Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15bis
At the end of World War II, the victorious Allies captured both German scientists and research papers in aerodynamics which had given the Germans a slight edge in technology during the war. Among this was research into swept wings, which promised better handling at high speeds, a feature used successfully in the Messerschmitt Me 262. All the combatant nations had been developing jet fighters at the end of the war, and the Soviet Union was no different: like the Western Allies, it found the swept wing concept to be a perfect solution to add speed without sacrificing stability; unlike the West, the Soviets could not take advantage of it due to a lack of adequate jet engines. Soviet metallurgy was simply not up to the task, and experimental jet fighters were severely underpowered. Engine designer Vladimir Klimov, however, came up with a novel idea: he asked the British in 1946 if they could provide a few examples of their latest engine. To the stunned surprise of Klimov, the Mikoyan-Gurevich design bureau, and Josef Stalin, the British complied, providing Klimov with the plans for the Rolls-Royce Nene turbojet, one of the most successful jet engines in history. Klimov quickly reverse engineered it as the VK-1, and just like that, the Soviets had the perfect engine for their planned jet interceptors.
MiG OKB already had a jet fighter in service, the MiG-9, but it was a poor performer. By modifying a MiG-9 into the I-310 prototype, with VK-1 propulsion and swept wings and tail surfaces, the resultant aircraft was superb: it was very manueverable and fast. It was placed into production as the MiG-15. This in turn was superseded by the more advanced and reliable MiG-15bis, which added airbrakes and a few minor avionics changes. Though pilots hated the cramped cockpit, which forced them to fly without heated or pressurized flight suits—a real concern in frigid Russian winters—they loved its responsiveness and speed. Though the MiG-15 was designed to intercept the B-29 Superfortress, hence its heavy cannon armament, it could quite easily hold its own in a dogfight. It rapidly replaced most propeller-driven fighters in the Soviet inventory, and was quickly supplied to Soviet client states.
The MiG-15 would get its first taste of action during the Chinese Civil War, when Russian-flown MiG-15s flew on behalf of the Communist Chinese against the Nationalists; a P-38L was shot down on 28 April 1950 for the type’s first victory. By far, however, it would be Korea where the MiG-15 would see the most action.
After starting out well, the North Korean armies were, by fall 1950, in full rout from South Korea, pursued by United Nations forces. The World War II-era North Korean People’s Air Force had been annihilated by UN aircraft, and though China intended to intervene on behalf of North Korea, it lacked trained pilots. Stalin agreed to secretly provide both MiG-15s and the pilots to fly them, operating from bases in China across the Yalu River from North Korea. The pilots, under command of Soviet top ace Ivan Kozhedub, were instructed to speak in what little Korean they knew, and never fly over territory where they might be captured. The former was rarely heeded in the heat of combat, while the short range of the MiG-15 limited pilots to flying in and around the Yalu valley in any case. This rapidly became known as “MiG Alley.” By November 1950, Russian-flown MiG-15s were in combat against American and British aircraft, both sides fielding pilots who had already flown combat in World War II. Both sides were to find they were close to evenly matched as well: the Russians claimed the first jet-to-jet victory on 1 November, when a MiG-15 shot down a USAF F-80C; four days later, they suffered their first loss, to a US Navy F9F Panther. Most engagements were to occur between the F-86 Sabre and the MiG-15.
Once more, the two were closely matched. The MiG-15 had a better rate of climb, was superior above 33,000 feet, and had harder hitting cannon armament. The F-86’s six machine guns were often ineffective against the rugged MiG, but it was more manueverable, especially at low level, and if the machine guns did not cause as much damage, they fired at three times the rate of the MiG-15’s cannons, and usually hit what they aimed at, due to a superior radar-ranging gunsight. Both sides had to deal with instability at high speeds: if the MiG pilot got into trouble, he would climb out of danger, whereas the Sabre pilot would dive. The pilots were evenly matched, though the Russians would later admit that the Americans were better trained. Both sides overclaimed during the war, with both Soviet and American pilots claiming 12 to 1 kill ratios: the truth may never be known, though 40 Russians were awarded the title of ace during the war. The MiGs did succeed in one task, driving the B-29s into night attacks, after six were shot down or badly damaged on a single mission in October 1951.
