Mikoyan–Gurevich MiG-15bis
Stepping outside the hanger into the hot noontime Arizona sun, we encounter a Mikoyan–Gurevich MiG-15bis. It was built in late 1950/early 1951 then sent to China. The markings are of the North Korean Air Force. According to Wikipedia, "The MiG-15 was one of the first successful swept-wing jet fighters, and it achieved fame in the skies over Korea, where early in the war, it outclassed all straight-winged enemy fighters in most applications. The MiG-15 also served as the starting point for development of the more advanced MiG-17. The MiG-15 is believed to have been the most widely produced jet aircraft ever made, with over 12,000 built. Licensed foreign production perhaps raised the total to over 18,000. The MiG-15 is often mentioned along with the North American F-86 Sabre as among the best fighter aircraft of the Korean War and in comparisons with fighters of other eras." Although this aircraft is not flight-worthy, the MiG-15 was powered by a Klimov RD-45 turbojet engine. Curiously, this was a copy of a Rolls-Royce Nene centrifugal compressor turbojet engine. The fact that the design was copied without license was not discovered by the British until 1958 at which point Rolls-Royce attempted to claim £207,000,000 from the Soviets. I am sure the Soviets had a good laugh at that — Rolls-Royce never did collect that fee. Note the speed break in the deployed position. It is curious that aircraft designers work so diligently to streamline an aircraft only to have to put a break on it.
Size: 7353px × 4902px
Location: Mesa, AZ
Photo credit: © B. David Cathell / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
Keywords: 15, 15bis, 23km, air, aircraft, arizona, bdavid, cannons, commemorative, confederate, fighter, force, gurevich, jet, mig, mikoyan, nr, nr-23km, nudelman, nudelman-rikhter, rikhter, swept, swept-wing, warbirds, wing
