Nguyễn Hồng Nhị (1936 – 26 November 2021) was a
Vietnamese MiG-21 fighter ace in the
Vietnam People's Air Force
The Vietnam People's Air Force (VPAF; ), officially the Air Defence - Air Force Service (ADAF Service; ) or the Vietnam Air Force (), is the Aerial warfare, aerial, Anti-aircraft warfare, air and Space warfare, space defence service branch of ...
's 921st Fighter Regiment.
Nguyễn was amongst the first group of VPAF pilots selected from the 910th Air Training Regiment to train in the
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
to fly in the new MiG-21 fighter jet. He was the very first VPAF MiG-21 pilot to shoot down an enemy aircraft on 4 March 1966. Eight kills have been attributed to him with three confirmed by the
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...
. However, it was common practice for the American side to claim that their aircraft were downed by surface-to-air missiles or anti-aircraft guns, which is considered "less embarrassing" than losing in a dogfight/air-to-air combat to the enemy pilot.
[Gordon, Yefim "MiG-21" ]
On 1 August 1968, he and two other MiG-21 pilots,
Nguyen Dang Kinh and Phan Van Mao, flew out in a newly-devised trio formation from
Tho Xuan, and encountered
USN F-4 Phantoms and
F-8 Crusaders. While successfully shooting down an F-8 with his second
R-3S AAM after the first one missed, he engaged in a dogfight with the other F-8. He succeeded in targeting the F-8 in his sights, but his weapons system failed to properly engage due to what he believed were electrical problems. Two more F-8s then arrived, firing two
Sidewinders that succeeded in shooting down Nguyen, who then safely
ejected from his stricken MiG-21; his downing was credited to F-8H pilot Lt. McCoy of
VF-51,
USS ''Bon Homme Richard''.
The following aerial victories include kills known to be credited to him by the VPAF:
[Toperczer, 2015, pp. 29.]
* 4 March 1966, a
USAF
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...
Ryan 147 (AQM-34) Firebee/Lightning Bug drone (first-ever confirmed kill by a VPAF MiG-21 pilot);
* 14 March 1966, another AQM-34 Firebee/Lightning Bug;
* 31 August 1967, a USAF RF-4C (US-side does not confirm);
* 10 September 1967, a USAF
RF-101C (US-side does not confirm);
* 26 September 1967, a USAF F-4D (US-side does not confirm);
* 9 October 1967, a USAF
F-105D (pilot Clements,
POW);
* 7 November 1967, a USAF F-105D (pilot Diehl,
KIA);
* 17 December 1967, a USAF F-105 (US-side does not confirm);
* 1 August 1968, a USN F-8 (US-side does not confirm).
See also
*
List of Vietnam War flying aces
*
Weapons of the Vietnam War
The Vietnam War involved the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) or North Vietnamese Army (NVA), National Liberation Front for South Vietnam (NLF) or Viet Cong (VC), and the armed forces of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), Soviet Armed Forces, Kor ...
References
Bibliography
*
External links
Ace Pilots of the Vietnam War*
ttp://english.thesaigontimes.vn/Home/features/friday/1082/ "National image gets blurred"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nguyen, Hong Nhi
1936 births
2021 deaths
North Vietnamese military personnel of the Vietnam War
North Vietnamese Vietnam War flying aces
Shot-down aviators
People from Bình Định province