ACE NGUYEN DANG KINH
MAJOR GENERAL, MIG-21 PILOT – VIETNAM PEOPLE’S ARMED FORCES HERO
Major General Nguyen Dang Kinh was born in 1941 in Xuan Truong District, Nam Dinh Province. In October 1961, he was selected to study fighter jet piloting in the Soviet Union. This is the first class of fighter pilots from Vietnam studying in the Soviet Union (previous classes studied in China), consisting of 40 people led by Nguyen Hong Nhi as the head of the delegation. He is also one of the pilots with the most flight hours in the war and has been wounded three times in combat. In October 1968, as the commander of a fighter squadron in the Red Star Air Force Regiment, he achieved the feat of shooting down the 100th American aircraft and was one of the 16 Vietnamese pilots to attain Ace status during the Vietnam War. He once held the position of Director of the Central Military Procuracy, and Deputy Director of the Supreme People’s Procuracy of Vietnam.
Pilots Nguyen Dang Kinh and Nguyen Hong Nhi after the battle on December 17, 1967. In this battle, a formation of three MiG-21s engaged the enemy. Vu Ngoc Dinh, covered by his wingman Nguyen Dang Kinh, shot down two F-105s over Thai Nguyen. Meanwhile, pilot Nguyen Hong Nhi downed another F-105 over Thanh Son (Hoa Binh). All three pilots were recognized as Aces of the Vietnam People’s Air Force
. . .
