I'd get 10 times the views if I just posted low-effort kill montages with reaction memes lol. But I have more fun with more serious minded reviews, so here we are :-)
Something to keep in mind is that the PL-5Bs have a very short burn time, so opponents wont see the red missile Icon when they look behind them, they are also more flare resistant compared to the PL-7s. The PL-7 is basically the Magic1 so 1 Flare pop and they are gone.I personally prefere the PL-5Bs. Best distance to use them is around 3km, if u use the jet as a second line fighter to clean up opponents u will have a great time.
After watching the past few reviews and seeing the history section move about I really think it is fine going either at the front or at the back. This video proves that you can do it seamlessly either way. I fully encourage and support you doing it whichever way gives you the best results.
One of my favourites, certainly over br'd. Engine power is effectively between the MF and SMT, and although the PL-5B's are stellar and can catch people off guard with how soon they stop burning, it doesn't really make it that much easier to fight the F-16's and MiG-29's The FM doesn't really become an issue until you go too slow, because that's where your comparatively weak engine for the br starts to show
This plane gets carried by its kit, and it's hard to justify this vs talismanning the J7E or F5E. I still do generally okay with it, but the flight performance and RWR compared to other jets become a pain to deal with at the higher 11.7-12.0 matches.
Did brought it on the sale (I think its my 7th Mig-21), but till it gets a "fix" or a BR. change I'm gonna stick to the Shenyang (witch btw got an RWR recently) when I need a premium in air RB .
Gaijin has a TON of issues with Chinese jets that they refuse to address for some reason. Made up loadouts, equipment and weapons for a lot of them are just plain wrong. Is there a reason for this?
I really wish I knew. It bugs me a lot more than it should, and I've gone 20 rounds with various gaijin staff about it and never gotten a satisfactory response. Almost every Chinese jet they've added has problems that are easily identified with widely available information, but nothing anyone ever submits to them seems to meet the standards ("moving the goalposts") but its never known what "sources" they use to create the initial specs/loadouts/etc for the Chinese vehicles, so ....... yeah .......
@@TimsVariety Oh its bad lol. And its not just the aircraft. Im sure you know, but this has been a problem with Chinese vehicles in general. With the vt4 being a dumpsterfire at launch for example. Or ztz99a and wz1001 not getting proper gun elevation speed for like a year.
Ahh I grinded around 85/80 percent of China air in this thing, learned top tier in it, currently at a 63 percent win rate which I think is not too shabby for a 11.0 mig21
Id say i prefered the historical part to be the first in the video (it flowed better i think) but its too insignifcant to really bother me so id say stick with what works the best
The biggest issue I got with this one is that it's just easier to write what Gaijin get right about this jet rather than what they get wrong, even by current WT standard.
Ever since, maybe 3 updates ago, all IR missile can turn into all aspect missiles depending on target and situation. This means that with certain missiles you can launch them on a headon at extremely close range, and the PL5B turns out to really like to do this, pair this capability with its insane acceleration and by some reason insanely good proxy, you can use this missile to do the "funny headon" to a lot of targets, deserves a try.
I've never had it lock frontally without help. But as soon as someone launches a missile, or drops a flare. Then I get a lock and I usually launch. It either goes for their missile and saves me, or it goes for their flares, and usually proxy fuses on them and kills them. Though neither of these are reliable
basically just a mig21bis with 4 PL7s instead of 6 R60Ms, might actually be good if the 11.0 matchmaker wasn't so bad. also I hate that the current J7 is basically made up by gaijin, really doesn't help the "china just copies military tech" stereotype.
You are incorrect. This is not a MiG-21bis equivalent... This jet is a worse MiG-21SMT in terms of flight performance. Essentially you are trading a 0.7 BR increase for PL5Bs instead of R60s. This is not a good plane, and by extention not a good premium.
