Mikoyan-Gurevich MIG-15: The Soviet Union’s Long-Lived Korean War Fighter (AeroFax)

162 Pages·2001·137.34 MB·English

by  Yefim Gordon

MIKoyan-Gurevich
M i G · 1 5
The Soviet Union's Long-lived Korean War Fighter
Yefim Gordon
Mikoyan-Gurevich
MiG-iS
The Soviet Union's Long-lived Korean War Fighter
Yefim Gordon
Mikoyan-GurevichMiG-15: Contents
TheSovietUnion'sLong-livedKoreanWarFighter
©2001 YefimGordon
ISBN1857801059
Introduction 3
Chapters
PublishedbyMidlandPublishing 1 The'MiG Menace'isBorn 7
4Watling Drive,Hinckley,LE103EY,England
2 TheAluminium Rabbit:
Tel:[phone] Fax:[phone]
MiG-15VersionBriefing 12
E-mail:[email protected]
Designconceptandlayout 3 Foreign Production 47
MidlandPublishingisanimprintof ©2001 MidlandPublishingand 4 TheMiG-15inActionor
IanAllanPublishingLtd StephenThompsonAssociates TheAluminium RabbitGoestoWar.54
5 MiG-15OperatorsWorldwide 79
Worldwidedistribution(exceptNorthAmerica): PrintedinEnglandby
MidlandCountiesPublications IanAllanPrintingLtd 6 TheMiG-15bisinDetail 114
4WatlingDrive,Hinckley,LE103EY,England RiverdeneBusinessPark,MoleseyRoad, 7 ProductionTotalsand
Telephone:[phone] Fax:[phone] Hersham,Surrey,KT124RG FamilySpecificationtables .....118
E-mail:[email protected]
www.midlandcountiessuperstore.com Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthis End notes 125
publicationmaybereproduced,
NorthAmericantradedistribution: storedinaretrievalsystem,transmitted
Appendices
SpecialtyPressPublishers&WholesalersInc. inanyformorbyanymeans,electronic,
11605KostDamRoad,NorthBranch,MN55056 mechanicalorphoto-copied,recorded 1 MiG-15FamilyDrawings 127
Tel:[phone] Fax:[phone] orotherwise,withoutthewritten 2 MiG-15inColour 145
Tollfreetelephone:8008954585 permissionofthepublishers.
Titlepage:TheST-1 duringStateacceptance
trials.Seepage41.
Below:ApairofPolishAirForceSBLim-2As
atdispersal.6010Redisintheforeground;
notetheubiquitousAntonovAn-2totherear.
BothYefimGordon
2 MiG-15
Introduction
The Second World War brought about major the use of captured materials in advanced NAMI also designed an engine rated at
changes in aircraft design. The piston engine technology development was not an unusual 2,000kgp (4,409Ibst).
hadreachedthelimitofitsdevelopmentpoten practice,andtheUSSRwasnotaloneindoing The war with Germany caused turbojet
tial; a new aircraft powerplant was required. this.TheUnitedStates,GreatBritain,andother development in the USSR to be put on hold.
Hencethefirstexperimental jetengines ofthe nations made good use of German projects The work resumed onlyin 1944when the out
prewarperiodquicklypavedthewayforproto afterthewar. come of the war could be foreseen and it
type and production jet-powered combat air By the end of the Second World War the appearedpossibletosparesomeeffortsforthe
craft. The Messerschmitt Me262 Schwalbe Soviet aircraft industry was fUlly capable of development of new advanced engines. A M
(Swallow)/Sturmvogel(StormPetrel),theArado developingandproducingjetaircraftonitsown. Lyul'kacontinued hisworkonturbojetdesign,
Ar234Blitz(Lightning) andtheGlosterMeteor Indisputably,theUSSRcouldhavequicklycre which resulted in the 1,300kgp (2,866Ibst)
became the first jets to see actual combat. ated powerful turbojets and transonic fighters TR-1 (toorboreaktivnyy [dveegate!'] - turbojet)
Thus, progressthatmighthavetaken decades without resorting to captured research, but, powering the experimental Ilyushin IL-22four
wascrammedintojustafewyears. given the pressures ofthe incipientCold War, enginebomberof1947.Shortlyafterwardsthe
Inthe postwaryears, achievements inaero Sovietengineershadverylittletimetoproduce design bureau led by Aleksandr Aleksan
dynamics, engine design and manufacturing an 'answerto the West' - months, sometimes drovich Mikulin also started work on asimilar
technologies led to the development of literallydays.UndertheregimeoflosifVStalin, engine.
sweptwing jet aircraft. Predictably, the first of failure to meet the objective could mean By then, however, jet engines and aircraft
these were fighters. The first-generation jet promptexecution.ThisiswhySovietengineers were in production in the West. The USSR
fighters which entered service in 1945-1952 sometimes preferred to play safe by using riskedfallingfarbehind.Tosavetime,theSovi
featured sweptorthin straightwingsand were 'imported'technologies. etgovernmentchosetheonlyrealisticoption
capable of near-sonic speeds of 900 to Thecapabilities ofthe MiG-15were derived to launch production ofGerman axial-flowtur
1,200km/h(486to648kts).Themostsuccess from what Russians called three 'whales', or bojets: the 900kgp (1,984Ibst) Junkers Jumo
fulandpopularofthesearetheMikoyan/Gure ground rules: aturbojetrated atover2,000kgp 004 Orkan (Hurricane) and the 800kgp
vich MiG-15 and the North American F-86 (4,409Ibst), a new configuration with swept (1,763Ibst) BMW 003 Sturm (Storm). The
Sabre. Bothflewforthefirsttimein 1947,went wing and empennage, and new pilot survival reverse-engineered versions were designated
through similar development stages and aids, includinganejectionseat.These,togeth RD-10andRD-20respectively.Theseturbojets
servedoperationallyintheirowncountriesand erwith heavyarmamentandeaseofmanufac (and the Yakovlev Yak-15 and Mikoyan/Gure
those of allies. Though differing somewhat in ture and operation, turned the MiG-15 into a vich MiG-9 fighters they powered) gave the
configuration, avionics, equipment and arma superbtechnical product. Sovietaircraftindustryitsfirsttaste ofjettech
ment, the F-86 and MiG-15 were more or less nology.Atthesametime,itwasdecidedtobuy
equivalent in flight performance. When flown Enginedevelopment themostadvancedWesternturbojetswithcen
by equally skilled and experienced pilots, the TurbojetdevelopmentintheUSSRdated back trifugal-flow compressors - the Rolls-Royce
two aircraftwere quiteamatchfor each other. tothe early1920s.In 1923VBazarovreceived Neneand RR Derwent- and buildthem under
The MiG-15 was to have a long service a patentfor the world's firstturboprop engine licenceintheUSSR.
