Planes of Fame Air Museum
 
Planes of Fame Air Museum
 
Home »  Collection »  Flying & Static Aircraft »  Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 'Fagot'

HISTORY

  • The prototype of the MiG-15 (NATO code name "Fagot") made its maiden flight on 30 December 1947. The first production aircraft flew exactly one year later.
  • It was in the frozen skies of Korea that the MiG-15 proved one of the most formidable fighters of its generation. On 8 November 1950, MiGs tangled with USAF F-80Cs. Lt. Russell Brown downed one of the communist fighters in history's first jet-to-jet dogfight. Despite this initial success, the performance of the swept-wing MiG was far superior to that of straight-wing aircraft like the F-80 and the Navy's F9F Panther. The 4th F.I.W. with its F-86A Sabres was rushed to the Far East, clashing with MiGs for the first time in December.
  • For the next two and a half years Sabres and MiGs (frequently flown by Soviet and other Eastern Bloc pilots) dueled in the skies over the Yalu River in an area called "MiG Alley." At the end of the Korean War, Sabre pilots claimed a 14:1 (later revised to 7:1) kill ratio over their opponents. This lopsided total is usually attributed to the superior training given to USAF pilots.
  • The West got its first close-up look at a Mig-15 in September 1953 when a North Korean pilot defected. MiG 15s served with virtually every air force in the communist bloc, including those of Soviet client states in Latin America, Africa and the Middle East. Some soldiered on into the 1970s. Over 17,000 aircraft were built in the USSR, Poland and Czechoslovakia. Thousands more were built in China.

 

DISTINCTION

  • The Museum’s aircraft is an early model MiG-15bis, built under license in Poland as LIM-2. On loan to Palm Springs Air Museum.

 

SPECIFICATIONS

Status: Static Display
Manufacturer: PZL-Mielec (Polskie Zakłady Lotnicze - Polish Aviation Works based in Mielec)
Year: 1955
Model: MiG-15bis Fagot
Registration Number:
Serial Number:
Crew: 1
Max T/O Weight: 13,500 lb.
Span: 33 ft. 1 in.
Length: 33 ft. 2 in.
Height: 12 ft. 2 in.
Maximum Speed: 611 mph
Cruise Speed: 520 mph
Rate of Climb: 10,080 ft/min
Power Plant: 1 x Klimov VK-1 turbojet (copy of Rolls Royce Nene) with 6,000 lbs. of thrust
Range: 1,250 miles
Service Ceiling: 51,000 ft.
Armament: One 37 mm cannon and two 23 mm cannon

 

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