Interestingly enough, the F-86 was as much a surprise to the Soviets as the MiG-15 was to the West, and both sides attempted to procure an example of the other. The United States’ Operation Moolah, offering $100,000 to any Eastern Bloc pilot who defected with a MiG-15, resulted in three MiG-15s arriving in the West, two flown by Polish pilots to Denmark and the third by North Korean pilot No Kum-Sok.
After the end of the Korean War, the MiG-15 remained in service, though it slowly began to be replaced by the MiG-17 and MiG-19. Nonetheless, MiG-15s were involved in eleven separate incidents during the Cold War, shooting down several US and British reconnaissance aircraft and an Israeli airliner. By the mid-1950s, however, the MiG-15 was beginning to show its age, and in combat with Sidewinder-equipped F-86s of Taiwan and Israeli Super Mysteres, it came off second best. Gradually, single-seat MiG-15s were retired from active service, though hundreds of two-seat MiG-15UTI “Midget” trainers remained in service; the MiG-15UTI is still flown by several air forces to this day. About 16,000 MiG-15s were produced in the Soviet Union, Poland, and Czechslovakia, and a good number remain in existence today in museums and numerous flyable examples, including 43 in the United States.
This aircraft is something of a mystery. It is on display at the Commemorative Air Force's Arizona Wing museum at Mesa, but the Arizona Wing's website lists this as MiG-15 4115, a former Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force MiG-15bis acquired in the late 1980s. 4115 is flyable, but is listed as being at Oshkosh. If this isn't 4115, then it is likely 83177/711. The origin of 711 is a little less known, but is possibly another PLAAF MiG-15, of which several were acquired when they hit the open market in the late 1980s.
I had gotten a picture of this aircraft last year in May 2019, but we made a quick stop at the Arizona Wing again in August 2020, mainly to see if their F4F Wildcat was on display. It was in Hawaii that weekend, but the MiG-15 I'd gotten a picture of last year was done with restoration, so I got another shot of it in full markings. It now depicts Wang Hai's aircraft, of the 7th Air Regiment of the People's Liberation Army Air Force; Wang Hai is considered either the top Chinese ace of the Korean War, or the one with the second-highest score--he was credited with nine kills. (Wang Hai did not have a rank: at the time, the PLAAF had not yet reinstated a rank system.) To preserve the fiction that the Chinese were only "volunteers," his MiG retained NKPAF markings.
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15bis
At the end of World War II, the victorious Allies captured both German scientists and research papers in aerodynamics which had given the Germans a slight edge in technology during the war. Among this was research into swept wings, which promised better handling at high speeds, a feature used successfully in the Messerschmitt Me 262. All the combatant nations had been developing jet fighters at the end of the war, and the Soviet Union was no different: like the Western Allies, it found the swept wing concept to be a perfect solution to add speed without sacrificing stability; unlike the West, the Soviets could not take advantage of it due to a lack of adequate jet engines. Soviet metallurgy was simply not up to the task, and experimental jet fighters were severely underpowered. Engine designer Vladimir Klimov, however, came up with a novel idea: he asked the British in 1946 if they could provide a few examples of their latest engine. To the stunned surprise of Klimov, the Mikoyan-Gurevich design bureau, and Josef Stalin, the British complied, providing Klimov with the plans for the Rolls-Royce Nene turbojet, one of the most successful jet engines in history. Klimov quickly reverse engineered it as the VK-1, and just like that, the Soviets had the perfect engine for their planned jet interceptors.
MiG OKB already had a jet fighter in service, the MiG-9, but it was a poor performer. By modifying a MiG-9 into the I-310 prototype, with VK-1 propulsion and swept wings and tail surfaces, the resultant aircraft was superb: it was very manueverable and fast. It was placed into production as the MiG-15. This in turn was superseded by the more advanced and reliable MiG-15bis, which added airbrakes and a few minor avionics changes. Though pilots hated the cramped cockpit, which forced them to fly without heated or pressurized flight suits—a real concern in frigid Russian winters—they loved its responsiveness and speed. Though the MiG-15 was designed to intercept the B-29 Superfortress, hence its heavy cannon armament, it could quite easily hold its own in a dogfight. It rapidly replaced most propeller-driven fighters in the Soviet inventory, and was quickly supplied to Soviet client states.
The MiG-15 would get its first taste of action during the Chinese Civil War, when Russian-flown MiG-15s flew on behalf of the Communist Chinese against the Nationalists; a P-38L was shot down on 28 April 1950 for the type’s first victory. By far, however, it would be Korea where the MiG-15 would see the most action.