career.Itwasbuiltinhugenumbersbothinand layout. Three years lateraspecial gasturbine Sovietenginedesignersneededtwotothree
outside the Soviet Union, evolving into many engine research group led by Nikolay more years for prototype and full-scale devel
versions, and paved thewayfor Sovietfighter Romanovich Brillingwas organized attheSci opmentofnewer, morepowerfulaxial-flowtur
design for the next decade. Many are active entificAutomobileandEngineInstitute(NAMI bojets. This time was used effectively: several
even now, albeit mostly as privately-owned Naoochnyy avtomotornyy institoot) in turbojets with thrust ratings from 3,000kgp to
warbirds;inpassing,itshouldbenotedthatthe Moscow;themainfocus ofthisgroupwasthe 9,000kgp (6,613 to 19,841Ibst) entered pro
MiG-15 has undoubtedly earned the warbird turboprop engine. After 1930, the group was duction in the early 1950s. All were based on
title! headed by VOovarov, afamous scientist and indigenousSovietprototypes.
As aresult ofthe ColdWar and all its impli engineerinthefieldofturbineenginedesign.In In 1946theSoviet MinisterofAircraftIndus
cations, for decades Sovietaircraft have been 1936 NAMI developed the 1,150eshp GTU-3 tryMikhailVKhroonichevandaircraftdesigner
developed in total secrecy. For this reason, turboprop for Andrey Nikolayevich Tupolev's Aleksandr Sergeyevich Yakovlev approached
mythshavetakenholdconcerningthecreation TB-3bomber.Twoprototypeengineswerebuilt Stalin, reporting their intentionto buystate-of
oftheMiG-15whichneedtobeputtorest. and tested in 1938-40, butthe TB-3 flew with the-art British Nene and Derwent turbojets.
Mythnumberone:theMiG-15wasnotanew pistonenginesonly. 'Uncle Joe' reacted with typical spontaneity:
aircraft but a major rework of the projected The next step in Sovietjet engine develop 'What fool will sell us his secrets?' However,
Focke-WulfTa183developed byKurtTank. ment came when Arkhip Mikhailovich Lyul'ka Soviet-Westernrelationswerestillcordialatthe
Myth numbertwo, which arose as aconse designed the RD-1 turbojet (reaktivnyy dvee time, and Stalin's 'fools' abounded at Rolls
quence of the first: Soviet aircraft designers gate!'- jetengine)attheKhar'kovAviationInsti Royce and in the British Labour Government.
wereincapableofproducingsomethingworth tute. This first Soviet turbojet was rated at Hence, aircraft designer Artyom Ivanovich
while and the MiG-15 would never have 500kgp (1,102Ibst); development was 75% Mikoyan,enginedesignerVladimirYakovlevich
appearedwithouttheuseofcaptured German complete when the Great Patriotic War began Klimov and metallurgical engineer S Kishkin
research data and 'captive brains'. However, on 22nd June 1941. The Oovarov group at weresenttoEnglandtonegotiateacquisitionof
MiG-15 3
the turbojets. They purchased 30 Derwent V In due course, the VK-1 engine was fitted However,mostoftheearlySovietjetfighters
and 25 Nene 1/11 engines which were carefully to the MiG-15bis, an upgraded version ofthe were developed hastily. The designers select
studiedattheCentral InstituteofAeroEngines MiG-15. Italsopoweredthe IL-28bomberand ed a configuration identical to that of piston
(TsIAM- Tsentrahl'nwinstitootaviatseeonno theTu-14Ttorpedo-bomber. engined aircraft, with the engine up front and
vo motorostroyeniya). Both types were tested exhaustingunderthefuselage,whichinevitably
onaTupolevconvertedintotheTu-2LLengine RD·45FandVK·1Aspecifications resulted in a helicopter-style pod-and-boom
testbed,1 a converted Tu-2 Bat twin-engine fuselage.Thisconfigurationwascalledredahn
RD-45F(Nene-2) VK-IA
bomberoperatedbytheFlightTestInstitute(L11 naya komponovka (lit. 'step arrangement') in
- Lyotno-ispytahtel'nwinstitoot) inZhukovskiy Maxstaticthrust,kgp(Ibst) 2,270(5,004) 2,700(5,952) the USSRbecauseofthesimilaritytothe step
near Moscow! Laterthe Nene-1 powered the Rpm 12,300 11,560 onaspeedboat'splaningbottom. Perhapsthe
Tu-72 and Tu-73 bomber prototypes which Dryweight,kg(Ib) 703to726 884.5 ultimate example of this 'quick fix' design
evolved intothewell-known Tu-14Bosun. The (1,550to1,600) (1,950)' approach was the Yak-15, a straightforward
Derwent-5wasconsideredafighterengineand Diameter,m(It) 1.25(4'1") 1.273(4'2") conversionoftheYak-3Ufighter.Itwasbasical
used for projects developed by the design Length,m(It) 2.45(8'~") 2.57(8'5")' ly astandard Yak-3U airframe with the Klimov
bureauxunderASYakovlevandSemyonAlek Specificfuelconsumption, VK-105PF liquid-cooled Vee-12 engine sup
seyevich Lavochkin. kg/kgphr(Ib/lbsthr) 1,065 1,On plantedbyanRD-10(Jumo004)turbojetinthe
Concurrently, licence production of the nose, underslung so as to direct the exhaust
British turbojets began in Moscow. The Der *withoutjetpipe;tatmaximumthrust gasesunderthefuselage.
wentVwasmanufactured underthelocaldes This'tadpole'configurationwasnotaSoviet
ignation RD-500, whilethe Nene Iand Nene II Centrifugal-flowturbojetsprovedmorereliable invention, having been employed on the Ger
became the RD-45 and RD-45F respectively.' than early axial-flow turbojets. As speeds man Messerschmitt P1101 (which was com
Thenumbers500and45werethenumbersof increased, however, centrifugal-flow power pleted but never flown) and the projected
the engine plants producing the respective plants proved too thirsty. Higher speeds Messerschmitt P 1106, Blohm &Voss P 210
models(plantNo500waslocatedintheTushi requiredgreaterthrustandhencegreatermass and Heinkel P1078. Yet many Soviet postwar
nodistrictnotfarfromthewell-knownairfield). flow. A centrifugal-flow engine offered less jetfightersusedit,includingtheYak-15,Yak-17
VladimirYaKlimovwasheadofproductionand thrust than an axial-flow engine having the Feather, Yak-23, MiG-9 Fargo and the experi
was also busy modernizing andfurther devel samefrontalarea.Also,thecentrifugal-flowtur mental La-150, La-152, La-156and La-174TK.
opingtheseturbojets. bojetwas limited byitssingle-stagecompres IntheWest,onlythe5MBJ29Tunnan(Barrel)
Soviet fighters powered by the 1,590kgp sorofferingapressureratioof4.2to4.4.Since hadthepod-and-boomarrangement.
