American Mig-15

The 616 markings were applied while the plane was being tested in Korea. I have seen some different tail markings applied to her when she was at Wright Pat. It was on a decal sheet in 1/72 I think.
There has a story on Discovery Wings last week (or 2) where they had the Korean Pilot and one of the test pilots (not Yeager) meet again for the first time in 50 years. The Korean is now a school teacher and wasn't aware of the reward when he defected. They were based across the Yalu and it appears the pamphlets never made it over there. Real interesting listening to him recount his adventure. Wish I had taped it.

Thanks guys, she should get painted tomorrow.

Here's some more photos of the 'Operation Moolah' MiG...






These images are rather large, so just in case the enlarge feature doesn't handle them here's the direct links:

616 001
616 002

Here's a few links which either have a photo or two of this particular aircraft or which deal with 'Operation Moolah' specifically or incidentally:

The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 - There's one photo of 616 here.

ATIC's MiG-15bis Exploitation - This is a page on the NAIC (National Air Intelligence Center) website which deals specifically with 'Operation Moolah'.

Operation Moolah - The Plot to Steal a MiG-15 - A rather good article on the whole affair. Some of the photos on this page are resized, you'll be able to view them full-size if you copy & paste the image URL into your browser search or if you save the image to your PC. (D'OH! I just noticed this link is provided above! Oh well...)

The 1st Loudspeaker and Leaflet Company in the Korean War - This is a unit that dropped 'Operation Moolah' propaganda leaflets. Only a brief mention is made of the operation, but it's interesting reading.

Chuck Yeager's first book, YEAGER has a 5-page description of the flight test program conducted with this MiG-15.

There was at least one other MiG pilot who defected, although little seems to be known of what happened to the aircraft or the pilot. The pilot made a bad landing and the MiG was almost certainly damaged, so my guess is that this aircraft was used as a source of spares for 616. But that's just an educated guess and has no basis in fact.


Fade to Black...

Here's a couple of photos I've found on the net and a few links to site that have photos of American marked MiG-15s. Hope it helps you.





links:

http://capturedplanes.tripod.com/mig-15.htm

http://home.att.net/~Historyworld/MiG-15.html

There are a few images here:

http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/air_power/ap42no.htm
http://www.cebudanderson.com/yeagerdisplay05.htm
http://www.psywarrior.com/Moolah.html

I believe it is Ray Wagner's "North American Sabre" that has a few better photos - can you hold on a few days until I can get access to the local library's copy?

Chris
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