The MiG-15 came as a great surprise to the Western nations when they first encountered it during the Korean War. It was much more advanced and capable than the West had believed possible and proved to be more than a match for virtually all the Western fighters except for the F-86 Sabre. The MiG-15s engine was a direct copy of the British designed Rolls-Royce Nene engine, samples of which had been bought from England in 1946. The Fagot first flew in 1948. A total of 16,085 MiG-15 were built in Poland, Czechoslovakia, and China as well as in Russia. In all 38 different countries used the aircraft.
Service History
Built by the Wytwornia Sprzetu Komunikacyjneo (WSK) factory in Mielec, Poland. The aircraft’s history with the Polish Air Force is only partially known.
December 1961 45th Fighter Regiment.
October 1964 2nd Fighter Regiment.
April 1978 61st Combat Training Regiment.
Acquired by the U.S. Air Force in the 1980s and flown by civilian contractors for research projects conducted by the Defense Test and Evaluation Support Agency at Kirtland AFB, Albuquerque, New Mexico. Apparently retired to storage at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona around 1990.
July 1992 Loaned to the Pima Air & Space Museum by the National Museum of the United States Air Force.
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Manufacturer
MiG
Markings
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Air Force (North Korea), 1952
Designation
MiG-15bis
Registration
N822JM
Serial Number
1B-0822