{"id":2500,"date":"2015-03-14T10:53:31","date_gmt":"2015-03-14T10:53:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.migflug.com\/jetflights\/?p=2500"},"modified":"2026-04-01T17:59:54","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T15:59:54","slug":"mig-15-fagot-the-70-year-old-65-year-old-jet-still-going-strong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/mig-15-fagot-the-70-year-old-65-year-old-jet-still-going-strong\/","title":{"rendered":"MiG-15 Fagot \u2013 The 65-Year-Old Jet Still Going Strong!"},"content":{"rendered":"

The aircraft<\/h2>\n

Its first flight was on December 30, 1947 with the original British engine, later manufactured as “Klimov RD-45”.\u00a0 The first MiG-15 manufactured in series appears in December of 1948 and the first Regiments of MiG-15 are ready for 1949. \u00a0During September of the 1948, the aircraft\u00a0did\u00a0its first flight of the modified\u00a0<\/span>MiG-15bis<\/b>, with a different motor, RD-45F, copy of the Rolls-Royce Nene-II, of 2,700 kg of pushing.\u00a0 Its production began\u00a0in the 1950s.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The MiG-15 banking to the right!<\/p><\/div>\n

Operational History<\/h2>\n

When the ongoing Korean War escalated with the North Korean offensive of 25 June 1950, the Northern Air Force was equipped with World War II-vintage Soviet prop-driven fighters, including 93\u00a0<\/span>Il-10s\u00a0and 79\u00a0<\/span>Yak-9Ps.<\/span>\u00a0The North Korean Air Force had roughly 93 Il-10s, 79 Yak-9Ps, and 40\u201350 assorted transport\/liaison\/trainer aircraft”.<\/span>\u00a0The vast range of numerical and technical superiority of the\u00a0<\/span>USAF, led by advanced jets such as Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star and\u00a0<\/span>Republic F-84 Thunderjet\u00a0fighters, quickly brought air superiority, thus laying North Korea’s cities bare to the destructive power of USAF B-29 bombers which, together with Navy and Marine aircraft, roamed the skies largely unopposed for a time.<\/span><\/p>\n

The aircraft<\/h2>\n

The MiG-15 was the first ever Soviet fighter to be equipped with\u00a0an ejection seat, pressurised cockpit, and swept wing.<\/cite><\/p>\n

The rear seat of the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 feels like a booby-trapped cage compared to the spacious Aero Vodochody L-39 Albatros (More info about the L39<\/a>) with its bulbous canopy. Unlike the L-39 that I flew as an introduction to\u00a0jet warbird training, the MiG-15 has hot ejection seats.<\/p>\n

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Even though the pin is still in my seat as I strap in, I\u2019m careful to manoeuvre the belts away from the ejection handle, conscious that I\u2019m sitting above a canister filled with gunpowder (the 1940s-1950s era technology for an ejection seat<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The cockpit<\/p><\/div><\/blockquote>\n

Seated in the rear cockpit, one of the few placards that I can easily read is an aftermarket sticker straight ahead that says \u201cFace this direction.\u201d Other placards and markings are in Cyrillic. That would be why he encourages me to \u201cstay visual\u201d in the aircraft. To a U.S. pilot, some of the instrumentation can create confusion: The Soviet-era attitude indicator is the opposite\u2014brown on top and blue on the bottom. That could spell disaster for an unfamiliar pilot trying to recover from an unusual attitude in instrument meteorological conditions.<\/p>\n

The turbojet \u201cburns as much fuel on the ground as it does in cruise,\u201d an expert says, explaining that this aircraft, which holds 450 gallons with the drop tanks, burns about 5 gallons per minute. That gives the pilot in command\u00a01.5 hours of fuel on board, or about a 45-minute flight counting start-up, taxi, and required landing reserves. \u201cMy watch starts when the engine starts,\u201d he says, \u201cand you fly the MiG with your watch.\u201d\u00a0Winds are another limiting factor, Salganek says. Because the ailerons are ineffective at slow airspeeds, the MiG doesn\u2019t have enough aileron effectiveness to land in strong crosswinds.\u00a0The MiG can cover easily 350 nautical miles in one hour, but cross-country planning is very difficult \u00a0and challenging because of the runway lengths and services it requires. Jet fuel and nitrogen must be available at each point of landing. (The wheels\u2019 drum brakes operate off nitrogen that must be replenished before every flight.) The MiG-15 needs at least 5,000 feet of runway at sea level, and 8,000 feet at 6,000-feet elevations like in Santa Fe. If a pilot experiences a problem shortly after takeoff, a safe landing could be precluded. \u201cThe brakes are OK for 1947, but they aren\u2019t made to come back and land with full fuel,\u201d he continues.<\/p>\n