(3,505Ibst) RD-500, such as the Yak-23 Flora, no multi-stage compressors were developed, Turbojets were lighter than piston engines,
Yak-30' and Lavochkin La-15 Fantail, made thecentrifugal-flowturbojetreacheditspeakof allowing the cockpit to be moved forward to
their maiden flights in 1947-48. The heavier development with thrust ratings of 3,000 to improve the pilot's forward and downward
RD-45 was intended for the Tu-14 and IL-28 4,000kgp(6,613to8,818Ibst)betweentheend view. Sincetherewasnopropellerdemanding
Beagletacticalbombers. oftheSecondWorld Warandtheearly1950s. largegroundclearance,thelandinggearcould
InchoosingtheRD-45foritsnewfighter,the beshortened. Atricyclelanding geareliminat
Mikoyan/Gurevich design bureau, aka OKB Jetairframedesign ed the need to locate a tail wheel in the jet
1555orMMZ·'Zenit' (Zenith),tookacalculated Earlyjetaircraftweredesignedalongthesame exhaust,ashadbeenthecasewiththeYak-15.
risk- justasithaddonein1939withtheMiG-1 linesastheirpiston-enginedforebears. Astur Anotheroptionwastomounttheengineover
powered by the brand-new Mikulin AM-35 bojets were improved, however, it became the fuselage. Even though this freed up fuse
engine. The risk paid off; the MiG-15 powered clearthatchangeshadtobemadetoatypical lagespaceforarmament, equipmentandfuel,
bytheRD-45and (andtheMiG-15bis powered airplane'saerodynamicsandgeneral arrange thisconfigurationwasimpractical becausethe
by the RD-45F) became the mainstay of the ment. enginenacellecreatedconsiderable drag and
Soviet fighter force. Although the competing It is well known that obtaining the correct complicated pilot escape in an emergency.
Yakovlevfightersweremoreagile,theMiGwas centre of gravity (CG) position is one of the Only two aircraft actually utilised this config
fasterandmoreheavilyarmed. major challenges in aircraft design. For con uration - the prototype Fieseler Fi103 (the
Typically of the Soviet aircraft industry ventionaldesignstheCGmustbelocatedat25 manned version ofthe V-1 'buzz bomb') and
(alas!), earlyRD-45s and RD-45Fs hadashort to33% meanaerodynamicchord (MAC). With the production He162 Volksjager (People's
servicelife(onlysome100hours,lessthanthe a piston engine, this meant positioning the Fighter).
original Nene) because poor-quality indige engineatthefrontofthe aircraft, ahead ofthe The next logical step in jet fighter develop
nous materials had to be used. Later, Soviet CG and the wings. Thefuel tanks were inthe mentwastomovetherelativelylightweighttur
designersdevelopedtheRD-45FAwhichintro CGzonetominimiseCGtravelcaused byfuel bojetbackwards,placingitinthefuselageaftof
duced new materials and structural improve burnoff, and the crew behind the CG. The the cockpit. This resulted in an cigar-shaped
mentsdoublingtheengine'sservicelife. weight of the engine and propeller was bal fuselage with the nozzle located at the aft
Building on experience gained with the anced by the weight ofthe rearfuselage and extremity, which was much moreaerodynami
RD-500and RD-45 (and benefitingfromTslAM empennage. cally efficient than the 'tadpole' arrangement.
research into centrifugal compressors), the Ifaturbojetweremounted insimilarfashion Withtheengine(s) buriedintheaftfuselage,
KlimovOKBdevelopedmorepowerfulandfuel intheaircraft'snose,theexhaustgaseswould two air intake types were possible: nose and
efficientcentrifugal-flowturbojets.The2,700kgp have to exit under the fuselage. Placing lateral inlets. Both types had advantages and
(5,952Ibst)VK-1 turbojetemergedin1949;the engineson orunderthewings eliminatedthis shortcomings.Anoseintakemadeitnecessary
VKinitialsstoodforVladimirKlimov,suggesting problem,andthisconfigurationwasutilisedby toincreaseforwardandcentrefuselagecross
thatenoughSovietresearchhadgoneintothe theHeinkel He280,theMesserschmittMe262 section, since the airflow had to be routed
engineto qualifyitasan indigenousdesign. It and the Gloster Meteor. Soviet fighters thus around the cockpit. Lateral intakes increased
was a refined derivative of the RD-45 and a configured weretheSukhoi Su-9 (manufactur fuselage width ahead of the wings. With the
steppingstonetotheafterburningVK-1Frated er'sdesignation'izdeliyeK')'of1946andSu-11 advent of powerfUl but bulky radars the air
at3,380kgp (7,451Ibst). Structural and manu (izdeliye LK) of1947,'aswell asthe 1-211 and intake arrangement issue was largely settled
facturing improvements produced the VK-1A 1-215designed by Semyon Mikhailovich Alek becausethe radarwould haveto beplaced in
versionwitha150to200hourservicelife. seyev(I = istrebitel'- fighter).- thenose, making noseintakesimpractical.
4 MiG-15
Sweptwings
By the end of the Second World War pilots
flying high-performance piston fighters (for
instance, the North American P-51 Mustang)
would sometimes approach the speed of
sound in a dive. In this situation the controls
becamesteadilyheavierasairspeedincreased;
thenosewouldtrytodrop,andsometimesthe
controls would reverse. It took a lot of effort
from the pilot to recover from this dangerous
modeknownasMachtuck.
Withjetaircraft,levelflightspeedsincreased
intothesonicrange. Machtuckwhichpilotsof
prop-driven aircraft had encountered briefly
now became routine. At times, uncontrollable
aircraftdivedintotheground,takingwiththem
not only the luckless pilots but the secrets
of transonic flight. Test pilot Gheorgiy Ya
Bakhchivandzhiwas oneofthefirst, losing his
life in the Bereznyak/lsayev BI-1 rocket-pow
ered interceptoron 27th March 1943during a
high-speedrun.Themessagewasclear: anin
depth study of transonic aerodynamics was
needed.
