Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 Fagot – Chinese Volunteers’ Air Force, China, 1950s

Hobby Master 1/72 scale HA2409: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 Fagot of the Chinese Volunteers’ Air Force, China, 1950s

Length 6 inches Wingspan 5.5 inches

The inscription on this MiG-15bis reads “Chinese People’s Volunteer Air Force”. The CPVAF do own this aircraft and use it for use it for photographs and film. The CPVAF was created only a month before Chinese forces crossed the Yalu river on October 25 1950 in support of the North Korean military. In Chinese the war is known as “The War to Resist America and Aid Korea” and in Chinese is pronounced something like Kangmei Yuanchao Zhanzheng. October 25 is known as CPV day.

Designed to meet a Soviet Air Force requirement for a high-performance jet fighter, the MiG-15 was first flown on December 30, 1947. The MiG-15 was used by several communist nations-including the USSR and North Korea-and was one of the first truly successful swept-wing fighters. It could shoot down heavy bombers and could climb faster and higher than its American rival, the F-86. Fortunately for the F-86, it also turned poorly and had high mach instability, which limited it as a dogfighter. It was poorly matched with the F-86 but excelled in its role as a bomber interceptor, frequently preventing B-29s from operating during the day.