Mikoyan-Gourevitch MiG-3

Development


The large number of defects noted during flight testing of the MiG-1 forced [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] to make a number of modifications to the design.

Testing was done on a full-size aircraft in the T-1 wind tunnel belonging to the Central Aero and Hydrodynamics Institute (TsAGI) to evaluate the problems and their proposed solutions.

The first aircraft to see all of these changes applied was the fourth prototype of the I-200.

It first flew on 29 October 1940 and was approved for production after passing its State acceptance trials.

The first MiG-3 as the improved aircraft was named on 9 December, was completed on 20 December 1940 and another 20 were delivered by the end of the year.

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Un dessin des I 220 & 225, filiation directe avec le Mig

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These changes included:

• The engine was moved forward 100 mm (4 in) to improve longitudinal stability.
  
• A new water radiator (OP-310) was fitted
  
• The first two modifications which allowed an additional 250 litres (66 US gal) fuel tank to be fitted underneath the pilot's seat.
  
• The outer wingpanel dihedral was increased by one degree to increase longitudinal stability.
  
• An additional oil tank was mounted under the engine.
  
• Piping was fitted to use cooled inert exhaust gasses in the fuel tanks to reduce the chance of fire.
  
• The back of the pilot's seat was armored with a 8 mm (0.31 in) plate (increased to 9 mm (0.35 in) in later models).
  
• The supercharger intakes were streamlined.
  
• The main landing gear was strengthened and the size of the main wheels was increased to 650 x 200 mm (25.5 x
  7.87 in).
  
• The canopy glazing was extended aft to improve the view to the rear which allowed for the installation of a shelf behind the pilot for an RSI-1 radio (later upgraded to an RSI-4).
  
• The instrument panel layout was improved and a PBP-1A gunsight replaced the original PBP-1.
  
• Ammunition for the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] guns was increased to 750 rounds per gun.
  
• Two additional underwing hardpoints were added to carry up to 220 kg (485 lb) of bombs, spray containers or [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].
  

Mig 3

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State acceptance testing of two production aircraft was conducted between 27 January and 26 February 1941.


They were found to be over 250 kg (550 lb) heavier than the MiG-1, which reduced maneuverability and field performance.

Time to 5,000 m (16,000 ft) decreased by over a minute and the service ceiling proved to be 500 m (1,600 ft) less.

The MiG-3 was faster at sea level and at height.

While the ranges reached by both aircraft were farther than that of the older aircraft, they were still less than the 1,000 km (620 mi) required.

Mikoyan and Gurevich protested against the range results as their calculations showed that the MiG-3 could reach 1,010 km (630 mi) based on a [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] (SFC) of 0.46 kg/km (1.64 lb/mile).

During the State acceptance trials the SFC was 0.48 kg/km (1.71 lb/mile) but the operational trials conducted earlier showed a SFC of 0.38 kg/km (1.35 lb/mile).

They blamed the deficiency on a failure to use an altitude correction and that the engines had not been properly adjusted.

They went as far as arranging for two more flights between Leningrad and Moscow to prove the MiG-3 could fly 1,000 km (621 mi).

Two production aircraft were flown to ranges of 1,100 km (680 mi) and 971 km (603 mi), flying at 90% of maximum speed and at an altitude of 7,300 m (24,000 ft), contradicting the report of the NII VVS (Naoochno-Issledovatel'skiy
Institoot Voyenno-Vozdooshnykh Seel—Air Force Scientific Test Institute).

I 220

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A number of reports had been received about poor quality aircraft received by the regiments which pointed directly at the NII VVS as it was responsible for monitoring the quality of the aircraft delivered to the VVS.

On 31 May 1941 the People's Commissariat of Defense decreed that the NII VVS had been negligent.

A number of senior managers were demoted and the head of the Institue, Major General A. I. Filin was summarily executed.

Mig 3 à Monino

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A number of MiG-3s were found to have unacceptable performance at high altitudes despite being designed as a high-altitude interceptor.

The oxygen supply was often insufficient and the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] characteristics were very dangerous, especially to inexperienced pilots.

This was demonstrated on 10 April 1941 when three pilots of the 31st Fighter Regiment of the Air Defenses (IAP PVO)
attempted to intercept a German reconnaissance aircraft over [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] flying at 9,000 m (30,000 ft).

All three aircraft entered irrecoverable spins and the pilots were forced to bail out, one being killed.

The NII VVS sent an engineer to investigate and he found that the pilots had flown very few hours on the MiG-3 and that that was their first high-altitude sortie.

Other problems included insufficient oil and fuel pressure at altitude due to problems with the pumps.

I 220

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Comparison to other fighters


The MiG-3's top speed of 640 km/h (398 mph) at 7,200 metres (23,622 ft) was faster than 615 km/h (382 mph) of the German [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]F-2 in service at the beginning of 1941 and the British [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] V's 603 km/h (375 mph).

At lower altitudes the MiG's speed advantage disappeared as its maximum speed at sea level was only 505 km/h
(314 mph) while the Bf 109F-2 could do 515 km/h (320 mph).

Unfortunately for the MiG-3 and its pilots, aerial combat over the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] generally took place at low and medium altitudes where it had no speed advantage.

Mig 3

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The MiG's loaded weight of 3,350 kg (7,385 lb) was greater than the Bf 109F-2's 2,979 kg (6,568 lb) and it was less maneuverable in the horizontal plane than the Bf 109 due to its higher [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

This lack of maneuverability was exacerbated by the MiG-3's poor climb performance, its instability at high speeds and its weak armament.

The MiG-3's standard armament was one 12.7 mm (0.50 in) [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] machine gun and two 7.62 mm (0.300 in) ShKAS
machine guns.

