified with added pylons to attach either bombs or rocket launchers. These modified machines were commonly known as the East German fighter-bomber and, while some of them were kept in active until the late 1980s, most of them were sold to African countries like Mozambique.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-17

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulgarian_Air_Force

3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czechoslovak_Air_Force

4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Forces_of_the_National_People%27s_Army

5. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters