Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19, Polish users

The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19 was the first supersonic fighter in the world capable of achieving supersonic speeds in level flights. It was employed by many users of the Warsaw Pact and other non-aligned countries.
One of those Warsaw Pact users was the Polish Air Force, which operated three different versions of the MiG-19, the S, P and PM.
It was the first fighter capable of truly supersonic performance throughout the altitude envelope. It was the aircraft that Porucznik (Lieutenant) Roman Operacz was piloting when he broke the sound barrier on 22nd July 1959, becoming that way the first Polish pilot to achieve it.
The first MiG-19P entered service with the 28. Pulk Lotnictwa Mysliwskiego (PLM - 28th Fighter Regiment) 'Koszalin' at Redzikowo Air Base, close to Slupsk, in the Gdansk Voivodeship, during summer 1958. Later the type also equipped the 39. PLM at Mierzecice, in Katowice Voivodeship.
The numbers aren't clear as some reports say that it was 12 or 13 MiG-19 which were delivered, while others claim it were twice as many, 24.
The type was shown to the public on 22nd July 1959 when a MiG-19 piloted by Lt. Roman Operacz took part in the great military parade held in Warsaw due to the 15th anniversary of the People's Republic of Poland. The aircraft pulled into an spectacular climb in front of the spectators' tribunes making to an altitude of several milles. Exactly one year later, Polish Air Forces' MiG-19s took also part in another parade commemorating the 550th anniversary of the Battle of Grunwald.
Despite the record breaking, the MiG-19's career in Poland was rather brief as it was considered an interim type until more capable and modern fighters (IE, the MiG-21) became available. Therefore most aircraft were sold to Bulgaria in 1966-1967.

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-6/Lim-6bis/Lim-6M

Continuing from the previous post, about the Lim-5, the Lim-5M was regarded as an interim solution only, and work on a more advanced plane continued testing many different ideas.
In 1961, forty Lim-6 were built with some new features like new blown flaps, but tests showed problems with the modified Lis-6 engine and, therefore the aircraft were not given to the Polish Air Force. Because of that, it was decided to redesign the thick wing sections with fuel tanks, blown flaps, double wheels, RATO system (Rocket Assisted Take Off) and return to the only slightly modified Lim-5 construction, with increased weapon-carrying capability instead.
In 1963 WSK-Mielec started production of the final variant of the attack plane, this time called Lim-6bis. It had standard wings and single wings, like the Lim-5. One important feature was the addition of two underwing weapon pylons close to the fuselage and the fitment of a braking parachute container below the rudder. The Lim-6bis were delivered to the Polish Air Force in 1963 but it wasn't until 14th September 1964 when they were officially adopted.
By 1964 seventy Lim-6bis were built and a number of Lim-5M and Lim-6 were upgraded to Lim-6bis standards, approximately eighty of them. Some few of them were also converted into the Lim-6R reconnaissance variant with an AFA-39 camera under the fuselage.
By 1971, as the Lim-5P fighters were becoming obsolete, they were also rebuilt into Lim-6bis standards, under the designation of Lim-6M. They had their radars removed, however the radar covers in the central air intake remained. They were fitted with additional underwing pylons but not a braking parachute and some of them were also converted into reconnaissance machines with the designation of Lim-6MR.
The Lim-6bis was armed with two NR-23 23 mm cannons and one N-37D 37 mm cannon, just like the MiG-17F, while the Lim-6M was armed with three NR-23 cannons, like the MiG-17PF. It had four underwing pylons and typically, it was armed with two Polish-made Mars-2 launchers for 16 unguided 57 mm S-5 rockets each, or 100 kg bombs. It could also carry 250 kg bombs or launchers on standard outer underwings pods, but usually they were used for 400 L fuel tanks. They were powered by the Lis-5 engine which yielded a thrust power of 5732 lb.
Lim-6bis, Lim-6R, Lim-6M and Lim-6MR were used by the Polish Air Force as their most numerous attack aircraft until the 1980s with the last one being retired in 1992.
They were exported to Algeria, Angola and Bulgaria.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PZL-Mielec_Lim-6
2. https://www.valka.cz/WSK-Mielec-Lim-6bis-t80685
3. https://www.valka.cz/WSK-Mielec-Lim-6M-t80672
4. https://www.valka.cz/WSK-Mielec-Lim-6-t80683
5. https://www.valka.cz/WSK-Mielec-Lim-6MR-t80674
6. https://www.valka.cz/WSK-Mielec-Lim-6R-t80686
7. Signal Squadron - Aircraft In action  125 - MiG-17 Fresco in Action