Wind tunnel tests showed that athin sym
metrical wing section and swept wings could
resolve the 'shock-wave crisis'. As early as
1935, the German aerodynamicist Dr. Alfred
Busemann came upwith the swept-wing con
cept.Hecontinuedhisresearchduringthewar
and the Germans used wings with 30 to 38° Afull-scalemockupofthe1-310coveredwith extreme nose,the pilotlying prone.Thecock
leading-edge sweep on several fighters (the wooltuftsintheTsAGIT-102windtunnel. pitwasattached byexplosivebolts, with acat
YefimGordonarchive
Me262 and Me163 Kamet). Aspate ofswept apultthatejectedthepilotafteritwasdetached.
wing aircraft, includingtheTa183whichborea The Walther HWK 509-109 twin-chamber liq
passingresemblancetothefutureMiG-15,was uid-fuel rocket engine provided 4,000kgp
onthedrawingboardsorattheprototypecon Initially swept wings were tested on gliding (8,818Ibst) thrust. Total fuel and oxidizer
structionstagebytheendofthewar. modelsdroppedfromaTu-2mothership.How capacity was 1,900kg (4,188Ib), permitting 2
The main peculiarityofthe sweptwing was ever, during 1945-48 Pavel Vladimirovich minutesofengineoperation.Theaircraftcould
thatairflowwas divided intotwo components; TsybindesignedtheLL-1,LL-2andLL-3gliders. accelerateto approximately Mach2.0- inthe
oneflowedfromtheleadingedgetothetrailing Asthedesignationsimply,thesewereresearch oryatleast.
edge and the other spanwise. The spanwise aircraftforstudyingtransonicaerodynamicsat Flighttests began in 1948 at an airbase in
componentcaused boundarylayermovement about 1,150km/h (621kts). The LL-1 had Tyoplyy Stan (now a residential district in the
fromwingroottowingtip, resultingintipstall;it straightwings andthe LL-2hadforward-swept south-westernpartofMoscow)andlateratthe
alsoreducedtheefficiencyofthewing'scontrol wings; the LL-3, which was never completed, new factory airfield in Lookhovitsy, some
surfaces. To preventthis, many Soviet aircraft was to have 30° sweepback. The gliders had 100km (62 miles) south-east of Moscow. A
featured boundary layer fences on the wing water ballast and a solid rocket booster. The modified B-29-5-BW operated by L11 (serialled
upper surface; these generated vortices, experiment was conducted in a dive with the 256 Black) served as amothership;12the346
reducing spanwise flow and preventing early boosteroperatingformaximumspeed. was suspended on a pylon between the
airflowseparation. AftertheendoftheSecondWorldWar,Ger bomber's Nos 3 and 4 engines. Three proto
Itisan open secretthatscientistsand engi manaircraftdesignersinSoviet-occupiedterri types- the346-Pglider(Pforplahner),the346
neersindifferentcountriesfacedwiththesame tory were deported to the USSR to develop 1withamockupengineandthefully-equipped
objectiveoften comeupwith similarsolutions. new-generation aircraft. Two new design 346-3- participated intheprogramme, piloted
Inthe USSRthe sweptwing ideawas devised bureaux were established in the Podberez'ye byWolfgangZieseand PAKaz'min.
byVStroominskyofTsAGI (Tsentrahl'nwaero settlement near the town of Doobna. One of The 346-3 made its first powered flight on
i ghidrodinameecheskiy institoot - Central them (OKB-2 headed by Hans Rossing, with 15th August 1951. However, the programme
Aerodynamics & Hydrodynamics Institute the Soviet engineer Aleksandr Yakovlevich wasplaguedbyaccidents. Initsthird powered
named after Nikolay V Zhukovskiy) in 1946. Bereznyakas his deputy)'·continued work on flighton2nd Septemberthe aircraftexceeded
AssistedbyGBOschgensandotherscientists, the DFS 346 rocket-powered Mach 2.5 900km/h (486kts) indicatedairspeed (lAS) but
heconductedresearchonswept-wingaerody research aircraft, which was almost complete then became uncontrollable and Ziese was
namics. Basicconceptsforswept-wingaircraft bytheendofthewar." Theaircraft(referredto orderedtoeject.
stability and controllability analysis were for inSovietdocumentsas346)wastransportedto Concurrently, Matus Ruvimovich Bisnovat
mulated. TsAGI embarked on a major pro TsAGI in 194qfor full,scale aerodynamictests continued work on his B-5 transonic speed
gramme to study a wing swept 35°. This was intheT-101 windtunnel. researchaircraft,alsowith45°wingsweep.The
exactly the wing later recommended for the The 346 was an all-metal, mid-wing mono B-5 was powered by a Dooshkin liquid-fuel
La-160(thefirstSovietswept-wingaircraft)and plane with 45° wing sweep, an unsweptHail rocketengine.Testflightsbeganin1948witha
theMikoyan/Gurevich1-310(theMiG-15proto and retractable skid landing gear. To reduce Petlyakov Pe-8 bomber acting as the mother
type). dragthepressurizedcockpitwasplacedinthe ship;thetwoprototypesmadeabouttenflights.
MiG-15 5
Meanwhile, Lavochkin builtthe La-160fight vival at speeds of 528 to 850km/h (285 to Acknowledgements
er, aderivativeofthe earlier 'tadpole' designs. 459kts) and altitudes upto 6,000m (19,685ft). The author wishes to express his gratitudeto
Itdifferedfromthe earlierfighter prototypesin Thefightertheydesignedwassimilarinconfig thefollowing personswhohavecontributedto
featuring 35° swept wings with a thin airfoil uration to the Saab J-21, with a pusher pro themakingofthisbook:
already validated in theory; hencethe aircraft peller and twin booms supporting thetail unit Firstofall, asusual,Iwould liketothankthe
wasdubbedStrelka(Arrow).Initialstabilityand butwith ramjet boosters incorporated intothe translator,DmitriySKomissarov,withoutwhose
handlingtrialswereheldfromJunetoSeptem tailbooms. It featured an escape system of work and assistance the book would never
ber1947.Wingfenceswerefittedinthecourse FlorovandBorovkov'sowndesignwhichrotat haveappeared.
ofthe flight test programme; these became a ed the seat and ejected it downwards pneu Also,mythanksgotoNigelEastaway,oneof
standardfeatureofSovietdesigns- thehigher matically.Thewarinterruptedthedevelopment the leaders ofthe Russian Aviation Research
thewing sweep,thelargerthenumberofwing ofthisaircraftandhenceofthefirstSovietejec Trust, who provided a lot ofvaluable informa
fences.TheLa-160reached1,050km/h(567kts) tionsystem. tiononChineselicence-builtMiGs,andHelmut
orMach 0.92in adive.Atthesametime, Lav Itwas notuntilthe end ofthewarthatwork Waltherand Keith Dexterwho supplied photos
ochkintestedtheLa-174TKwithathin,straight oncrewescapesystemsresumedintheUSSR. which would otherwise hardly be obtainable.
