Book Review of
The Mikoyan-Gurevich Mig-3
Author: Dariusz Paduch
Kagaro Books
Monograph 3090 – English Version
ISBN: 978-83-86673-71-7
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright: 2021
MSRP: $33.95
Monograph 3090 – English Version
ISBN: 978-83-86673-71-7
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright: 2021
MSRP: $33.95
HISTORY:
The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3 (Russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-3) was a Soviet fighter and interceptor aircraft used during World War II. It was a development of the MiG-1 by the OKO (opytno-konstruktorskij otdel — Experimental Design Department) of Zavod (Factory) No. 1 to remedy problems found during the MiG-1's development and operations. It replaced the MiG-1 on the production line at Factory No. 1 on 20 December 1940 and was built in large numbers during 1941 before Factory No. 1 was converted to build the Ilyushin Il-2.
On 22 June 1941, at the beginning of Operation Barbarossa, some 981 were in service with the Soviet Air Forces (VVS), the Soviet Air Defence Forces (PVO) and Soviet Naval Aviation. The MiG-3 was difficult to fly in peacetime and much more so in combat.
Originally designed as a high-altitude fighter-interceptor, combat over the Eastern Front was generally at lower altitudes, where it was inferior to the German Messerschmitt Bf 109 as well as most of its Soviet contemporaries. It was also pressed into service as a fighter-bomber during the autumn of 1941 but it was equally unsuited for this.
The losses suffered in combat were very high, in percentage the highest among all the VVS fighters, with 1,432 shot down. The survivors were concentrated in the PVO, where its disadvantages mattered less, the last being withdrawn from service before the end of the war.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Role: Fighter, Interceptor
National origin: Soviet Union
Manufacturer: Mikoyan-Gurevich
First flight: 29 October 1940
Introduction to service: 1941
Retired: 1945
Primary user: Soviet Air Forces (VVS), Soviet Air Defence Forces (PVO), Soviet Naval Aviation
Produced: 1940–1941
Number built: 3,422
Developed from: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-1
Variants: Mikoyan-Gurevich I-211
THE BOOK:
Kagero is based in Lublin, Poland.
This book is of soft-cover of 42 pages in 8 ¼” x 11 ¾” page format.
The cover art shows 2 Mig-3’s dogfighting above the clouds with a German Fw-190 that is going down in flames.
Both of the Mig’s are in the same splinter type camouflage of black and green, over light blue undercarriages. The one in the foreground has a white tip on it’s spinner and a white fuselage no. 28 and Soviet red stars in 6 positions (twice on the sides, below the wings and on the rudder sides.It was with the 7th IAP of the Black Sea Fleet Air Force, Gelendzhik airfield, Fall 1943.
This aircraft is repeated again as a color side profile on the back cover.
The second Mig-3 is too far away to make out any markings other than its white spinner tip.
The Fw-190 is overall dark green and no markings other than wing crosses can be seen.
At the beginning of the book there is a page that has 91 tiny black and white cover arts of books that Kagero publishes. They are too dark and small to make out the titles of them…sorry!
The book contains 101 black and white wartime photos.
Aircraft shown are;
The Mig-3, the Polikarpov I-15bis biplane and I-16, the i-4 (ANT-5), the I-6, a French DeWoitine D.520, a CKB-15, an I-17 prototype, a Tupolev TB-3 bomber, an ANT-25 and Ant-35 transports, a CKB-10, a French DeWoitine D.510, a STAL-6, a German Me-109A, a Japanese Nakajima Ki-27, a crashed I-180 prototype, a I-153 biplane, a Polikarpov I-15bis and I-85, an I-16P, a I-200, a G-26 fighter, a Polikarpov I-5, a German Heinkel HD-37 biplane, a Yak-1B, an I-21 fighter photo and line drawing, a German Heinkel He-100, a Yak-1 (I-26), an I-200 dashboard, a Mig-1 and a Mig-3 dashboard.
For engine types there are photos of:
An M-88 engine, an AM-5 engine, an AM-35 engine,
a Hispano-Suiza 12y Bis engine, a M-103 engine, a Grigorovich IP-2 engine, a M-11FR Shvetsov engine, and a M-34 engine.
Photo of Soviet individuals are of:
Test pilot Valory F. Chkalov, Sergey V. Ilyushin, Alexander Alexandrovich Mikulin (developer of the AM-5 engine), Peter Vasilovich (developer of the I-200 aircraft, Antiom Mikoyan, Mikhail Loaiforich gurevich, Androvich Voromin, Mikhail Moiselvich Kaganovich, Alexei Ivanovich Khakurin, test pilot Arkadi Nikiforovich and test pilot Stephen Parolovich Suprin.
