Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-1

Mikoyan-Gurevich

Industry	Aerospace
Founded	1939
Founder	Artem Mikoyan, Mikhail Gurevich
Headquarters	Soviet Union
Products	Military aircraft

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The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-1 (Russian: Микоян-Гуревич МиГ-1) was a Soviet fighter aircraft developed during World War II to fulfill a high-altitude interceptor requirement issued in 1939. To reduce reliance on scarce materials such as aluminum, its construction primarily utilized steel tubing and wood. Although flight trials exposed several shortcomings, production commenced before these issues were resolved. Despite its challenging handling characteristics, approximately one hundred units were manufactured before the design evolved into the MiG-3. The MiG-1 was allocated to Soviet Air Force (VVS) fighter regiments in 1941; however, the majority were reportedly lost during the initial phase of Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the USSR in June that year.

Conceptualization

The MiG-1 originated from a VVS demand issued in January 1939 for a high-altitude fighter powered by an inline engine. Initially labeled I-200, the project was undertaken within the Polikarpov design bureau beginning in June 1939, led by Nikolai Polikarpov and his deputy M. Tetivikin. Although Polikarpov favored radial engines and promoted his I-180 design during this period, the advent of the powerful Mikulin AM-37 inline engine prompted him to adopt it for the new fighter. The design philosophy centered on creating the smallest possible airframe around this powerplant to minimize weight and aerodynamic drag, embodying the concept of a light fighter. The aircraft was expected to achieve speeds up to 670 km/h (417 mph). In August 1939, following Polikarpov’s political decline under Joseph Stalin, his team was dispersed after his November visit to German aviation facilities. Subsequently, a new Experimental Construction Section (OKO) was formed under Artem Mikoyan and Mikhail Gurevich, remaining officially part of Polikarpov’s bureau until June 1940. The responsibility for further development of the I-200 transferred to Mikoyan and Gurevich, who later gained recognition—albeit somewhat overstated—as its principal designers.

The MiG-1 featured a low-wing monoplane layout with conventional tailwheel landing gear and mixed material construction. Due to shortages of lightweight alloys, the rear fuselage was fabricated from wood, while the forward fuselage—from propeller to cockpit rear—consisted of a welded steel tube framework covered with duralumin. The wing structure was predominantly wooden, except for an all-metal center section supported by a steel I-beam main spar. Employing a Clark YH airfoil profile, the wing tapered evenly with rounded tips and incorporated a dihedral angle of 5° on the outer panels. All three landing gear wheels retracted hydraulically—the main units folding inward into the wing’s center section. Positioned far aft, the cockpit placement significantly impaired forward visibility during landing and taxiing operations. Since the AM-37 engine was not yet ready, an alternative less powerful V-12 Mikulin AM-35A was installed. This engine featured six exhaust ejectors—one per cylinder pair—that generated additional thrust. It drove a three-meter diameter VISh-22Ye variable-pitch propeller. Supercharger air intakes were located in the wing roots, with an oil cooler mounted on the port side of the engine cowling and a radiator situated beneath the cockpit. Armament comprised two fuselage-mounted 7.62 mm (0.300 in) ShKAS machine guns and one 12.7 mm (0.50 in) UBS machine gun.

The resulting aircraft was conventional in configuration and completed its maiden flight as planned on 5 April 1940 at Moscow’s Khodynka Aerodrome, piloted by chief test pilot Arkadij Ekatov. By 24 May, the first prototype reached a velocity of 648.5 km/h (402.9 mph) at an altitude of 6,900 m (22,638 ft), though it fell short of meeting the Air Force’s original speed target with this powerplant. The second prototype flew on 9 May; however, the third prototype—the first armed example—was delayed until 6 June due to synchronization gear issues that extended ground firing trials. On 5 August, a maximum speed of 651 km/h (405 mph) at 7,000 m (23,000 ft) was recorded using full engine boost. Climb performance included reaching 5,000 m (16,000 ft) in 5.1 minutes and 7,000 m (23,000 ft) in 7.2 minutes, while speeds at lower altitudes measured 579 km/h (360 mph) at 2,200 m (7,200 ft) and 605 km/h (376 mph) at 3,630 m (11,910 ft).

Production and Enhancements

The I-200 was promptly approved for production on 31 May 1940. Unlike its competitors, the I-26 (later known as the Yak-1) and the I-301 (which became the LaGG-3), the I-200 successfully passed state trials on its initial attempt in August. However, these tests uncovered several significant issues, such as limited visibility during taxiing, poor-quality plexiglas in the canopy that impaired the pilot's sight, heavy control forces, unsatisfactory longitudinal stability, difficulty in opening the canopy, an excessively hot cockpit environment, and a hazardous tendency to enter a spin from a simple stall, from which recovery was nearly impossible.

