Trip Advistor - The MiG-3 - Russia's Best WWII Fighter Plane

Because their information from Luftwaffe intelligence about the Soviet Air Force was practically non-existent, the Luftwaffe pilots were taken completely by surprise by the existence of this new fighter. Which was also surprising because all the Soviet fighters up to that time were powered by radial engines and lacked the performance of the front line German fighters, it was obviously powered by an inline or "Vee" type engine. The German Luftwaffe in July and August of 1941 encountered for the first time a previously unknown Russian fighter with a long slender nose.

The MiG-3 had arrived! Than the Messerschmitt, fly faster and fly longer, to discover this new Soviet fighter could out maneuver at high altitude, germany's top fighter at the time was the Bf 109F and the Luftwaffe pilots were equally surprised and disconcerted.

The "MiG" was the acronym of the Mikoyan-Gurevich Experimental Construction Bureau design team. The MiG-3 deserves to looked at more closely, air superiority fighters in the world, or at the very least one of the best, the Bf 109F was considered to be the best, because in the West at that time.

Which made it the fastest fighter in the world at that time, 000 feet, at 20, the first unarmed prototype achieved a top speed of 403 mph. All three mounted in the nose and sychronized to fire through the propeller arc, cantilever monoplane armed with one 50 calibre machine gun and two 30 calibre machine guns, low wing, it was a sleek. A high altitude interceptor powered by a V-12 Mikulin engine that developed 1350 horsepower, the first model was the MiG-1.

This allowed for the installation of small bombs or 6 rockets. Four hard-points were added to the wings, more armor for the cockpit and finally, a 55-gallon fuselage fuel tank was added to increase the range. The supercharger intakes were enlarged and the radiator fairing moved forward, for the engine compartment. While the height of the rear fuselage was reduced for better rear vision for the pilot, the dihedral of the wing of the outer wing was increased by one degree, but the engine had been moved forward four inches to change the centre of gravity, outwardly it still resembled the MiG-1. It was built around a steel tube frame with duralumin skin which strengthened the frame. So modifications were incorporated and the MiG-3 was born, the flight testing program revealed that there were flaws in the design.

But it was not successful, there was a later attempt to mate the MiG-3 with a 14 cylinder air-cooled radial engine. Total production amounted to 3120 aircraft with another 50 built from spare parts and through cannibalization of wrecks. The production of the MiG-3 was abruptly ended when Stalin ordered the Mikulin engines diverted to the IL-2 attack bomber, unfortunately.

But it did give more firepower for ground attacks, this still did not give the MiG-3 firepower parity with the Bf 109F. 30 caliber machine gun mounted under each wing. Many of the production MiG-3's had a .

With a height of only 8 feet, wingspan 33 feet, its length was 27 ft. Empty weight of 5950 lbs and a take-off weight of 7739 with under-wing guns and a full fuel load. A maximum range of 743 miles, it had a range of 512 miles at 342 mph. 370 ft, 000 feet and the service ceiling was 39, its rate of climb was 10 mins to 26. 590 feet, 398 mph at 35, basic specs on the MiG-3 were: Maximum speed of 314 mph at sea level.

000 feet but the Bf 109's seldom flew that high, the MiG-3 also had the advantage of much better performance over 30. Many times the 109s had to break off because their fuel was running dangerously low, the MiG-3 had the advantage in level speed and in range. Where most of the dogfighting took place on the Eastern front, the 109 had the advantage of a better initial climb rate and better maneuverability at low to medium speeds and at low to medium altitudes, in fact however. On paper the MiG-3 and the Messerschmitt Bf 109F were closely comparable fighters.

So the MiG-3 was forced to fight in a low altitude arena for which it was not designed, the Russians moved their factories east far enough that they were out of range of the twin engine bombers. The Luftwaffe did not build the four-engine bomber that was meant for use over the Soviet industrial areas. The MiG-3 never got a chance to play the role it had been designed for: to combat high altitude bombers.

It was not until delivery of the P-39 and P-40 fighters that they were finally able to install modern gunsights on their fighters. Sometimes a circle drawn on the windshield, most Soviet aircraft had simple gunsights. Their fighters were equipped with the modern reflector gunsights, the Germans had one other crucial advantage.

He eventually became a Marshall of the Air Force during the Cold War. Was involved in 156 air-to-air battles and never lost a wingman, pokryshkin flew 650 missions, according to Pravda. But these were not officially counted as they were not shot down over Soviet controlled territory, he also destroyed an additional 13 German planes over enemy occupied territory . The remainder in the P-39, about forty in a MiG-3, alexander Pokryskin scored 59 official victories. Some Russian pilots were able to achieve some awesome kill figures, in spite of such drawbacks.

Shining star of the Soviet fighter elements was the MiG-3, but the first bright. The Yak-9 became the dominant fighter for the Soviets and probably contributed more than any other Russian fighter plane to the final defeat of the Luftwaffe, in the last years of the war.