Mig-15

The Mikoyan-Gurevich, Mig-15, was one of the show stoppers at this year’s Wings and Wheels Air Show at Dunsfold Aerodrome. Built and designed by the Soviet Union in the late 1940’s with it’s Maiden flight in December of 1947. The Mig-15 was one of the first aircraft to use the swept wing configuration in a jet, which allowed it to obtain very high speeds of around 670mph. This aircraft was used extensively in the Korean war and outclassed the prop aircraft until the American F-86 Sabre came along. Nato gave the name “Fagot” to the Mig-15.

Mig-15’s were not only used in the Korean war, but also the conflict with Taiwan where Russian pilots were used by the request of Mao Zedong. In all, over 12,000 of these aircraft were built, and under licence probably about 18,000, they were used by several air forces. They are still in service with the Korean Peoples Army Air Force as an advanced trainer aircraft. The Mig-15 was superseded by the Mig-17 which came into production in 1952. 

Having purchased the New Sigma 150-600mm DG HSM OS Contemporary lens a couple of months ago, I decided to take it along for the first time to Dunsfold Wings & Wheels, and was not disappointed. I found that there were no soft spots at the long end as there was on my old Sigma 120-400mm, no Chromatic Aberration and I didn’t notice any Vignetting. This to me is a wonderful lens and worth every penny. There are a couple of niggles but not with it’s performance, I feel that the tripod mount could have been a little longer and if you are holding it aloft for a considerable time it feels a little heavy.