MiG-15bis

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The end of WWII, two radical new technologies entered warfare: nuclear weapons and jet engines. The threat of the former, carried by the B-29 long-range strategic bomber, mean that the latter had to be used to create a countermeasure. The MiG-15 was that countermeasure, and it turned out to be a very lethal threat to pretty much anything in the air at the time. It came as a nasty surprise in the skies over Korea and had no viable counter of its own until the introduction of the F-86.

Much like the same-era F-86F, the DCS World version of the MiG-15bis sits in a strange place between the earlier, almost completely mechanical and manual WWII prop fighters, and the systems-heavy and highly automated modern jet fighters. Between the two, the F-86F leans more towards the future, with its early missiles, automated sight, and bombing modes, whereas the MiG-15bis leans more towards the past, with its still rudimentary ground controls and its reliance on simple guns and bombs.

Features

Much like the F-86F, the leap forward the MiG-15bis represents needs to be measured against the WWII prop planes that preceded it, not with anything that followed afterwards (including the F-86F). Many of these advanced features are similar to what would soon be found in the Sabre, and for similar reasons:

• Speed brakes(!) to get (or stay) out of the high compressibility state when the flight controls no longer work properly.
• Stageless flaps for even more speed and lift control.
• A tricycle landing gear (but still differential braking rather than proper nose-wheel steering or toe brakes).
• A 37mm cannon to burst B-29:s (and a pair of 23mm cannons for smaller targets).
• A very… curious split radio system that uses (anything but) easily remembered “wave numbers” rather than imperialist pigdog frequencies (1 wave number = 0.025 MHz).
• ARK-5 NDB navigation.
• A whimsical attitude to instrument placement.

Flying the MiG-21bis

Cockpit overview

Shooting something

Links and files

• Vehicle Size Chart for sight adjustments.
• Chuck's MiG-15bis guide.
• DCS: MiG-15bis by Belsimtek in the DCS shop.

Related DCS modules

• The Museum Relic campaign for F-86F and MiG-15.

More information

• Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 on wikpedia.
• MiG-15 FAGOT on globalsecurity.org
• Bunyap's Test Flight - DCS: MiG-15 bis Fagot video series.