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Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15bis (LIM-2) Fagot

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.

Wingspan

33 ft 1 in.

Length

33 ft 1 in.

Height

12 ft 2 in.

Weight

11,120 lb (loaded)

Maximum Speed

649 MPH

Service Ceiling

50,853 ft

Range

771 miles

Engine

One Klimov Vk-1 turbojet with 7,452 pounds of thrust

Crew

1

Manufacturer
MiG

Markings
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Air Force (North Korea), 1952

Designation
MiG-15bis

Registration
N822JM

Serial Number
1B-0822