There is a photo of the WAP-6 poison warfare weapon and a line drawing of it too.
A photo of a MP-6 wing cannon.
For color profile illustrations there are 6 side-views. Two are on the back cover and a 4-view.
The 1st side view shows a Mig-3 of the 401st IAP ON (Special Purpose Fighter Regiment) Western Front, Zubovo airfield, July 1941, It is in a wave pattern camouflage of black and green, over a light-blue undercarriage. It has a white no. 57 on the sides of its rudder, Soviet red stars on fuselage sides and under the wings.
The 2nd side view shows a Mig-3 in the same scheme as the 1st one. It has a white spinner, a yellow fuselage no. 27 and Soviet red stars under the wings and on the sides of the rudder. It was with the 7th IAP, Leningrad Front, July 1941.
The 3rd side view shows a Mig-3 in a more distinct black and green wave pattern camouflage with light-blue undercarriage. It has a navy-blue fuselage no. 19 and Soviet red stars in 6 locations – fuselage sides, under the wings and rudder sides. It was flown by Mikhail Nekrasov of the 148th IAR, Kiev region, September 1941.
The 4th side view shows a Mig-3 that is overall white, including its spinner and prop blades. It has a red no. 42 fuselage number and Soviet red stars in the normal 6 locations. It was flown by Lieutenant N.P. Chromov of the 12th OIAE (12TH IAP) of the Baltic Fleet Air Force, probably at the beginning of 1942.
The 5th side view is the cover art subject (already described above)
The 6th side view is a Mig-3 that is in the black and green wave pattern camouflage too. It carries a white fuselage no. 64 and Soviet red stars on the bottom of the wings and sides of the rudder. It was with the 11th IAP of the Baltic Fleet Air Force, Leningrad region, 1943. On June 12, 1943 this aircraft was damaged on a crash landing and probably not repaired.
The 4-view profile shows a Mig-3 in a very pronounced black and green wave pattern camouflage with light-blue undercarriage too.. It has a white fuselage no. 04 and Soviet red stars on the fuselage sides and on top and under the wings. It was flown by Captain S.N. Polyakov on the Leningrad front.
This is a neat book about the Mig-3. It will be of great interest to modelers planning to build a kit of one and to aviation historians alike.
I sincerely wish to thank Casemate Publishers, the N. American distributor of Kagero books. All Kagero titles can be seen on Casemate’s website at:
The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3 (Russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-3) was a Soviet fighter and interceptor aircraft used during World War II. It was a development of the MiG-1 by the OKO (opytno-konstruktorskij otdel — Experimental Design Department) of Zavod (Factory) No. 1 to remedy problems found during the MiG-1's development and operations. It replaced the MiG-1 on the production line at Factory No. 1 on 20 December 1940 and was built in large numbers during 1941 before Factory No. 1 was converted to build the Ilyushin Il-2.
On 22 June 1941, at the beginning of Operation Barbarossa, some 981 were in service with the Soviet Air Forces (VVS), the Soviet Air Defence Forces (PVO) and Soviet Naval Aviation. The MiG-3 was difficult to fly in peacetime and much more so in combat.
Originally designed as a high-altitude fighter-interceptor, combat over the Eastern Front was generally at lower altitudes, where it was inferior to the German Messerschmitt Bf 109 as well as most of its Soviet contemporaries. It was also pressed into service as a fighter-bomber during the autumn of 1941 but it was equally unsuited for this.
The losses suffered in combat were very high, in percentage the highest among all the VVS fighters, with 1,432 shot down. The survivors were concentrated in the PVO, where its disadvantages mattered less, the last being withdrawn from service before the end of the war.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Role: Fighter, Interceptor
National origin: Soviet Union
Manufacturer: Mikoyan-Gurevich
First flight: 29 October 1940
Introduction to service: 1941
Retired: 1945
Primary user: Soviet Air Forces (VVS), Soviet Air Defence Forces (PVO), Soviet Naval Aviation
Produced: 1940–1941
Number built: 3,422
Developed from: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-1
Variants: Mikoyan-Gurevich I-211
THE BOOK:
Kagero is based in Lublin, Poland.
This book is of soft-cover of 42 pages in 8 ¼” x 11 ¾” page format.
The cover art shows 2 Mig-3’s dogfighting above the clouds with a German Fw-190 that is going down in flames.