wing (hencetheTKsuffixstandingfortonkoye The Mikoyan OKBteamed with TsAGI, L11 and
krylo) and a more powerful RR Derwent the Aviation Medicine Institute to become a YefimGordon
engine."Despitetheextrathrust,theLa-174TK leaderinejectionseatdevelopment.Trialswere Moscow
was slowerthan the swept-wing La-160, prov performed at L11, atfirst using atest rig with a
ing that swept wings were the way to go for trolley that moved along a vertical guide rail; March2001
high-speedaircraft. the trolley was accelerated by an explosive
Gradually, experience with swept wing was chargeandthenslowedbypowerfulbrakes.L11
accumulated.Thisexperiencewasofgreathelp engineers determined the size of the charge
in designing the MiG-15, La-15, and Yak-30 requiredtogetthenecessaryGload.Aftertests
fighters. with dummies and animals it was decided to
carryoutthefirstmannedtest. Sixstrong men
Ejection seats were'ejected'intherigwiththemaximumGload.
With the advent ofjetaircraft capable oftran Flighttests came next. The engineers pro
sonic speeds, bailing out inthe old-fashioned ceeded cautiously, using adummyforthefirst
way became sheer suicide. New crew rescue actual ejections. A converted Petlyakov Pe-2
methods,suchasejection,wererequired. Buckdivebomberwasused;itstwintailsmade
Thefirstattemptstofacilitatebailingoutwere itidealforejectionseattrials,reducingthedan
undertaken in Germany in the late 1920s and ger of the seat striking the vertical tail in the
early1930s,butthesedidnotprogressbeyond eventofafailedejection.Theseatwasinstalled
the ground test stage. Ejection systems were in the former gunner's compartment immedi
usedforthefirsttimeduringtheSecondWorld atelybehindthe pilot; initially, itwas notstabi
WarinGermanhigh-speedpiston-enginedand lized and tumbled head over heels in the
jet aircraft. Two ejection systems were devel slipstream as it parted company with the air
oped inGermany: acartridge systemand one craft.Theejectionsequenceandtheseat'stra
using compressed air.Theformersystem was jectorywererecordedbyacinecameraaboard
usedbyHeinkelintheHe162fighterwhichhad the Pe-2. Modificationswere madeto the seat
itsengineatopthefuselage. Ejectiontimeata afterthefirstejectionshadbeenanalysed,and
maximum Gload of 11.5 was 0.178 seconds; byJuly1947mannedtestscouldbegin.
ejection speed was 13.2 m/sec (2,640ft/min). Gavriil Kondrashov, an experienced para
The advantages ofthe cartridge ejection sys chutistwithmorethan700parachutejumpsto
temwereitslowweightandstructuralsimplici his credit, was chosen. On 24thJuly 1947, he
RussianLanguageandTransliteration
ty; dependenceonthe powdercharge (which successfullyperformedthefirst ejection inthe The Russian language is phonetic - pronounced as
might or might not function properly) was a USSR. written,or'asseen'.TranslatingintoEnglishgivesrise
shortcoming. Thefirst ejection seat was ofcartridge-fired tomanyproblemsandthevastmajorityofthesearise
becauseEnglishisnotastraightforwardlanguage,with
The compressed air ejection system was design;theejectiongunandtheseatpanwere
manypitfallsofpronunciation!
used on the Heinkel He280 jetfighter (which attachedtotheseat'sframe.Thepilotsatonhis
Accordingly, Russian words must be translated
neverenteredproduction) andtheHe219two parachutewhichlayintheseatpan.Therewas through into aphonetic form of English and this can
seat piston-engined nightfighter. This system noprovisionforautomaticparachuteopening; leadtodifferentwaysofhelpingthereaderpronounce
was heavier and more complex and required the parachute'sstatic linewas attachedto the whathesees.Everyefforthasbeenmadetostandard
isethis,butinevitablyvariationswilloccur.Whileread
air bottles, afast-acting valve and piping. The seat,whichmeantthepilothadtopushtheseat
ingfrom sourceto sourcethis mightseem confusing
He219'sejectionseatweighed27.9kg(61.5Ib), awayforciblyafterejectioninorderforthepara
and/orinaccuratebutitisthenameaspronouncedthat
comparedtotheHe162's20.5kg(45.2Ib)seat. chutetoopen. istheconstancy,notthespellingofthatpronunciation!
Afterthewar,theworkofGermandesigners Thiswasclearlyashortcoming,reducingthe The20thletteroftheRussian(Cyrillic)alphabetlooks
was the object ofclose scrutiny bythe Allies. pilot'schances ofsurvival if hewaswounded. verymuchlikea'Y'butispronouncedasa'U'asinthe
word'rule'.
Many German documents and prototypes Theminimumsafeejectionaltitudewas200to
AnotherexampleisthetrainofthoughtthatRussian
werecapturedbytheBritish,andGermanwork 300m (656to 984ft). At speeds over700km/h
wordsendingin'y'areperhapsbetterspelloutas'yi'to
was carefully analysed in the USSR and the (378kts), the procedure often resulted in underlinethepronunciation,butitisfeltthatmostWest
UnitedStates. injuriesbecausetheseatoffered noprotection ern speakers would have problems getting their
The first Soviet attempts to design an ejec forthepilot'sfaceorlimbs. tonguesaroundthis!
tion seat date back to 1940. In the course of This first-generation Soviet ejection seat This is agood example ofthe sortofproblem that
someWestern sourceshavesufferedfrom inthepast
new fighter development, designers lI'ya Flo was fitted to the MiG-15, MiG-15bis, MiG-17,
(and occasionally even today) when they make the
rent'yevich Florov and Aleksey Andreyevich and La-15. Itwastosavealotofliveswhenthe mental leapaboutwhattheyseeapproximatingtoan
Borovkovaddressed the problem of pilot sur- MiG-15and MiG-15bissawactionin Korea. Englishletter.
