[MVDS] MiG-15

[Phaelen Bleux]

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 "Fagot"
As the Soviets began working with captured German data to produce a high-performance jet-powered fighter, they were missing one key ingredient--the turbojet. Mikoyan and Gurveich approached Stalin for funds to purchase a jet powerplant from another country, to which Stalin replied "What fool would sell us his secrets?" Nevertheless, he allowed them to go, and they returned to the Soviet Union with several British-made Rolls-Royce Nene turbojets. The Soviets copied these as the RD-45, and had a prototype available the same year. Rolls-Royce was less than pleased by these activities, and unsuccessfully attempted to collect license fees for the design.
NATO was even more displeased when the MiG-15 appeared in the skies over Korea. It outclassed nearly every other straight-wing fighter in the sky, and pilots became wary of "MiG Alley." It possessed an excellent ceiling, high speed, and a good rate of climb. Its only real competition was the swept-wing F-86 Sabre (q.v. The Aerodrome). The MiG-15's main liabilities were outdated WWII-era gun sights, poor performance at low altitude, and an inability to dive. A MiG pilot could lose if he permitted a dogfight in level fight at low altitude--but in the vertical, the MiG-15 excelled. Losses to the MiG-15 early in the Korean War were so significant, it gained an "unkillable" mystique much as the Zero (p. W:112) held in the opening days of WWII. This even led the U.S. to post a "reward" of $100,000 and political asylum to any pilot willing to defect and bring his plane to the West. In 1953, a Polish pilot obliged, and the aircraft was studied and flown extensively. Chuck Yeager became one of the first Western pilots to fly the MiG-15.
The MiG-15 has a crew of one. It is heavily armed with three autocannons, as its main target was often B-29 heavy bombers (p. W:MP102). It burns 600 gallons of jet fuel per hour at routine usage. A full load of fuel and ammo (not including bombs or drop tanks) costs $309.

MiG-15bis (Fagot-B)
Subassemblies: Heavy Fighter chassis with Very Good streamlining +3; Heavy Fighter wings +2; 3 retractable wheels +0.
Powertrain: 5,952-lb. thrust turbojet with 364 gallons self-sealing fuel tanks [Body and Wings]; 4,000-kWs batteries.
Occ.: 1 CS
Cargo: 0 Body

Armor F RL B T U
All: 3/5 3/5 3/5 3/5 3/5
Wheels: 2/3 2/3 2/3 2/3 2/3
Cockpit: 0/0 0/+0 0/+15 0/+0 0/+15

Weaponry:
37mm Long Aircraft AC/N-37 [Body:F] (40 rounds).*
2x23mm Long Aircraft AC/NS-23 [Body:F] (80 rounds each).*
*Linked in pairs, plus additional links can fire all three at once.
1,102 lbs of Bombs/Rockets [Wings:U].

Equipment:
Body: Medium radio and transmitter and receiver, navigation instruments, autopilot, life support, ejection seat. Wings: 551-lb. hardpoint each.

Statistics:
Size: 36'x33'x12' Payload: 2.61 tons Lwt.: 6.66 tons
Volume: 200 Maint.: 33 hours Cost: $35,826
HT: 9. HPs: 260 Body, 180 each Wing, 24 each Wheel
aSpeed: 668 aAccel: 9 aDecel: 19 aMR: 5 aSR: 2
Stall Speed 115.
gSpeed: 478 gAccel: 24 gDecel: 10 gMR: 0.5 gSR: 2
Ground Pressure Extremely High. No Off-Road Speed.

Design Notes:
This design takes advantage of Very Good Streamlining. Calculated aSpeed was 747 mph; the historical values are shown. The historical wing area (222 sf) and loaded weight were used for performance calculations. Design loaded weight was increased 6%. Design payload was 4,043 lbs.; the historical value is shown.
The design is too small for all components by 2.9 VSPs. However, the design installs a 6,000-lb. turbojet and 250 rounds of 23mm ammo, both of which are reduced to historical values. Consequently, this overage was waved.

Variants:
The MiG-15 (Fagot-A) (1949) featured a 4,952-lb. turbojet.
The MiG-15UTI "Midget" was a two-seat trainer. As no trainer versions of the MiG-17 or MiG-19 were designed, this trainer has continued in service for training purposes, even today.