Nguyễn Hồng Nhị
Vietnamese pilot
Nguyễn Hồng Nhị (1936 – 26 November 2021) was a Vietnamese MiG-21 fighter ace in the Vietnam People's Air Force'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 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. 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.
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.
“Nguyễn Hồng Nhị” enters the record as vietnamese pilot. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Nguyễn, Hồng and Vietnamese can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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