Chandigarh, Sept. 26 -- After more than six decades of service to the nation, India's first supersonic fighter jet, the Mikoyan-Gurevich (MiG)-21, is set to take its final bow. On Friday, the legendary jet will receive the final send-off in Chandigarh, marking the end of a remarkable era in the Indian Air Force (IAF) history. For pilots who flew the fighter, the MiG-21 was a machine of elegance and power. Wg Cdr Avinash P Chikte (retd), who logged over 2,200 flying hours on the aircraft, recalls the moment he first saw the jet at a squadron in Tezpur, Assam, in 1982. "It was love at first sight. She stood in all her glory, her steel shining in the sun," he says. "It felt like a missile strapped to a pilot," he says recounting the thrill of flying the jet: "A take-off at 340 km/h felt like a mule kicked you in the back and sent you flying, while landing at the same speed was like another mule kicked you in the chest to make you stop." The cockpit was cramped, lined with analogue dials, and in earlier versions, all markings were in Russian, necessitating a blindfold test for pilots to prove their mastery, he adds. Designed for icy Russian winters, the air conditioning was only a simple hot-and-cold mix, leaving cockpits sizzling in the Indian summer. Yet, despite its challenges, its agility and supersonic speed made it a formidable opponent in dogfights. "It was like the AK-47 of fighter planes," Chikte adds, capable of taking hits, landing for quick repairs and leaping back into combat. Globally, more than 14,000 MiG-21s have been produced, making it the world's most manufactured supersonic fighter. In India, the MiG-21 was inducted in 1963, shortly after the 1962 Indo-China War, and has participated in every war and conflict ever since, becoming an enduring symbol of India's air power. It was first assigned to Squadron No. 28, also known as "First Supersonics", right here at the Chandigarh air force station under Wg Cdr Dilbagh Singh. The squadron initially operated from three makeshift tents before it was shifted to the Adampur air base in Jalandhar. In its 62 years with IAF, the MiG-21 has shot down four generations of enemy fighters - the last confirmed kill being a Pakistani F-16 on February 27, 2019, by Wg Cdr (now Gp Capt) Abhinandan Varthaman near Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). But the MiG-21 also carried a darker reputation, with its age and safety record often being debated. An IAF helicopter pilot, who responded to MiG-21 crashes as a search and rescue officer, recalls grim memories. "I remember pulling out mutilated bodies of young pilots," he says, lamenting that the aircraft was kept in service far beyond its prime. "Flying these vintage MiGs was like flogging a dead horse." Chikte disagrees with blaming the aircraft. "Planes do not make widows, corrupt politicians and bureaucrats do," he says, arguing that the MiG-21, designed as a simple interceptor, was forced to perform a wide range of roles in India, including air combat, ground attack and training. His profound bond with the fighter is evident as he recalls an engine failure after a bird strike over a sea: "When I landed safely, I kissed the nose cone in front of all the airmen." Now, with the last of the MiG-21s set to retire, Wg Cdr Chikte will be present at the decommissioning ceremony on Friday, a witness to the final chapter of the jet he so admires. For those who dismiss it as a "flying coffin," Chikte has the final word: "None of those who say this have ever flown one."...