After starting out well, the North Korean armies were, by fall 1950, in full rout from South Korea, pursued by United Nations forces. The World War II-era North Korean People’s Air Force had been annihilated by UN aircraft, and though China intended to intervene on behalf of North Korea, it lacked trained pilots. Stalin agreed to secretly provide both MiG-15s and the pilots to fly them, operating from bases in China across the Yalu River from North Korea. The pilots, under command of Soviet top ace Ivan Kozhedub, were instructed to speak in what little Korean they knew, and never fly over territory where they might be captured. The former was rarely heeded in the heat of combat, while the short range of the MiG-15 limited pilots to flying in and around the Yalu valley in any case. This rapidly became known as “MiG Alley.” By November 1950, Russian-flown MiG-15s were in combat against American and British aircraft, both sides fielding pilots who had already flown combat in World War II. Both sides were to find they were close to evenly matched as well: the Russians claimed the first jet-to-jet victory on 1 November, when a MiG-15 shot down a USAF F-80C; four days later, they suffered their first loss, to a US Navy F9F Panther. Most engagements were to occur between the F-86 Sabre and the MiG-15.
Once more, the two were closely matched. The MiG-15 had a better rate of climb, was superior above 33,000 feet, and had harder hitting cannon armament. The F-86’s six machine guns were often ineffective against the rugged MiG, but it was more manueverable, especially at low level, and if the machine guns did not cause as much damage, they fired at three times the rate of the MiG-15’s cannons, and usually hit what they aimed at, due to a superior radar-ranging gunsight. Both sides had to deal with instability at high speeds: if the MiG pilot got into trouble, he would climb out of danger, whereas the Sabre pilot would dive. The pilots were evenly matched, though the Russians would later admit that the Americans were better trained. Both sides overclaimed during the war, with both Soviet and American pilots claiming 12 to 1 kill ratios: the truth may never be known, though 40 Russians were awarded the title of ace during the war. The MiGs did succeed in one task, driving the B-29s into night attacks, after six were shot down or badly damaged on a single mission in October 1951.
Interestingly enough, the F-86 was as much a surprise to the Soviets as the MiG-15 was to the West, and both sides attempted to procure an example of the other. The United States’ Operation Moolah, offering $100,000 to any Eastern Bloc pilot who defected with a MiG-15, resulted in three MiG-15s arriving in the West, two flown by Polish pilots to Denmark and the third by North Korean pilot No Kum-Sok.
After the end of the Korean War, the MiG-15 remained in service, though it slowly began to be replaced by the MiG-17 and MiG-19. Nonetheless, MiG-15s were involved in eleven separate incidents during the Cold War, shooting down several US and British reconnaissance aircraft and an Israeli airliner. By the mid-1950s, however, the MiG-15 was beginning to show its age, and in combat with Sidewinder-equipped F-86s of Taiwan and Israeli Super Mysteres, it came off second best. Gradually, single-seat MiG-15s were retired from active service, though hundreds of two-seat MiG-15UTI “Midget” trainers remained in service; the MiG-15UTI is still flown by several air forces to this day. About 16,000 MiG-15s were produced in the Soviet Union, Poland, and Czechslovakia, and a good number remain in existence today in museums and numerous flyable examples, including 43 in the United States.
This aircraft is something of a mystery. It is on display at the Commemorative Air Force's Arizona Wing museum at Mesa, but the Arizona Wing's website lists this as MiG-15 4115, a former Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force MiG-15bis acquired in the late 1980s. 4115 is flyable, but is listed as being at Oshkosh. If this isn't 4115, then it is likely 83177/711. The origin of 711 is a little less known, but is possibly another PLAAF MiG-15, of which several were acquired when they hit the open market in the late 1980s.
I had gotten a picture of this aircraft last year in May 2019, but we made a quick stop at the Arizona Wing again in August 2020, mainly to see if their F4F Wildcat was on display. It was in Hawaii that weekend, but the MiG-15 I'd gotten a picture of last year was done with restoration, so I got another shot of it in full markings. It now depicts Wang Hai's aircraft, of the 7th Air Regiment of the People's Liberation Army Air Force; Wang Hai is considered either the top Chinese ace of the Korean War, or the one with the second-highest score--he was credited with nine kills. (Wang Hai did not have a rank: at the time, the PLAAF had not yet reinstated a rank system.) To preserve the fiction that the Chinese were only "volunteers," his MiG retained NKPAF markings.