I find it's seeker honestly lacking, very flare hungry even against AB jets, and often gets decoyed by the enemy launching a missile. That's why I carry a mix of 2 + 2 together 5 the PL7
@@antonmancia2096almost all missiles at this br are flare hungry to be fair. I don't think the flares are the problem. The only problem I have with Pl5b is it's extreme hunger for the sun lol. I know going into a match anyone who sees me launch will easily evade the missile. Though I will say I've had a guy drop about 6 flares and the missile ignored them all and killed. It's up to random chance. You also get lucky and they go for flares, and then reacquire the target after and get a kill, or they fly through the flare and proxy kills them. Yes they go for flares but 90% of missiles do and learning when to launch makes a huge difference. My kdr is about 1.4 or so, avg about 2 kills a game. It's a great jet
Naah man i have both and the A-5 is one of my most hated Jets. It compresses so fucking hard. The J-7D is a really strong Plane if you know how to fly it
I dont understand why people say the pl5b is better than the pl7 when the pl7 has a max speed of match 3 vs the 2,2 or something on the pl5b what this tells me is If the missiles does not have to maouver too much, the pl7 will nail the target not only faster but with more force, thus it has more effective range unless it self destructs or some crazy bs.
I always felt this was halfway between a MiG21MF and the Bis. I wish they'd lower the BR to 10.7 to show that but someone would probably say the lack of needing a flare pod or gunpod is cause for that. It's a cool machine, just not 11.0 material.
pretty much. Its essentially the mig21smt engine but the weight of a mig21mf. So it pulls harder than any of the mig21's, but doesnt have the raw engine power of the bis.
Sadly, it's kinda just a worse plane than the J-7E in the tech tree, at the same BR. There's no reason to suffer with it unless you REALLY prefer the PL-7, which is arguably worse than the PL-5B in many scenarios.
The J-7 III/C and variants aren't just "all weather upgrade" of J-7IIs, they were newly-built airframes with like 90% components being proprietary to it. Why? Because while J-7IIs are divergent variants of early soviet MiG-21F-13, the J-7IIIs are reverse-engineered MiG-21MF. It's like saying the F-18E/F is just an upgraded YF-17. AVIC teams visited Romanian in 1978, inspected their MiG-21MF, took measurements and bought some individual components for evaluation. They later imported 2 MiG-21MF airframes from Egypt and did what the soviets did to the Tu-4. That's why its the only J-7 not using Type30 / NR-30, and where PLAAF jets afterwards got their hands on the Type23 / Gsh-23. The "some changes to the engine" is a whole new ass reverse-engineered WP-13 / R-13-300 instead of the original WP-7 / R-11. J-7III wasn't "modified to house the radar" but the other way around: they picked the 21MF to reverse-engineer in the first place for its bigger nose space. As for the "inaccurate performance" of the radar ingame, I don't see how an accurate one will be fundamentally different. The JL-7 radar is based off Type317 which itself was based off F-105's R-14A. The JL-7 is so infamous for its unreliability that Pakistan would rather only instal radar gunsights on their F-7Ps than the JL-7. The JL-7A is mainly there to improve the reliability by simplifying old electronics with more modern integrated circuits (also giving it radar slaving capabilities, which we do get ingame). If anything, the most inaccurate thing is J-7D should get PL-8
Far too much there to unpack and reply to, beyond saying that I often have to simplify or summarize a lot of stuff I talk about in the reviews just to keep them under 15 minutes. Also, the print sources I referenced disagree with some of the minutia you mentioned.
While I fly and enjoy the game a lot, I continue to have some really serious gripes about the low level play. I am aware that certain models of Mig21 that got breathed on could go 1300Kmh, but that would only be for a clean plane. In most cases its 1000, and certainly IIRC the early none breathed on models really had a flight limit sea level to 12000 ft of 595mph. Part of this issue is my own as I play at arcade level. But - none the less, too many planes modelled in game have too much acceleration, too little drag, and too high a speed - and a lack of what would really be a crazy fuel penalty if you want to afterburn everywhere. There are vast differences between a 600Knt Buccaneer at low altitude and other jets. The difference between Mach 0.92 and people pushing through Mach 1 is small, not large, and pushing on 'way' beyond Mach 1 should not be 'easy' - even for the highest tier planes. I would make certain ... excuses for F111, some Tornado models. Historically these had both a design, and an operative speed difference at low altitude. But no one is doing Mach two in the dirt, and the game would get a benefit if the fast jet boys had to climb out to get that large speed difference they get for very little penalty low down. I think slower entry low down has additional benefits too. It would ease back some of the silly furball fights, and bring back a bit of strat into play. The Mig23 may well have been fast enough to catch any western plane, bar maybe the F111. But the context here - and to show the silly place we are in, that Mig at low alt had a max at mach 1.14 (Clean F111s IIRC could do Mach 1.2 with spare thrust avail - but temp and other limits biting after that) Another example that people speak about is 'planes being ''subsonic''. So the Harrier suffers being a mach0.8 plane (or less) when loaded with ordanance, but drag is real, and bites hard on fast jets. Anyway - point is - things should be closer than they are. IMHO.