Following the identification of these flaws during testing, multiple modifications were mandated for the aircraft. Due to the urgency of introducing modern fighters into service, only a limited number of these improvements were implemented before production commenced. Among the changes were an additional air intake on the right side of the nose dedicated to cooling the oil system, self-sealing fuel tanks protected by rubber linings, two underwing bomb racks each capable of carrying a 100 kg FAB-100 bomb, installation of a PBP-1 gunsight, and increased ammunition capacity with each ShKAS machine gun supplied with 375 rounds and the UBS equipped with 300 rounds. Starting with the ninth unit produced, the original side-opening canopy was replaced by a rear-sliding canopy that could be jettisoned during flight. On 9 December 1940, the initial batch of 100 I-200s received the designation MiG-1, named after designers Mikoyan and Gurevich.

Enhancement efforts persisted throughout production but were not immediately integrated into manufacturing. Instead, these upgrades were tested on a fourth prototype that took flight for the first time on 29 October 1940. This version represented a notable advancement over earlier I-200 models and successfully passed State acceptance trials. The improvements tested on this prototype were subsequently incorporated starting with the 101st aircraft produced. These later models were designated MiG-3 on 9 December, although the first production MiG-3 was not completed until 20 December 1940.

Further Testing

The I-200 prototypes served as platforms for assessing various experimental configurations. For instance, the second prototype was equipped with an early version of the AM-37 engine and conducted its maiden flight with this powerplant on 6 January 1941. Unfortunately, it suffered from severe vibration issues that could not be resolved; this led to a crash on 7 May when engine failure occurred.

The third prototype primarily functioned as a testbed for armament development. It experimented with RS-82 rockets measuring 82 mm in diameter among other weaponry. In another trial, it was outfitted with experimental MP-3 autocannons of 23 mm caliber mounted externally under the wings and redesignated as IP-201. To accommodate these cannons, the standard 12.7 mm UBS gun was removed and replaced with an additional fuel tank in that space. Initially, these cannons had a low firing rate of approximately 300 rounds per minute; however, this was eventually doubled and they were renamed MP-6. Installing these weapons proved challenging despite metal outer wing panels; mounting caused wing deformation. The aircraft made its sole flight carrying two MP-6 autocannons along with two 12.7 mm AP machine guns on 1 December 1940 but was forced to land prematurely due to a blocked fuel line before any firing tests could be conducted. Subsequent evaluations across various aircraft revealed unsatisfactory performance from these guns, leading to cancellation of their development program. The designers responsible for this armament project were arrested on 15 May 1941 and executed on 28 October that year.

Operational history

On 3 December 1940, the VVS mandated that the 41st Fighter Regiment (istrebitel'nyy aviatsionnyy polk), stationed in the Crimean town of Kacha, undertake operational testing of the I-200. Following these trials, pilots were scheduled to transfer to the 146th Fighter Regiment based in Yevpatoria, also located in Crimea, for further training. By 22 February 1941, a total of 89 aircraft had been distributed among frontline fighter units, notably including the 89th Fighter Regiment stationed at Kaunas, Lithuania, and the 41st Fighter Regiment at Białystok, Poland, both territories under Soviet control since 1939–40. As of 1 June 1941, deployment had expanded slightly: 31 aircraft were assigned to the Baltic Military District, 37 to the Western Special Military District, one to the Kiev Military District, and eight to the Odessa Military District, totaling 77 aircraft on hand, with only 55 considered operational. Additionally, eight MiG-1s were allocated to the Soviet Navy. Despite this distribution, pilot proficiency remained limited, with merely four aviators trained to operate either the MiG-1 or MiG-3.

The combat record of the MiG-1 remains largely obscure, as most units were presumably lost during the initial phase of Operation Barbarossa. Nevertheless, one MiG-1 was still listed in VVS inventories as late as 1944, when it was officially retired.

Variants

• Samolet Kh (Самолет Х): The internal designation used by the OKB for the I-200 prototype.
• Izdeliye-61: The OKB’s internal product code for the I-200 prototype.
• I-200: Prototype designation for the MiG-1; three units produced.
• MiG-1: Single-seat interceptor fighter deployed by the Soviet Air Force.

Operators

Template:USSR

• Soviet Air Forces (VVS)
• Soviet Navy

External links

• MiG-1 at ctrl-c.liu.se Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine
• SovietWarplanes.com featuring photographs of captured MiG-1 aircraft