Dassault Mirage 50

בשרת

The Mirage 50 first flew in 1979 and is essentially a Mirage 5 fitted with the more powerful Atar 9K-50 engine from the Mirage F1. That single change improved climb, takeoff and turn performance across the board without altering the classic Dassault shape: a tailless pure delta with no horizontal stabiliser, where the trailing edge elevons do all the work in pitch and roll. Chile and Venezuela were the main customers, and Chilean aircraft later received canards. On MCS the Mirage 50 accelerates hard and holds a very high top speed at altitude, but the delta wing means every hard turn costs speed you will not get back quickly. It needs long runways and it arrives fast. Flown as an energy fighter it is dangerous, flown as a turn fighter it ends up slow and low. Recommended for pilots who understand energy management and dislike slow fights.