It was half off for me so yea definitely worth 35 bucks Also with the new BR change not going against f16s or f14s is godsent. I always play aggressive when against f4s. Mostly other migs get me
@@TimsVariety I haven't flown this plane but sadly I do own the f4j uk and I struggle with that thing. I feel that the f4j uk got worse with the nerf to bases. Would you do a review on the f4j uk if you haven't already? I would love to hear your take on it.
btw J-7D got most broken rear aspect missiles in the game (pl-5b). With it's a bit lower BR (11.0 instead of 11.3 of most top tier jets) it become on of the most simple and fun top tier premium jets (imho)
Pl5b isn't broken at all. Its just a slightly different design that makes it a bit better in game (but worse in real life) and 11.0 is actually too high. A useless radar, rwr, and the air frame of a 10.0 jet.
The Pl5b has the same total thrust as the sidewinder, but burns in 2 second instead of 5. Which means in game the red diamond goes away after only 2 seconds making the missile hard to notice. But in reality, the I creased drag at high speeds is hard to over come so a short burning missile will lose speed faster than a missile that burns longer. And longer burning means if the missile has to make a sharp turn it will do so and keep it's speed up. If either of those 2 makes a sharp turn after 3 seconds. The Pl5b will lose a ton of speed, but a sidewinder is still burning so it doesn't lose as much/accelerates
It is a MIG-21 with fake Chinese super missiles. you SAY those can be flared off, but I have used them and in your videos you can see people use 2-3 flares and you still get the kill.
“Basic review”
*does the most in depth review of the vehicle on RUclips*
That's why we love him 😂
I'd get 10 times the views if I just posted low-effort kill montages with reaction memes lol.
But I have more fun with more serious minded reviews, so here we are :-)
@@TimsVariety That’s why we love you man, keep it up 💙
Something to keep in mind is that the PL-5Bs have a very short burn time, so opponents wont see the red missile Icon when they look behind them, they are also more flare resistant compared to the PL-7s. The PL-7 is basically the Magic1 so 1 Flare pop and they are gone.I personally prefere the PL-5Bs. Best distance to use them is around 3km, if u use the jet as a second line fighter to clean up opponents u will have a great time.
Magics are more flare resistant in code. Both are easy to flare.
Pretty sure most missiles go smokeless after a while, cos the booster burns out
They don't go smokeless just the engine dies
@@Denkmaldrubernacht Yes but they have a very short burn time compared to other missiles.I worded it badly
@@spray916Shut up spray the PL5 is still better.
After watching the past few reviews and seeing the history section move about I really think it is fine going either at the front or at the back. This video proves that you can do it seamlessly either way. I fully encourage and support you doing it whichever way gives you the best results.
I've got another coming with this layout, going to wait at least a month to come back and check the stats to see if it has any impact. TBD.
This plane either needs to go down in BR or receive historical missile loadouts, aka get PL8s
This
The fact that this is 11.0 while f-5e is 10.7 tells you something is wrong with J-7D br
Now on 10.7 i really enjoy a little bit more.
Very good grinder for events
Lol at the arrows halfway through the vid
In the moment, I had no idea where those guys went ... it was only in watching the recorded footage that I realized what happened :-)
That whole match seemed to just be silly. Just seconds before, there was a magic 1 teamkill
One of my favourites, certainly over br'd.
Engine power is effectively between the MF and SMT, and although the PL-5B's are stellar and can catch people off guard with how soon they stop burning, it doesn't really make it that much easier to fight the F-16's and MiG-29's
The FM doesn't really become an issue until you go too slow, because that's where your comparatively weak engine for the br starts to show
PL-5Bs are my favorite non-allaspect missiles. Fast and long range
I hope we get at least one more J-7 with more advanced systems and missiles
There were so many versions, I doubt we've seen the last of it.
