Book Review: MiG-15 in action

Cutaway diagram: "Design Details: Russia's MiG-15"  Aviation Week  April 2, 1951  p.32

Photo: MiG-15 after crash-landing on Formosa. Air Pictorial May 1960  p.170

Large photo showing the cockpit details of a defecting MiG-15.  Air Progress  Fall 1962  p.73

Color profiles showing MiG-15bis aircraft of the VVS, North Korea, PLAAF, and Hungary.  Air International June 1985  p.326 This is also a two-page MiG-15bis cutaway drawing.

 Book Review: MiG-15 in action
Produced in vast numbers for a postwar design, the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 was easily one of the most advanced fighters of its day, dominating straight-winged US jet fighters such as the F-80, F-84, and F9F; only the arrival of the F-86 Sabre allowed the USAF to mount an effective counter over Korea. Widely exported and built under liscense, MiG-15s went on to fight in numerous smaller wars, and in the two-seater MIG-15UTI configuration would serve into the 1980s.

Some highlights of this book by Hans-Heiri Stapfer:

MiG-15 Fagot-A
    Czech aircraft after belly-landing in Bohemia
    early aircraft with underwing RATO
    scrap diagrams - drop tank development

MiG-15S  escort fighter
MiG-15U ground attack fighter with 30mm cannon

*SP-1 all-weather interceptor:  2 photos
* SP-5 interceptor with Izumrud radar, 2 photos

* MiG-15Bis Fagot-B (Project SD)
    3-view diagram
    Cuban, Algerian, and Hungarian aircraft
    Polish MiG-15bis after defecting
    Egytpian Air Force MiG after forced landing

10 color profiles, including:

    defecting Polish aircraft
    PLAAF aircraft in Korea
    Romanian aircraft with arrow markings
    Albanian F-2/MiG-15bis
    Polish Aviation Institute aircraft
    Hungarian camouflaged MiG-15bis
    Yemen Arab Republic Air Force MiG-15bis
    Cuban MiG-15UTI in camo
    East German (Czech-built) MiG-15UTI
    DOSAAF MiG-15UTI

MiG-15bis with Tu-4 tanker
S-103 Fagot-B
MiG-15SB fighter-bomber
Polish-built Lim-1/2s
Chinese J-2

MiG-15UTI Midget
    3-view diagram
side-view drawings of armament variations - MiG-15UTI / CS-102 / SBLim-2M
ejection seat testbeds

Unlike many of the US aircraft it would encounter in the skies over North Vietnam, the MiG-17 had a heavy internal gun armament, consisting of a single N-37 37mm cannon with 40 rounds, and a pair of Nudelman-Rikhter NR-23 23mm weapons with 80 rounds per gun.The MiG-17 was equipped with the ASP-4N gunsight that was directly derived from a US system salvaged from a downed F-86.

"Egypt: An Air Power in Transition, Pt.II" Air International May 1982. Includes several photos of Egyptian MiG-17Fs.

"Tientsin Time Capsule - A Visit to a Chinese Air Base"  Air International January 1983. Includes several JJ-5/FT-5 photos

Photo: Sri Lankan AF MiG-17F CF-903  Air International March 1983  p.150

First flown in 1950, MiG's I-320 built on the bureau's MiG-15 experience, but was a very different aircraft, intended as a heavy interceptor carrying the Izumrud radar. The first prototype, with side by side crew seating, had twin RD-45F engines, but the last two aircraft replaced these with more powerful VK-1s. A tri of N-37 37mm cannon gave the I-320 a heavy punch, but the type was passed over and no production examples were built, as the Yak-25 Flashlight was chosen for service instead.

DML MiG-15
A detailed build article using the 1/72 MiG-15/J-2 kit from DML, producing a camouflaged aircraft.

MiG-15UTI
An interesting collection of 1/72 scale MiG-15UTI kits from Hobby Boss, including one example finished as an ejection seat testbed aircraft

Tamiya 1/48 scale MiG-15
Building the Tamiya kit as an Hungarian aircraft