6 MiG-15
ChapterOne
The 'MiG Menace' is Born
1-310 (izdeliye 5-1,5-2,5-3) alists prevailed, but, on the whole, progress with a single fuselage, swept wings and con
theMiG-15prototypes' triumphed over orthodox solutions. Thus, the ventional sweptempennageseemed simplest
The availability of new engines made for the Mikoyan/GurevichOKBchosesweptwingsfor and most aerodynamically efficient and was
developmentofsecond-generationjetfighters. itsnewfighter. eventually selected for the new fighter desig
On 11th March 1947, the Soviet government It so happened that the Mikoyan/Gurevich nated1-310inofficialdocuments.Theaircraft's
(CouncilofMinisters)approvedtheexperimen OKBwasnottaskedwithmassproductiondur in-house designation was 'izdeliye S', said to
tal aircraftconstruction planfortheyear. Soon ing the Great Patriotic War (production ofthe be derived from strelovidnoye kry/o (swept
afterwards,on15thApril,theMinistryofAircraft MiG-3interceptorendedinlate1941).Itsefforts wings).
Industry (MAP - Ministerstvo aviatseeonnoy atthetimeweredevotedtoresearchanddevel Thewingsproposed byTsAGI,featuring35°
promyshlennosti) issued directive No210 opmentwork. Thisresulted insomeadvanced sweepatquarter-chordand2°anhedral,turned
ordering the Mikoyan/Gurevich OKB to dev fighters, including the izdeliye Aseries (1-220/ outto have an extremely poor lift/drag ratio in
elop a jet fighter with a pressurized cockpit 1-225) which exceeded 700km/h (387kts) in take-off and landing mode, which meant the
andtobuildtwo prototypes. AGBroonovwas level flight. Though none ofthese aircraftwas aircraftwould notmeetVVSfield performance
appointed chief project engineer for the new to see production, they became stepping requirements. To cope with the problem the
fighter, with AAAndreyevasthe 'nextin com stonestowardstheearlypost-warjets. OKBcontemplated variablegeometry (VG)for
mand'. Mikoyanengineersgottheirfirstswept-wing awhile.Thiswasin1947,thirtyyearsbeforethe
Thespecificoperational requirement (SOR) experiencewiththeOotkaexperimentaltail-first 'swingwing'izdeliye 23-11 (the 'true' MiG-23S
was quite tough. Maximum speed was to be aircraft' (often called MiG-8). Development, Flogger-A prototype) flew for the first time.'
1,000km/h(540kts)atsealeveland1,020km/h testing and production of the 1-250/MiG-13 Though Mikoyanengineershadvery probably
(551kts) at5,000m (16,404ft). The fighter was (izdeliye N) mixed-powerfighterandthe pure studied German VG research, the time for a
requiredtoclimbtothis altitudein3.2minutes jet straight-wing MiG-9 gave them experience 'swing wing' aircraft had not yet come (VG
and haveanendurancein excessofonehour. with turbojet-powered fighters. The straight wings werethen considered too complex and
Range in economical cruise at 10,000m wing, rocket-powered 1-270 (izdeliye Zh)3 rather unreliable), so the engineers selected
(32,808ft) was specified as 1,200km (648nm) experimentalinterceptorbecamethefirstSovi another solution, reducing wing loading. This
andtake-offand landing run at700and 800m et aircraft to reach 1,000km/h (540kts) lAS in madeforacceptablelandingspeedsevenwith
(2,296and2,624ft) respectively. 1947. Still, combining allthis (sweptwings, jet apoorLIDratio.
Theaircraftwastohaveadequatearmament propulsion and highspeed) in asingleaircraft Ithasto besaid herethatthe Sovietaircraft
and avionicsto cope with US and British war called for a lot of effort on the part of both industry had a few quirks. The all-pervasive
planes of the era (since the Cold War was Mikoyanandthenumerousotherresearchand secrecy wrapped around the industry by the
already brewing andthe US and Great Britain productionestablishmentsinvolved. notorious KGB (Komitet gosoodahrstvennoy
were already regarded as potential adver The MiG-15's road to becoming a produc bezopahsnosti - State Security Committee)
saries). Initially, one 45mm (1.77 calibre) can tion aircraftwas longandwinding. Theaircraft sometimes proved detrimental. Sovietexperts
nonandtwo23mm (.90calibre)cannonswere which was eventually to fly was preceded by werewell-versedonAmericanadvanceddevel
envisaged,thoughtheformerwassoonsubsti several preliminary development. (PD) pro opment projects but knew almost nothing
tuted bya37mm (1.45calibre) weapon. Provi jects. The first of these envisaged a twin about what their colleagues in other Soviet
sionsforcarryingtwo100kg(220Ib)bombson engined fighter which was promptly dropped OKBs were doing. For this reason, designers
the regular drop tank hardpoints were also when it became obvious that Soviet engine oftenwastedtimeandstatemoney,duplicating
demanded. plants could not provide enough engines for each other's efforts. This problem got worse
Last but not least, the new fighter was massproduction. whenhigh-techsystemsandavionicscameon
required to be easily maintainable. The Soviet In 1947,afterAIMikoyan hadreturnedfrom thescene.
AirForce(WS- Voyenno-vozdooshnyyeseely) hisvisittoEnglandand25Nene-1 engineshad Indevelopingthe 1-310,thedesignersfound
knewalltoowellthatinafuturewar,combatair been delivered, the OKB started work on the that providing the required CG position was
craft would almost certainly have to operate 1-320(izdeliyeFN)- thefirstaircrafttobearthis quiteaproblem.Withtheengineintheaftfuse
fromimprovisedtacticalairstripswithlittleorno designation - as an insurance policy in case lage,theCGwastoofaraft, impairingstability
maintenancefacilities. Finally, the aircraftwas the swept-wing fighter should fail. The 1-320 andhandling.Theproblemwaspartlycuredby
topresentnoinsurmountabledifficultiesforthe 'Mkl'wasastraightforwardmodificationofthe slightlyincreasingwingareaaftoftherearfalse
averagepilot. MiG-9 (izdeliye FS) with the two side-by-side spar,resultinginakinkedtrailingedgeright(its
Successhingedonfulfillingtheseoftencon RD-20axial-flowturbojetsreplaced byasingle innermostportionwasunswept).Thefinalsolu
flicting requirements. The powerplant issue Nene- hencetheNinthemanufacturer'sdes tion was to movethe engineforward sothatit
hadalreadybeendecided;thefighterwastobe ignation.However,workonthemorepromising was located immediately aft ofthe main spar
designed aroundthe Rolls-Royce Nenewhich swept-wing design seemed to progress quite and usealongextensionjetpipe.Thiscreated
had entered licence production in the USSR. nicely and izdeliye FN was abandoned at the abonus in theform ofafuselage made up of
Developmentoftheejectionsystemin1946-47 prototypeconstructionstage4 two sections (forward and rear); the entire aft
alsowentsuccessfully. However, asperusual, Forawhile, Mikoyanengineersalsoconsid fuselagecould beeasilydetached, leaVingthe
rigid convention came into conflict with pio ered atwin-boom arrangementreminiscent of enginecompletelyexposedformaintenanceor
neering concepts. Sometimestheconvention- the de Havilland Vampire. However, a layout removal.
