Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-1

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-1
Prototype I-200
Type:	Fighter plane
Design country:	Soviet Union
Manufacturer:	Plant No. 1 Moscow-Khodinka
First flight:	April 5, 1940
Commissioning:	1941
Production time:	January to September 1941
Number of pieces:	100

The Mikoyan-Gurewitsch MiG-1 ( Russian Микоян-Гуревич МиГ-1 ) was a Soviet fighter aircraft in World War II .

development

The aircraft designers Artyom Ivanovich Mikoyan and Michail Iossifowitsch Gurewitsch founded the Mikojan-Gurewitsch design office in December 1939 , about 40 percent of which consisted of former Polikarpov employees. The first of two almost simultaneously developed projects of the new design office was called 65 and was designed as an attack aircraft, which was abandoned in favor of the Ilyushin Il-2 .

The second project, which began in October 1939 as part of the modernization program for the Soviet air forces and was designated the I-61 (I stands for Istrebitel, fighter aircraft), had a Mikulin - AM-35A engine and took place with an order for three test fighters , which later designated as I-200 , consent. To this end, Mikoyan and Gurevich adopted the draft K, which had already been prepared by Polikarpow . A parallel development was the I-63 with an AM-37 engine.

The first prototype was flown by A. N. Yekatov on April 5, 1940. In August 1940 the flight tests were completed and the aircraft was presented to the public for the first time on August 18 at the air parade in Tuschino . The license for series production , which started in January 1941, was then granted under the designation MiG-1 .

The series hunters reached a top speed of 628 km / h at an altitude of 7,000 meters, which is why they were called the "fastest hunters in the world".

The MiG-1 had a number of weaknesses, so that only 100 copies were built at Plant (Zavod) No. 1 in Chodinka. The low stability, the short range and the sensitivity to combat damage were particularly significant. Contrary to expectations, the aerial battles did not take place at great heights either - the expected German high-altitude bombers did not fly in because the German Air Force never owned them. At medium or low altitudes, however, the MiG-1 could not achieve its speed advantage and was inferior to the German operational models. The MiG-1 was generally rather difficult to fly and required experienced pilots, which the Soviet air forces hardly had any more after Stalin's "purges". As a result, but also because of its small number and the overwhelming German superiority, the aircraft could not develop its full potential.

The MiG-3 represented an improvement through appropriate modifications .

Military users

•  Soviet Union

Technical specifications

Parameter	Data
crew	1
length	8.26 m
span	10.20 m
height	3.50 m
Wing area	17.44 m²
Wing extension	5.97
Empty mass	2,595 kg
maximum take-off mass	3,350 kg
Engine	a twelve-cylinder - V engine Mikulin AM-35A
power	994 kW (approx. 1,350 PS)
Top speed	508 km / h near the ground, 640 km / h at an altitude of 7,800 m
Cruising speed	500 km / h
Rise time	5.3 minutes at an altitude of 5,000 m
Range	730 km
Service ceiling	12,000 m
Armament	one 12.7 mm MG UBS two 7.62 mm MG SchKAS

literature

• Wilfried Copenhagen: Soviet fighters . Transpress, Berlin 1985 (VLN 162-925 / 145/85).