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

WSK-Mielec Lim-5

In 1955, Poland bought a license for manufacturing the Soviet MiG-17F, which was the backbone of the Warsaw Pact's fighter force. The licensed aircraft was given the denomination of "Licencyjny mysliwiec" which translates to "Licensed fighter". The first Lim-5 rolled out of the factories on 28th November 1956, replacing this way the production of the WSK-Mielec Lim-2 (a licensed production of the MiG-15bis).
The Lim-5 was virtually identical to the regular MiG-17F. It was powered by a Polish copy of the Klimov VK-1F engine with 5046 lbf of maximum thrust and 7423 lbf with afterburner. It was armed with one 37 mm N-37 cannon and two 23 mm NR-23 cannons placed under the nose. It also had provisions for underwing bombs.
Production ranged from 1956 until 1960 and, when production ceased, with 448 Lim-5 manufactured, it had become Poland's basic fighter. In fact it was the backbone of Polish Air Force's fighter force during the 1950s and the 1960s until it was replaced by more modern types such as the MiG-21 in the 1970s.
The type was exported also to various countries:

• East Germany: One-hundred and twenty Lim-5 were sold to the East German Air Force during the late 1950s. Apparently some of them had the mast at the opposite side. Just like the MiG-17F some of them were either converted to light bombers or sold to African countries. Anyway, they were replaced during the 1970s by more modern types and put into storage. When Germany was reunified, as the type was considered old and outdated for the modern Luftwaffe, they were sold to Guinea-Bissau.
• Egypt: Many of the Egyptian MiG-17F that fought in the Six-days war were Polish-built Lim-5. It's known that the Polish government sold an undefined number of Lim-5 fighters to the Egyptian Air Force. As we couldn't find a pic of a genuine Lim-5 under Egyptian command, the colours and the registration should be considered as speculative.
• Guinea-Bissau: The Guinea-Bissau Air Force bought some second-hand Lim-5 from Germany after the German reunification, as they were outdated for the modern Luftwaffe's standards. Nowadays they are put into storage. 
• Indonesia: The Indonesian Air Force had 20 Lim-5 in active service during the 1960s. Not much more is known, but most probably they were written off during the 1970s.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PZL-Mielec_Lim-6

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

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

4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guinea-Bissau_Air_Force

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

6. https://www.valka.cz/WSK-Mielec-Lim-5-t196637

7. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15UTI, part ten, Polish versions.

The MiG-15UTI was locally built in many eastern-bloc countries such as Czechoslovakia or Poland. The Polish versions were one of the most used ones as they were used from the early 1950s until nowadays where they are still used in aerial shows.
The WSK-Mielec SBLim-1 was a Polish version of the MiG-15UTI made from converted old Lim-1 (or even Czechoslovak Aero S-102 -The Czechoslovak produced MiG-15bis) fighters. They were manufactured by Lotnicze Zaklady Remontowe Nr.2 at the Polish town of Bydgoszcz, close to Warsaw. The first converted exemplar was completed in 1957 and production lasted until 1966 with approximately 280 units converted. It was powered by the Lis-1 engine (a licensed version of the Klimov RD-45F engine) which delivered 5005lb (22,26kN) of thrust and was armed with a single 23mm (0.9in) NS-23 cannon or a single 12,7mm (0,5in) A-12.7 machine gun.
It served alongside the SBLim-2 until it was gradually replaced by either the SBLim-2 itself or the PZL TS-11 Iskra as the main Polish trainer aircraft.
The SBLim-2 was the next step as it was a MiG-15UTI made either from scratch or converted from obsolete Lim-2 fighters. It was also manufactured by Lotnicze Zaklady Remontowe Nr.2 at the town of Bydgoszcz. Production started in 1966 and continued well until the 1970s with around 200 of them converted and some of them even adapted for artillery spotting duties. It was powered by the Lis-2 engine which was a licensed version of the Klimov VK-1A and could deliver a power of 5952lb of thrust (26,48kN). It differed from the regular MiG-15UTI, apart from the better engine, in being better armed as it was armed both with the NS-23 cannon and the A-12.7 machine gun. They were used by the Polish Air Force until the fall of communism both in the trainer and artillery spotter role.
One SBLim-2 was bought in 1997 by a private owner in Argentina and flew again three years later in the year 2000. Nowadays is shown (repainted) at the Museo Nacional de Aeronáutica (National Museum of Aeronautics).

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-15
2. https://forum.valka.cz/topic/view/196324
3. https://forum.valka.cz/topic/view/53631
4. http://www.muzeumlotnictwa.pl/zbiory_sz.php?ido=131&w=a
5. http://www.muzeumlotnictwa.pl/zbiory_sz.php?ido=53&w=a
6. http://www.castelar-digital.com.ar/nota.asp?id=464 (translated)