MiG-15 7
A lot of problems were caused by the July1947sawtheappearanceoftheMiG-9M Thesystemwasfairlysimpleandhadfewcom
engine's inlet duct. It had a complex shape (izdeliye FR), an experimental version of the ponents, which renderedtheground partsuit
becauseofthenumerousobstructionsithadto Fargo with a redesigned forward fuselage. able for use on ad hoc tactical airfields (in
bypass, including cockpit and fuel cells. Out Apart from having a totally new weapons truck-mountedform).
sideairenteredasubsonicintakewithacentre arrangement, the MiG-9M had a ventilation Constructionofthefirstprototype1-310,des
splitter. Here, itseparated intotwoflows pass typepressurizedcockpit.ActuallythefirstSovi ignatedS-1 (ie,iZdeliyeSNo1),beganatMMZ
ing along narrow ducts on either side of the etaircrafttoflywith apressurized cockpitwas 'Zenit' in the spring of 1947; the aircraft was
frontavionicsbay,nosewheelwell,cockpitand thestraight-wing,single-enginedYak-25exper powered by a RR Nene-1 turbojet (c/n 1036)
mainfuelcell;thetwoflowsmetattheengine's imental fighter which flew for the first time on ratedat2,230kgp(4,916Ibst).Bythen,amock
compressorface. 31stOctober1947.'Theventilation-typecock uphadbeen reviewedandapprovedbyaWS
Maximizing thrust and preventing the aft pitwaspressurizedwith engine bleed air.This commission. By19thDecembertheprototype
fuselage from being overheated by exhaust systemensurednormalpressure,temperature had been completed and trucked to L11's air
gasesweretwooftheconflictingrequirements andhumidityconditionsinthecockpitandwas field in Ramenskoye south of Moscow.·Viktor
facing Mikoyan engineers. The problem was perhapsclosertowhatthefutureMiG-15would Nikolayevich Youganov, who had worked for
solved in the course of the first prototype's have. Mikoyan since 1946 and had flown the 1-270,
flight tests. TslAM engineers proposed short The Yak-25 also a pneumatic canopy jetti was appointed project test pilot. He was an
ening the aft fuselage and extension pipe, soningsystemdesignedbyLeonidLSelyakov excellent airman; in fact, he was often com
reducing thrustlossesatfull military powerby who went onto work atthe Myasischev OKB, paredtothefamoustestpilotValeriyPavlovich
7to9%. participatinginthedevelopmentoftheM-4and Chkalovforhisflyingskills- andhisdevil-may
Anotherchallengewiththe1-310washowto 3M Bison and M-50 Bounder heavy bombers careattitudeaswell, aswill becomeapparent.
accommodate the main landing gear units in and,laterstill,becamechiefprojectengineerof To keep to the planned schedule, the S-1's
the relatively thin wings (stowing them in the thepopularTu-134Crustyairliner.Justaboutall maiden flight had to take place bythe end of
fuselage was out ofthe question- these was Sovietfightercanopies, includingthose ofthe December.However,theweatherwaspoorand
simplyno room). Theproblem boileddownto La-15 and MiG-15, were based on Selyakov's itwas clearly betterto alterthe plan than risk
the fact that the thin, high aspect ratio wings workwiththeYak-25. losingtheonlyaircraftavailable.TheOKBlead
were of three-spar stressed-skin aluminium Another problem facing designers of the ersdecidedtopostponethefirstflightuntilthe
constructionandthestructurewouldbeexces 1-310was how to place the armament. As on beginningof1948.ButYouganovwasshortof
sivelyweakened bythemainwheel wells. This theMiG-9,thearmamentcomprisedone37mm money (atthetime, aSoviettest pilot making
promptedstudiesonhowtodevelopalight,yet Nudel'man N-37 cannon and two 23mm thefirstflightofanewaircraftwaspaid 10,000
rigidstructure.Eventuallyastiffandlightweight Nudel'man/Sooranov NS-23KM cannons. Ini roubles - quite a lot of money) and insisted
one-piecestamped mainsparwasintroduced, tially,theseweretobemountedinsimilarfash thatthefirstflightbeperformedbeforetheyear
but not before the aircraft experienced lateral iontotheMiG-9,withthebigcannonmounted wasout.
stability problems caused by insufficientwing in the intake splitter and one 23mm cannon On30th December1947thecloudbasewas
torsionalstiffness(thesewillbedescribedlater). protruding beyondtheintakelowerliponeach at2,000m (6,560ft),whichmeantthefirstflight
1-310 wing static testing took place at the side. However, armament trials on the MiG-9 couldnotbeperformedundertherulesthenin
MoscowAviation Institute. Withtheinitialwing promptlyshowedthatthisarrangementwasno force. Still,Yuganovdecided hewouldflyany
design, skin cracks appeared at 120% of the good- the engineoftensurgedafteringesting way,sohenonchalantlyclimbedintothecock
maximum design load, clearly indicating that gun blastgaseswhenthecannonswerefired. pit, had the aircraft towed to the holding
the structure was way too heavy. The OKB's The problem was aggravated by the MiG-9's position to save fuel, started the engine and
structuraldepartmentconsidereditpossibleto powerplant,asaxial-flowturbojetsareextremely took off. Retracting the landing gear, hemade
reducestructural weightby 180kg (396Ib) but sensitivetogunblastgasingestion. two circuits of the field below the cloudbase
overdid it- thewingsfailed atonly70%ofthe This was nottoo critical on the MiG-15with andlanded.
maximum load. Finally, in a compromise itscentrifugal-flowturbojet; still,the engineers Unfortunately, Artyom I Mikoyan was not
between high strength and low weight, the chose to relocate the armament. To facilitate theretowitnessthefirstflightofthefutureMiG
wingswerelightenedby162kg (357Ib)versus access, engineerNIVolkov inventedasimple 15;nobodyhadexpectedittoflyinthatkindof
the original design; nowthe structurefailed at and ingenioussolution: allthree cannons and weather. TheGeneral Designer"congratulated
exactlythemaximumdesignload. their ammunition boxes were neatly mounted Youganovonthephone.