@@TimsVariety Yeah I especially love the double delta versions, they bring a cool new spin to the MiG-21 airframe
This plane gets carried by its kit, and it's hard to justify this vs talismanning the J7E or F5E. I still do generally okay with it, but the flight performance and RWR compared to other jets become a pain to deal with at the higher 11.7-12.0 matches.
Did brought it on the sale (I think its my 7th Mig-21), but till it gets a "fix" or a BR. change I'm gonna stick to the Shenyang (witch btw got an RWR recently) when I need a premium in air RB .
This thing should be 10.7 or give it the pl5c or pl8
Gaijin has a TON of issues with Chinese jets that they refuse to address for some reason. Made up loadouts, equipment and weapons for a lot of them are just plain wrong. Is there a reason for this?
I really wish I knew. It bugs me a lot more than it should, and I've gone 20 rounds with various gaijin staff about it and never gotten a satisfactory response.
Almost every Chinese jet they've added has problems that are easily identified with widely available information, but nothing anyone ever submits to them seems to meet the standards ("moving the goalposts") but its never known what "sources" they use to create the initial specs/loadouts/etc for the Chinese vehicles, so ....... yeah .......
@@TimsVariety Oh its bad lol. And its not just the aircraft. Im sure you know, but this has been a problem with Chinese vehicles in general. With the vt4 being a dumpsterfire at launch for example. Or ztz99a and wz1001 not getting proper gun elevation speed for like a year.
The full-Russian cockpit really annoys me too, I am not sure what Gaijin is up with these days.
Ahh I grinded around 85/80 percent of China air in this thing, learned top tier in it, currently at a 63 percent win rate which I think is not too shabby for a 11.0 mig21
Id say i prefered the historical part to be the first in the video (it flowed better i think) but its too insignifcant to really bother me so id say stick with what works the best
The biggest issue I got with this one is that it's just easier to write what Gaijin get right about this jet rather than what they get wrong, even by current WT standard.
Ever since, maybe 3 updates ago, all IR missile can turn into all aspect missiles depending on target and situation. This means that with certain missiles you can launch them on a headon at extremely close range, and the PL5B turns out to really like to do this, pair this capability with its insane acceleration and by some reason insanely good proxy, you can use this missile to do the "funny headon" to a lot of targets, deserves a try.
I've never had it lock frontally without help. But as soon as someone launches a missile, or drops a flare. Then I get a lock and I usually launch. It either goes for their missile and saves me, or it goes for their flares, and usually proxy fuses on them and kills them. Though neither of these are reliable
this has been in the game for more than 5 years now not 3 updates old
@@ferrous3262 TheMoreYouKnow
This is gonna be a good one!
basically just a mig21bis with 4 PL7s instead of 6 R60Ms, might actually be good if the 11.0 matchmaker wasn't so bad. also I hate that the current J7 is basically made up by gaijin, really doesn't help the "china just copies military tech" stereotype.
also I think "worst rank 7 premium" doesn't exactly suit it with the existence of the EJ and the F104 TAF, it definitely isn't great tho
Except it's not a MiG-21bis, not even close. The performance is somewhere between the MF and the SMT.
You are incorrect. This is not a MiG-21bis equivalent... This jet is a worse MiG-21SMT in terms of flight performance. Essentially you are trading a 0.7 BR increase for PL5Bs instead of R60s.
This is not a good plane, and by extention not a good premium.
Can you do a review on the F4U-7 in the French tree it has so many secondary weapons.
I'll get to it eventually.
5:22
Been grinding this plane a lot to research China Air. Its not great but I love the Mig21 platform so it works for me
I got it on a sale with the ztu tank. max kills in a arb battle was 6. pl-5b slaps with radar slaving
I find it's seeker honestly lacking, very flare hungry even against AB jets, and often gets decoyed by the enemy launching a missile. That's why I carry a mix of 2 + 2 together 5 the PL7
@@antonmancia2096almost all missiles at this br are flare hungry to be fair. I don't think the flares are the problem. The only problem I have with Pl5b is it's extreme hunger for the sun lol. I know going into a match anyone who sees me launch will easily evade the missile. Though I will say I've had a guy drop about 6 flares and the missile ignored them all and killed. It's up to random chance. You also get lucky and they go for flares, and then reacquire the target after and get a kill, or they fly through the flare and proxy kills them.