Both of the Mig’s are in the same splinter type camouflage of black and green, over light blue undercarriages. The one in the foreground has a white tip on it’s spinner and a white fuselage no. 28 and Soviet red stars in 6 positions (twice on the sides, below the wings and on the rudder sides.It was with the 7th IAP of the Black Sea Fleet Air Force, Gelendzhik airfield, Fall 1943.
This aircraft is repeated again as a color side profile on the back cover.
The second Mig-3 is too far away to make out any markings other than its white spinner tip.
The Fw-190 is overall dark green and no markings other than wing crosses can be seen.
At the beginning of the book there is a page that has 91 tiny black and white cover arts of books that Kagero publishes. They are too dark and small to make out the titles of them…sorry!
The book contains 101 black and white wartime photos.
Aircraft shown are;
The Mig-3, the Polikarpov I-15bis biplane and I-16, the i-4 (ANT-5), the I-6, a French DeWoitine D.520, a CKB-15, an I-17 prototype, a Tupolev TB-3 bomber, an ANT-25 and Ant-35 transports, a CKB-10, a French DeWoitine D.510, a STAL-6, a German Me-109A, a Japanese Nakajima Ki-27, a crashed I-180 prototype, a I-153 biplane, a Polikarpov I-15bis and I-85, an I-16P, a I-200, a G-26 fighter, a Polikarpov I-5, a German Heinkel HD-37 biplane, a Yak-1B, an I-21 fighter photo and line drawing, a German Heinkel He-100, a Yak-1 (I-26), an I-200 dashboard, a Mig-1 and a Mig-3 dashboard.
For engine types there are photos of:
An M-88 engine, an AM-5 engine, an AM-35 engine,
a Hispano-Suiza 12y Bis engine, a M-103 engine, a Grigorovich IP-2 engine, a M-11FR Shvetsov engine, and a M-34 engine.
Photo of Soviet individuals are of:
Test pilot Valory F. Chkalov, Sergey V. Ilyushin, Alexander Alexandrovich Mikulin (developer of the AM-5 engine), Peter Vasilovich (developer of the I-200 aircraft, Antiom Mikoyan, Mikhail Loaiforich gurevich, Androvich Voromin, Mikhail Moiselvich Kaganovich, Alexei Ivanovich Khakurin, test pilot Arkadi Nikiforovich and test pilot Stephen Parolovich Suprin.
There is a photo of the WAP-6 poison warfare weapon and a line drawing of it too.
A photo of a MP-6 wing cannon.
For color profile illustrations there are 6 side-views. Two are on the back cover and a 4-view.
The 1st side view shows a Mig-3 of the 401st IAP ON (Special Purpose Fighter Regiment) Western Front, Zubovo airfield, July 1941, It is in a wave pattern camouflage of black and green, over a light-blue undercarriage. It has a white no. 57 on the sides of its rudder, Soviet red stars on fuselage sides and under the wings.
The 2nd side view shows a Mig-3 in the same scheme as the 1st one. It has a white spinner, a yellow fuselage no. 27 and Soviet red stars under the wings and on the sides of the rudder. It was with the 7th IAP, Leningrad Front, July 1941.
The 3rd side view shows a Mig-3 in a more distinct black and green wave pattern camouflage with light-blue undercarriage. It has a navy-blue fuselage no. 19 and Soviet red stars in 6 locations – fuselage sides, under the wings and rudder sides. It was flown by Mikhail Nekrasov of the 148th IAR, Kiev region, September 1941.
The 4th side view shows a Mig-3 that is overall white, including its spinner and prop blades. It has a red no. 42 fuselage number and Soviet red stars in the normal 6 locations. It was flown by Lieutenant N.P. Chromov of the 12th OIAE (12TH IAP) of the Baltic Fleet Air Force, probably at the beginning of 1942.
The 5th side view is the cover art subject (already described above)
The 6th side view is a Mig-3 that is in the black and green wave pattern camouflage too. It carries a white fuselage no. 64 and Soviet red stars on the bottom of the wings and sides of the rudder. It was with the 11th IAP of the Baltic Fleet Air Force, Leningrad region, 1943. On June 12, 1943 this aircraft was damaged on a crash landing and probably not repaired.
The 4-view profile shows a Mig-3 in a very pronounced black and green wave pattern camouflage with light-blue undercarriage too.. It has a white fuselage no. 04 and Soviet red stars on the fuselage sides and on top and under the wings. It was flown by Captain S.N. Polyakov on the Leningrad front.
This is a neat book about the Mig-3. It will be of great interest to modelers planning to build a kit of one and to aviation historians alike.
I sincerely wish to thank Casemate Publishers, the N. American distributor of Kagero books. All Kagero titles can be seen on Casemate’s website at:
Highly recommended.