Czechoslovak fighter aircraft S-102 (MIG-15) COBI 5821 - Cold War

 You know that:

• The design of a completely new Soviet jet aircraft was greatly helped by the Focke-Wulf Ta 183 plans seized from German factories at the end of World War II. 
• The biggest problem for MIG designers in the early days of jet aircraft production was the engine. The Soviets first tried to improve the original German BMW 003 engines, but these attempts were not very successful. Eventually, MIG had to ask then-leader J. Stalin to try to purchase a British license from Rolls-Royce. Historical records state that Stalin responded to this request by saying "What fool would sell us a licence for the result of secret research".
• The Russian delegation was all the more surprised when the British Trade Minister, Sir Staffard Cripps, sold them one.
• The engine was transported to the Soviet Union, dismantled and copied.
• Rolls-Royce subsequently attempted a £207 million legal settlement, but never received any money from the Soviet Union.
• The MIG-15 from the Mikoyan-Gurevich design bureau first flew from Nizhnenovgorod corporate airfield on 30 December 1947.
• The Western Allies were also convinced that it was a very good aircraft on 10 March 1953, when an American F84 was shot down by a MIG-15 on the Czech-German border.
• Based on this incident, the Allies increased their efforts to acquire a flyable MIG-15 for reverse engineering.Quite unexpectedly, they did so later that month when Polish pilot Franciszek Jarecki flew the MIG to Denmark. When he stepped off the plane after landing, he announced to the surprised staff "Kamerad Comunism kaput". 
• MIG-15 fighters served in many Warsaw Pact armies until the late 1970s, when they became hopelessly obsolete.
• Today, only North Korea operates a MIG-15 squadron.
• As good an aircraft the MIG-15 was, it had one major flaw. When the throttle was applied, the flame was "torn off", i.e. the engine simply stopped work. This situation used to happen to rookies, but also to experienced pilots in a stressful situation. Later modifications eliminated this problem.
• More than 18,000 were produced in various versions.

Technical parameters:

• dimensions: wingspan 10.08 m, length 10.1 m, height 3.7 m
• weight 3 681 kg
• maximum take-off weight 6 038 kg
• power unit Motorlet/Walter M-05 jet engine with 22,26 kN thrust
• maximum speed 1 076 km/h
• climb rate 51,2 m/s
• maximal flying level 15 500 m
• range 1 859 km
• fuel tank capacity 1 460 l
• armament N-37 cannon 37 mm calibre (40 rounds) + 2x NS-23 cannon 23 mm calibre (2x80 rounds) and up to 500 kg of guided or unguided missiles
• crew 1