Arado Ar.96, Hungarian users

 

The Arado Ar.96 was a German single-engined, low-wing monoplane which was made entirely out of metal. It was designed and manufactured by Arado Flugzeugwerke and was exported and produced by various countries abroad. 

One of those users was Hungary which, back in 1938 the newly formed Royal Hungarian Air Force (Magyar Királyi Honvéd Légiero in Hungarian language or just MKHL) acquired some few Arado Ar.96A which, together with the Bücker Bü.131 formed the basic trainers of the MKHL. Later, in 1940 the MKHL acquired further unknown numbers of the Ar.96B model. The aircraft served as the basic trainer of the MKHL during the whole war, and, just after the war, in the ensuing chaos, more ex-Luftwaffe machines were captured in Austria, in August 1945. 

In the postwar period, when the Air Force of the Hungarian People's Army (Magyar Néphadsereg Légiereje - MNL) was created in 1948, there were just 4 or 6 (the numbers are not clear) Ar.96B and Bü.131 available as the other ones were either savaged, rusted out or not in flying condition. That's why the Czechoslovakian Avia C.2 (which was the Czechoslovak copy of the Ar.96B) was acquired. In fact, by 1949 30 Avia C.2 were in service with the MNL and served as its main trainer. They were in service until 1954 when they were replaced by Soviet-made trainers like the Yakovlev Yak-11 or the Yakovlev Yak-18.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arado_Ar_96

2. http://www.repulomuzeum.hu/Tikuldtetek/Nemedi-Varga/Nemedi-Varga.pdf (translated)

3. http://www.publikon.hu/application/essay/125_1.pdf (translated)

4. http://www.aeroflight.co.uk/user/every/all-time-aircraft-used-list-hungarian-air-force.htm (translated)

5. Hikoki books - Hungarian Eagles - The Hungarian Air Forces 1920-1945

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17PF, part two, European Users

The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17PF is a high subsonic fighter produced in the USSR from 1954 until 1956, and until 1960 in Poland. It was a regular MiG-17F equipped with an Izumrud RP-2 radar placed in a radome at the frontal air intake of the aircraft. It was powered by the Klimov VK-1F engine which had a thrust power of 5046 lb and was armed with three cannons; two 23 mm Nudelman-Rikhter NR-23 autocannon and one 37 mm Nudelman N-37 placed in the nose under the engine. It had two pylons with a capacity of up to 500 kg in stores with provisions to carry a combination of rockets or bombs, but most of them carried additional external fuel tanks. It was exported to most of Warsaw Pact countries:

• Hungary: In 1954 a batch of MiG-17PF was delivered to the Hungarian Air Force. They served 1974 when they were replaced by more modern types.
• Romania: Just like Hungary, Romania got a batch of PFs in 1954. They were kept in active for a long period of time as some of them were still active in the late 1980s when communism fell in Romania. 
• USSR: The MiG-17PF served alongside the MiG-17F in the Soviet Air Defence Forces from the mid-1950s until the late 1960s when they were serving alongside more modern types. They were gradually replaced by more modern types.

Sources:

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

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

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

4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungarian_Air_Force

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-15UTI, part two, East German and Hungarian users

The Mikoyan MiG-15UTI was a Soviet trainer variant of the regular MiG-15. It had a modified cockpit to fit both instructor and student.
It was mass-manufactured and was the backbone of many air forces around the world, specially those in the Soviet sphere of influence and Warsaw Pact countries.
In this post we're going to cover just two countries: East Germany and Hungary.

• East Germany: In 1956 when the Luftstreitkräfte der Nationalen Volksarmee (Air Component of the National People's Army - East German Air Force) was created, they received a batch of MiG-15UTIs which was assigned to the Jagbombergeschwader JBG-31 among other fighter units. They served as their main jet trainer, together with other types like the Czechoslovak Aero L-29, from 1956 until the dissolution of the NVA (Nationale Volksarmee - National People's Army) in 1990. It was inherited by the West German Luftwaffe in that same year and, as it was already an obsolete type, most of them were scrapped or sold. One exemplar was repainted and sent to the Luftwaffe's Museum in Berlin where it's shown nowadays.
• Hungary: The Air Force of the Hungarian People's Army was completely modified in the 1950s to make it transition into the jet age as they were equipped with outdated propeller-fighters and bombers. As, in order to make the pilots meet the new jet fighters, they needed a trainer, the MiG-15UTI was supplied by the USSR. It served as the main trainer type until the fall of Eastern-bloc in the early 1990s, together with the Aero L-29 and, later the Aero L-39.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-15