Yes they go for flares but 90% of missiles do and learning when to launch makes a huge difference. My kdr is about 1.4 or so, avg about 2 kills a game. It's a great jet
Getting the superb A-5C Fantan is probably a better choice.
Naah man i have both and the A-5 is one of my most hated Jets. It compresses so fucking hard. The J-7D is a really strong Plane if you know how to fly it
@@GOLDEN_TOMCATSkill issue, the A-5C is a really strong plane if you know how to fly it.
@@FirstDaggerI know how it could be flown to be more effective but that doesn´t suit my Playstyle at all. So => Hate :D have a nice day mate
@@GOLDEN_TOMCAT 11.0 missiles do not make a 10.3 plane 11.0.
@@awesomedinosthefirst3494Thats true but I have a 127/71 K/D with it so im fine with it ;)
I dont understand why people say the pl5b is better than the pl7 when the pl7 has a max speed of match 3 vs the 2,2 or something on the pl5b what this tells me is If the missiles does not have to maouver too much, the pl7 will nail the target not only faster but with more force, thus it has more effective range unless it self destructs or some crazy bs.
This is the best thing I ever saw.
Me : see the title, then try to find upload dated😂
I always felt this was halfway between a MiG21MF and the Bis. I wish they'd lower the BR to 10.7 to show that but someone would probably say the lack of needing a flare pod or gunpod is cause for that. It's a cool machine, just not 11.0 material.
pretty much. Its essentially the mig21smt engine but the weight of a mig21mf. So it pulls harder than any of the mig21's, but doesnt have the raw engine power of the bis.
Sadly, it's kinda just a worse plane than the J-7E in the tech tree, at the same BR. There's no reason to suffer with it unless you REALLY prefer the PL-7, which is arguably worse than the PL-5B in many scenarios.
Would you say the j7d is now better after the br changes?
Hard to say, I haven't flown it since the patch.
The J-7 III/C and variants aren't just "all weather upgrade" of J-7IIs, they were newly-built airframes with like 90% components being proprietary to it.
Why? Because while J-7IIs are divergent variants of early soviet MiG-21F-13, the J-7IIIs are reverse-engineered MiG-21MF.
It's like saying the F-18E/F is just an upgraded YF-17.
AVIC teams visited Romanian in 1978, inspected their MiG-21MF, took measurements and bought some individual components for evaluation. They later imported 2 MiG-21MF airframes from Egypt and did what the soviets did to the Tu-4.
That's why its the only J-7 not using Type30 / NR-30, and where PLAAF jets afterwards got their hands on the Type23 / Gsh-23.
The "some changes to the engine" is a whole new ass reverse-engineered WP-13 / R-13-300 instead of the original WP-7 / R-11.
J-7III wasn't "modified to house the radar" but the other way around: they picked the 21MF to reverse-engineer in the first place for its bigger nose space.
As for the "inaccurate performance" of the radar ingame, I don't see how an accurate one will be fundamentally different.
The JL-7 radar is based off Type317 which itself was based off F-105's R-14A. The JL-7 is so infamous for its unreliability that Pakistan would rather only instal radar gunsights on their F-7Ps than the JL-7.
The JL-7A is mainly there to improve the reliability by simplifying old electronics with more modern integrated circuits (also giving it radar slaving capabilities, which we do get ingame).
If anything, the most inaccurate thing is J-7D should get PL-8
Far too much there to unpack and reply to, beyond saying that I often have to simplify or summarize a lot of stuff I talk about in the reviews just to keep them under 15 minutes. Also, the print sources I referenced disagree with some of the minutia you mentioned.
While I fly and enjoy the game a lot, I continue to have some really serious gripes about the low level play. I am aware that certain models of Mig21 that got breathed on could go 1300Kmh, but that would only be for a clean plane. In most cases its 1000, and certainly IIRC the early none breathed on models really had a flight limit sea level to 12000 ft of 595mph.