The engineers had to proceed by trial and onasingletrayunderthecockpit, the N-37to Manufacturer'sflighttestsproceededforthe
error because there was no established starboard andthetwo NS-23KMsto port.This nextfive monthsand were completed on 25th
method of predicting structural strength char traycouldbewinched downquicklybymeans May 1948. Meanwhile, work continued onthe
acteristics of a swept wing at the time. Lav ofahand crank andfourpulleysfor reloading second prototype (S-2) which was 75% com
ochkin OKB engineer I Sverdlov created this andmaintenance,decreasingturnaroundtime pletebythetimetheS-1 flew.Thesecond pro
techniquewhiletheLa-160,La-168,andLa-174 dramatically. totype differed mainly in being powered by a
were under development. His work titled 'Air The avionics suite included an OSP-48 Nene-2 engine (c/n 1039) rated at 2,270kgp
craftStructuralStrengthCalculation'isconsid instrument landing system (ILS) for use in (5,004Ibst)andhavingthewingsmoved80mm
ered aclassic work on the subject in Russia. instrument meteorological conditions. The (3.15in) aft,withanewairfoilattheroot.
Sincejetenginesenabledfighterstoclimbto ground partofthe system includedtwo range Other detail changes included thinner for
15,000m (49,212ft) and higher, ordinary oxy beacons, three marker beacons, communica wardfuselage skins, wing spars madeofV-95
genmaskswerenotenough;thefutureMiG-15 tions radios and an HForVHF radio direction aluminium alloy instead of Type 30KhGSA
wasgoingtoneedacockpitpressurizationand finder to facilitate approach, descent to land steel, increased aileron area and a simplified
heating system. The limited experience the ing,andtouchdowninbadweather.Thepartof canopy frame for better all-round visibility. An
OKB hadamassedwiththewartime 1-212and the system installed on the fighter comprised ASP-1Nautomaticgunsight(avtomateecheskiy
1-214 clearly was not enough. Therefore, an ARK-5 Amur (a riverinthe Soviet Far East; strelkovyypreetsel),was installed, along with
Mikoyan joinedforces with their competitor in pronouncedliketheFrenchwordamour)auto anS-13guncameraontheairintakeupperlip.
the jet fighter development programme, the maticdirectionfinder, an RV-2 Kristall (Crystal) The main gear unitswere modified in orderto
Lavochkin OKB, to develop aviable pressur low-altitude radio altimeter and an MRP-48 increase landing gearwheelbase, internalfuel
izedcockpit. Dyatel (Woodpecker)markerbeaconreceiver.' volumewasincreasedandprovisionwasmade
8 MiG-15
The1·310(alsoknownasthe5·1),thefirst
prototypeMiG·15,duringthecourseof
manufacturer'sflighttestsinDecember1947.
YefimGordonarchive
for 250 litre (55 Imperial gallon) slippertanks
immediatelyoutboardoftheouterwingfences.
(Some sources give the drop tank volume as
260litres/57.2Imperialgallons)
(Itshould be notedthat- inthe USSR, any
way- earlyprototypeaircraftoftendifferedcon
siderably in avionics fit from the production
version. Asarule, someoftheradioand navi
gation equipment was omitted; if radar was
envisaged, itwas notfitted atall oratried and
tested production radarfrom anearlieraircraft
was temporarily fitted instead of the planned
modeL) anareaof0.48m'(5.16ft')each.Winganhedral On 4th November, 1948the third prototype
TheS-2wascompletedon5thAprilandfirst was increased from _1° to _2°, minor changes wastransferred tothe NilWSfacilityatNovo
flewon27th May1948with SergeyNAnokhin weremadetothefinandailerons,andtheele fyodorovka airfield (Saki, the Crimean Penin
atthecontrols.ItwasintendedforStateaccep vatorswerefittedwith massbalances. sula) where it underwent so-called checkout
tancetrialstobeheldbytheAirForceResearch Fuel capacity was increased to 1,460 litres tests" until3rd December.StageBoftheState
Institute(NilWS- Naoochno-issledovatel'skiy (321.2 Imperial gallons) versus 1,340 litres acceptancetrialsendedonthesameday.Test
institoot voyenno-vozdooshnykh see0. In the (294.8 Imperial gallons) on the first prototype pilots Yuriy A Antipov and Vasiliy G Ivanov
summerof1948,bothprototypeswereflownto andprovisionwasmadeforcarryingbombson made 35 flights at Novofyodorovka. On 23rd
the Nil WS facility at Chkalovskoye airbase wing hardpoints, giving the MiG-15 a sec December, AirMarshal KVershinin, Comman
east of Moscow.'o Typically ofthe period, the ondaryattackrole.AnAFA-IMreconnaissance der-in-Chief of the WS, signed an order to
decisiontolaunchproductionofthefighterwas camera(AFA= aerofotoapparaht- aerialcam introduce the MiG-15 into the WS inventory.
madeeven beforetrialswere completed; usu era) covered byahingeddoorwasinstalled in Despite this order, Nil WS pilots were still
allythisapproach paidoff. the forward fuselage. The weapons tray was charged with determiningwhetherthe MiG-15
The State acceptance trials proceeded in beefedupandtheN-37cannonwasfittedwith ortheLa-15wasbettersuitedtotheAirForce's
twostages (StageA, 27th Mayto25thAugust a flash suppressor, receiving the designation requirements. The La-15 was faster and more
1948;StageB,4thNovemberto3rdDecember N-37D (dorabotannaya - revised). Fortechno stable at speeds approaching Mach 1, but its
1948). In the course of the trials the 1-310 logical reasons the aircraftalso used different mainshortcoming,intheopinionoftheairforce
receivedtheservicedesignationunderwhichit structural materials, which resulted in aslight test pilots, was its narrow-track undercarriage
wastomakeitsmarkin history (and makethe increaseinemptyweight. which madethe aircraftdifficulttocontrol dur
MikoyanOKBworldfamous)- theMiG-15. The S-3tooktotheairon 17thJuly1948at ing crosswind landings, especially in the wet.
Thethirdprototype,S-3 (whichwasineffect the hands oftest pilot IT Ivaschchenko who Whilehavingalighterstructure,theLa-15rated
a pre-production aircraft), was completed in hadjoinedtheMikoyanOKBin1945.Theman poorlyoneaseofmanufacturingandmaintain
March 1948. Like the S-2, it was also ear ufacturer's flight test programme lasted until ability. Itswing manufacturing process (involv
marked for State acceptance trials and pow 15th October; 48 flights were made by ing machining large components from solid
ered by a Nene-2. This aircraft introduced Ivaschchenko and Sergey N Anokhin, in the slabs ofmetal and matingthem with complex
hydraulically-powered airbrakes of almost tri course of which the aircraft attained a top joints)contributedtothedownfalloftheaircraft,
angularshapeontherearfuselagesides, with speedofMach0.934. asitsproductionwasverylabour-intensive.
MiG-15 9