This was a rather light armament by international standards, for example most versions of the German Messerschmitt
Bf 109 that it encountered were equipped with one 20 mm (0.79 in) [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and two 7.92 mm (0.312 in) machine guns.

To remedy this problem 821 aircraft were built with one 12.7 mm UBK machine gun in a pod under each wing in mid-1941.

This lowered its speed by about 20 km/h (12 mph) at all altitudes, which was unpopular with the pilots, some of whom removed the pods.

One hundred aircraft were equipped with a pair of UBS machine guns in lieu of the ShKAS weapons.

Another 215 aircraft also had just the UBS machine guns but were fitted to carry six [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

A total of 72 aircraft mounted a pair of 20 mm[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

A wide variety of armaments were experimented with by various units at the requests of their pilots or to make
up shortages.

La paire de mitrailleuses ShKAS

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Production


The NKAP (Narodnyy komissariat aviatsionnoy promyshlennosti—People's Ministry of the Aircraft Industry) announced its 1941 production plan on 9 December 1940. Zavod Nr. 1 would be required to build a total of 3,500 in 1941.

Zavod Nr. 43 in [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] would begin construction of the MiG-3 and complete one hundred aircraft by the end of the year and Zavod Nr. 21 in [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] would start to plan construction of an upgraded version of the MiG-3, although this last program was canceled shortly afterwards.

140 were delivered in January 1941 and Zavod Nr. 1 was on pace to exceed its quota with 496 delivered in July, 562 in August and 450 in September.

In October the German advance on Moscow forced the factory, and its OKO, to evacuate to [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] where production resumed under atrocious conditions.

However, shortly afterwards, Stalin sent a telegram to the directors of the plants building the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and the MiG-3 demanding more Il-2 production.

Thus the production of the MiG-3 was terminated in favor of the Il-2, except for thirty aircraft built in 1942 from spare parts.

One additional reason for cancellation of the MiG-3 was that its [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]A engine was closely related to the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] used by the Il-2 and production could be relatively easily be switched from one to the other.

However there is evidence that MiG-3 production at Zavod Nr. 1 was already planned to be reduced from a NKAP order of 27 August that required the factory to produce 420 fighters in September,
declining to 100 in December with Il-2 production ramping up to 250 in December while the former aircraft repair plant at [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] was to be transferred to the NKAP, redesignated as Zavod Nr. 165, and begin production of MiG-3s.

The German advance, however, disrupted these plans for Zavod 165 and it never produced a single MiG-3.

Operational history


MiG-3s were delivered to front-line fighter regiments beginning in the spring of 1941 and proved to be a handful for pilots accustomed to the lower-performance and docile [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] biplanes and the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] monoplane.

Even after the extensive modifications made to the MiG-3 in comparison to the MiG-1 it was still tricky and demanding to fly.

Many fighter regiments were not diligent in training their pilots to handle the MiG as it flew very differently than the older fighters and the rapid pace of deliveries aggravated things so that many units had more MiGs than they had trained pilots to fly them by the time of Operation Barbarossa. On 1 June 1941, 1,029 MIG-3s were on strength, but there were only 494 trained pilots.


In contrast to the untrained pilots of the 31st Fighter Regiment those of the 4th Fighter Regiment were able to claim three German high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft shot down before war broke out in June 1941.

I 220

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However high-altitude combat of this sort was to prove to be uncommon on the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] where most air-to-air engagements were at altitudes well below 5,000 metres (16,000 ft). At these sorts of altitudes the MiG-3 was
outclassed by the Bf 109 in all respects, but also by other modern Soviet fighters like the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

Furthermore the shortage of ground-attack aircraft in 1941 forced it into that role as well, for which it was totally unsuited.

On 22 June 1941, most MiG-3s and MiG-1s were in the border military districts of the Soviet Union.

The [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] had 164, 135 were in the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], 233 in the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], 190 in the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and 195 in the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] for a total of 917 on hand, of which only 81 were non-operational.

An additional 64 MiGs were assigned to Naval Aviation, 38 in the Air Force of the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and 26 in the Air Force of the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

The 4th and 55th Fighter Regiments had most of the MiG-3s assigned to the Odessa Military District and their experiences on the first day of the war may be taken as typical.

The 4th, an experienced unit, shot down a [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] reconnaissance bomber, confirmed by post-war research, and lost one aircraft which crashed into an obstacle on take-off.

The 55th was much less experienced with the MiG-3 and claimed three aircraft shot down, although recent research
confirms only one German [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] was 40% damaged, and suffered three pilots killed and nine aircraft lost.

The most unusual case was the pair of MiG-3s dispatched from the 55th on a reconnaissance mission to [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] that failed to properly calculate their fuel consumption and both were forced to land when they ran out of fuel.

Most of the MiG-3s assigned to the interior military districts were transferred to the PVO where their lack of performance at low altitudes was not so important. On 10 July 299 were assigned to the PVO, the bulk of them belonging to the 6th PVO Corps at [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien],
while only 293 remained with the VVS, and 60 with the Naval Air Forces, a total of only 652 despite deliveries of several hundred aircraft. By 1 October, on the eve of the German offensive towards Moscow codenamed [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], only 257 were assigned to VVS units,
209 to the PVO,
and 46 to the Navy,
a total of only 512, a decrease of 140 fighters since 10 July, despite deliveries of over a thousand aircraft in the
intervening period.

By 5 December, the start of the Soviet counter-offensive that drove the Germans back from the gates of Moscow, the Navy had 33 MiGs on hand, the VVS 210, and the PVO 309.

This was a total of 552, an increase of only 40 aircraft from the 1st of October.