Part of this issue is my own as I play at arcade level. But - none the less, too many planes modelled in game have too much acceleration, too little drag, and too high a speed - and a lack of what would really be a crazy fuel penalty if you want to afterburn everywhere. There are vast differences between a 600Knt Buccaneer at low altitude and other jets. The difference between Mach 0.92 and people pushing through Mach 1 is small, not large, and pushing on 'way' beyond Mach 1 should not be 'easy' - even for the highest tier planes.
I would make certain ... excuses for F111, some Tornado models. Historically these had both a design, and an operative speed difference at low altitude. But no one is doing Mach two in the dirt, and the game would get a benefit if the fast jet boys had to climb out to get that large speed difference they get for very little penalty low down.
I think slower entry low down has additional benefits too. It would ease back some of the silly furball fights, and bring back a bit of strat into play. The Mig23 may well have been fast enough to catch any western plane, bar maybe the F111. But the context here - and to show the silly place we are in, that Mig at low alt had a max at mach 1.14 (Clean F111s IIRC could do Mach 1.2 with spare thrust avail - but temp and other limits biting after that)
Another example that people speak about is 'planes being ''subsonic''. So the Harrier suffers being a mach0.8 plane (or less) when loaded with ordanance, but drag is real, and bites hard on fast jets.
Anyway - point is - things should be closer than they are. IMHO.
How does the RWR perform in sim? Can it pick up PD signals?
It was half off for me so yea definitely worth 35 bucks
Also with the new BR change not going against f16s or f14s is godsent. I always play aggressive when against f4s. Mostly other migs get me
idk why but i really enjoy the j-7d even tho i only have a 2k/dr
Anything above 1 to 1 is "good".
Lack of iff really puts me off as a sim player.
I hate the small maps at top tier. But then I don’t like huge fur balls.
Short review: Get the A-5C
I concur, love my Fantan.
You'd think the higher alphabet means better ver, but infact its weaker/side grade.
But is it worse than the f4j uk?
I would say yes, entirely due to the weapon loads, but its subjective.
@@TimsVariety I haven't flown this plane but sadly I do own the f4j uk and I struggle with that thing. I feel that the f4j uk got worse with the nerf to bases. Would you do a review on the f4j uk if you haven't already? I would love to hear your take on it.
@@siett1335I'll get to it eventually.
this thing, seems to beat every US figher in the game at rank 7 in a 1 V 1 fight.
F-8e and F5e would destroy this thing
this is a mig 21 with super missles that arnt all aspect lol
Nothing is worth 70 bucks in this godless game. Especially not a powercrept copy paste jet. Thanks for another great review^^
Pl5b = free kill
btw J-7D got most broken rear aspect missiles in the game (pl-5b). With it's a bit lower BR (11.0 instead of 11.3 of most top tier jets) it become on of the most simple and fun top tier premium jets (imho)
Pl5b isn't broken at all. Its just a slightly different design that makes it a bit better in game (but worse in real life) and 11.0 is actually too high. A useless radar, rwr, and the air frame of a 10.0 jet.
The Pl5b has the same total thrust as the sidewinder, but burns in 2 second instead of 5. Which means in game the red diamond goes away after only 2 seconds making the missile hard to notice. But in reality, the I creased drag at high speeds is hard to over come so a short burning missile will lose speed faster than a missile that burns longer. And longer burning means if the missile has to make a sharp turn it will do so and keep it's speed up. If either of those 2 makes a sharp turn after 3 seconds. The Pl5b will lose a ton of speed, but a sidewinder is still burning so it doesn't lose as much/accelerates
It is a MIG-21 with fake Chinese super missiles. you SAY those can be flared off, but I have used them and in your videos you can see people use 2-3 flares and you still get the kill.
Incorrect and/or poorly timed flare usage is still incorrect and/or poorly timed, regardless of the missile fired.
Not sure what your point is here, those missiles are extremely easy to flare. Major skill issue detected.
wdym fake chinese missiles 💀 the pl5b is a real thing and the pl7 is just a chinese copy of the magic 1 which is also real
Who tf picks pl7s over pl5s
Someone who takes slightly closer-range shots at higher angles.
1 min ago damn