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

3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungarian_Air_Force#Post–World_War_II_to_Present

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15bis, various European users

The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15bis, which basically was an improved variant of the MiG-15, was introduced in 1950 and soon equipped the fighter force of many eastern bloc/Warsaw pact countries. Among those countries, there are the following:

• Bulgaria: After the end of the Korean war, where the MiG-15bis showed its capabilities, in 1955 the old propeller-driven Soviet-build fighters were replaced by MiG-15 and MiG-15bis entering the Bulgarian Air Force in the jet age, even if they had been already operating a very small number of Yakovlev Yak-17 fighters. They were gradually replaced by the MiG-17 during the next years.
• German Democratic Republic: When the Air Forces of the National People's Army was formed in 1956, they were initially equipped with the MiG-15bis which were replaced soon after with the introduction of the MiG-17F/PF and the MiG-15bis was soon relegated to advanced trainer duties.
• Hungarian People's Republic: Like other neighbouring countries of the eastern bloc or Warsaw Pact, until mid-1950s their Air Forces were equipped with World War II Soviet propeller aircrafts even if they received a small amount of Yakovlev Yak-23 as interim fighters. As that material had to be modernized, they received both MiG-15 and MiG-15bis which replaced every previous fighter type and were replaced by the more advanced MiG-17
• Socialist Republic of Romania: The Air Force of the Socialist Republic of Romania received their first jet aircrafts in 1951. They were an amount of Yakovlev Yak-17UTI trainers which were used to train pilots into the usage of jet aircraft. Soon after, in 1954, the Romanian Air Force received both the MiG-15 and MiG-15bis which replaced the old propeller-driven outdated fighters, which, in Romania, some of them were still Messerschmitt Bf.109G-6.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-15

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

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

4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungarian_Air_Force

5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanian_Air_Force

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15, Various European users

The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 was used by every European member of the Warsaw Pact. As both Poland and Czechoslovakia manufactured them separatedly, we will cover them in other post.

• Albania: Back when the Albanian Air Force was created in April 1951, they received some outdated Yakovlev Yak-9 and, on 15th May 1955, they received second-hand MiG-15 that had been used in the Korean War. They were replaced by the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17.
• Bulgaria: When the Bulgarian People's Army Air Force was re-established just after the World War two, they were equipped with propeller driven Soviet aircrafts like the Ilyushin Il-2, Ilysuhin Il-10 or the Tupolev Tu-2. In 1954 they were withdrawn as, since 1951 they had been receiving jet aircrafts like the MiG-15 which remained in service until they were replaced by the MiG-17.
• East-Germany: In the beginning of 1953, one MiG-15 was delivered to the East-German KVP-Luft (Kasernierten Volkspolizei - Air Garrisoned Police) which was the predecessor of the East Germany Air Force. They flew under Soviet colours, but, shortly after, on 17th June, they were taken back by Soviet authorities.
• Hungary: Just like every surrounding countries, the MiG-15 was the first jet fighter to operate with the newly created Hungarian People's Air Force during the early 1950s. They were replaced by the MiG-17 during late 1950s. As we couldn't find graphical evidence of the regular MiG-15 in Hungarian colours, the drawing should be considered as speculative.
• Romania: The Air Force of the People's Republic of Romania received MiG-15 in 1952 which served alongside the MiG-15bis and the MiG-17 until 1958, when they were replaced. The drawing should be considered as speculative as graphical evidence of the regular MiG-15 under Romanian colours seems to be nearly impossible.
• USSR: The MiG-15 was the backbone of the Soviet Air Force. It was in service since its introduction in 1949 and served alongside the improved MiG-15bis with the main Soviet Air Force units. It was produced from 1949 until 1953 in various Soviet factories and a total number of 1344 exemplars were manufactured in Soviet soil only at factories in Saratov, Moscow, Novosibirsk, Komsomoslk-on-Amur and Kuybyshev. Most of them were gradually replaced by the MiG-17 when it was introduced in 1952.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-15

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

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

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

5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungarian_Air_Force

6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanian_Air_Force

7. https://forum.valka.cz/topic/view/53179

8. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters