Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15UTI, part six, Middle-East users

As happened with the African continent, the Asian continent saw the MiG-15UTI in not few occasions.
The countries covered in this post are:

• Afghanistan: The Royal Afghan Air Force had a small amount of UTIs in its inventory. Those were purchased most probably in the 1950s together with the MiG-15 and the Il-28 bomber. It's fate is unknown, but they most probably either passed on to the successor Democratic Republic of Afghanistan or were destroyed in the subsequent conflicts that took place in the country.
• Democratic Republic of Afghanistan: As expected, the bulk of the DRA's air force was composed of Soviet aircraft, among them there was the UTI. They saw combat during the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan supporting Soviet troops by flying reconnaissance flights or performing low-level light-attack missions.
• Iraq: After the king of Iraq was overthrown, the Iraqi Air Force switched to Soviet equipment. Among the supplied equipment there was a small number of UTIs that served as the country's main trainer. They served alongside the Aero L-29 until they were both replaced by the Aero L-39.
• South Yemen: Apparently some UTIs were exported to South Yemen, most probably during the late 1960s from Egypt. They were either destroyed or captured by North Yemen's troops.
• Syria: In 1955 Syria ordered, among others, 4 MiG-15UTIs from Czechoslovakia in an operation codenamed as 'Operation 104'. During the course of the Suez Crisis in late October 1956, three MiG-15UTIs were evacuated to Syria via Saudia Arabia and Jordan. The MiG-15UTI replaced the propeller-driven North American AT-6 Harvard and the UTI was subsequently replaced by the Aero L-39 in the 1970s.
• North Yemen: The Arab Republic of Yemen had the MiG-15UTI as some of them were purchased by the Royalist imanate in the 1960s. It's unknown for how much time they served and they were, most probably destroyed or scrapped.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghan_Air_Force

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Republic_of_Afghanistan#Air_Force

3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraqi_Air_Force

4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yemeni_Air_Force

5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrian_Air_Force

6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-15

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15UTI, part five, African and American users.

As we've written previously, the MiG-15UTI was widely used across the African continent and that's not counting its Chinese copy, the Shenyang JJ-2/FT-2. On the other hand, the only American user of the UTI was Cuba.
The countries covered in this post are:

• Nigeria: The MiG-15UTIs arrived on to Nigeria in August 1967 from Egypt. They were used in the Nigerian Civil War (AKA Biafran conflict) and later in the 1970s were replaced in the training role by the Czechoslovak Aero L-29.
• Somalia: Back in the 1960s, the Somalian Air Force switched to Soviet material and advisors which were mainly Cuban. Therefore they received four MiG-15UTIs (some sources claiming they were the Shenyang FT-2) in order to train their pilots in the piloting of jet fighters. They took part in the Ogaden War in 1977 and soon after the chaos the country entered in, they left to decay. Some of them were found by US Rangers and Delta forces when they operated in the country in 1992.
• Uganda: The Ugandan People's Defence Air Force employed the MiG-15UTI since its foundation back in 1964. They operated from its capital, as the main trainer aircraft, and were used until they were replaced by the Aero L-29 in the mid-to-late 1970s. 
• Cuba: The MiG-15UTI was the main trainer aircraft of the Cuban Air Force, specially from 1959 onwards when they switched to Soviet equipment. The first aircrafts arrived in Cuba in 1962 making it the main trainer. They had quite a long career sine they kept on serving on that role until 1981 when they were replaced by the Czechoslovak Aero L-39.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-15

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigerian_Air_Force

3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Air_Force

4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uganda_People%27s_Defence_Force

5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_Revolutionary_Air_and_Air_Defense_Force

6. http://www.urrib2000.narod.ru/EqMiG15.html (translated)

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15UTI, part four, African users

The MiG-15UTI served also in many African countries. Those are:

• Angola: When the Angolan Air Force was established in 1975 it was equipped with Soviet equipment and trained by Cuban pilots. Among the material supplied by the Soviet bloc there was a batch of MiG-15UTI trainers that were used both for training pilots and recon missions against South African and UNITA forces in the context of the Angolan Civil War. The UTIs continue to serve nowadays, together with other trainers, with the Angolan 9th Training Squadron which is part of the 24th Training Regiment, based at Menongue Air Base.
• Congo-Brazzaville: After achieving independence in the 1960s, and undergoing a revolution, in the 1970s the Congo-Brazzaville Air Force decided to switch to Soviet equipment. Among that new supplied aircrafts there were a number of MiG-15UTIs that served in the FAC (Force Aérienne Congolaise) and, during the late 1990s it's known that many of them, due to the Congolese Civil War, were in derelict condition.
• Guinea-Bissau: After achieving independence, the air force was equipped (as initially they just had three North-American T-6Gs) with limited Soviet material, among them, two MiG-15UTIs. They served until 1991 when they were put in storage condition at the hangars of the Osvaldo Vieira International Airport due to the lack of funds.
• Guinea-Conakry: After achieving independence, the air force was established with Soviet assistance in 1961. Just like Bissau, they got two MiG-15UTIs together with other Soviet aircrafts. They were most probably retired from service and/or scrapped in the 1980s when their air force underwent a small modernization process.
• Madagascar: The Madagascar Air Force received a small number of UTIs when their air force was founded. Not much is known about their usage, but most probably they haven't been used a lot. As the information about these UTIs is rather scarce, the drawing should be taken as speculative.
• Mali: During the mid 1960s the Soviets supplied a single MiG-15UTI to the newly founded Mali Air Force. It was used to train pilots in the usage of the MiG-17F which just had 5 of them. They served well until the 1990s when the air force was somewhat modernized.
• Mozambique: Apparently, the Mozambican Air Force got some ex East-German UTIs shortly after their independence. They were used during the Mozambican Civil War during the 1980s and most of them were probably destroyed. 

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-15

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angolan_People%27s_Air_Force_And_Air_Defence_Force

3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Air_Force_of_Angola

4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People’s_Republic_of_Congo_Air_Force

5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Force_of_the_Republic_of_Congo

6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guinea-Bissau_Air_Force

7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guinea_Air_Force

8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malagasy_Air_Force

9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_of_Mali_Air_Force

10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozambique_Air_Force

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15UTI, part three, North African users

As we said before the MiG-15UTI was widely used all accross the world not just by those countries in the Soviet sphere of influence, but also by some neutral ones.
In this post we're going to cover the North African users of the MiG-15UTI.

• Algeria: Inmediately after achieving their independence, the newly founded Algerian Air Force received MiG-15UTIs from Egypt to make them the backbone of their training units. They served in the trainer role well until the 80s when they were replaced with the Aero L-39 Albatross.
• Egypt: The Egyptian Air Force bought some MiG-15s back in 1951 together with a number of MiG-15UTI trainers. They were assigned to their training squadrons and, many of them were destroyed in the aerial raids during the Suez Crisis and some others were gifted to Algeria in the early 60s. The UTIs served in the trainer role at least until the 1970s.
• Libya: The Air Force of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya received some old-fashioned yet efficient MiG-15UTIs in the late 70s. They served in the trainer role until they were replaced with the Aero L-39 in the late 80s.
• Morocco: In 1961 the Royal Moroccan Air Force underwent deep reforms and obtained some MiG-15UTIs which were used until the 1970s when they were replaced by the Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet E in the 90s.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-15

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_Air_Force

3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libyan_Air_Force

4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Moroccan_Air_Force

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15UTI, part two, East German and Hungarian users

The Mikoyan MiG-15UTI was a Soviet trainer variant of the regular MiG-15. It had a modified cockpit to fit both instructor and student.
It was mass-manufactured and was the backbone of many air forces around the world, specially those in the Soviet sphere of influence and Warsaw Pact countries.
In this post we're going to cover just two countries: East Germany and Hungary.

• East Germany: In 1956 when the Luftstreitkräfte der Nationalen Volksarmee (Air Component of the National People's Army - East German Air Force) was created, they received a batch of MiG-15UTIs which was assigned to the Jagbombergeschwader JBG-31 among other fighter units. They served as their main jet trainer, together with other types like the Czechoslovak Aero L-29, from 1956 until the dissolution of the NVA (Nationale Volksarmee - National People's Army) in 1990. It was inherited by the West German Luftwaffe in that same year and, as it was already an obsolete type, most of them were scrapped or sold. One exemplar was repainted and sent to the Luftwaffe's Museum in Berlin where it's shown nowadays.
• Hungary: The Air Force of the Hungarian People's Army was completely modified in the 1950s to make it transition into the jet age as they were equipped with outdated propeller-fighters and bombers. As, in order to make the pilots meet the new jet fighters, they needed a trainer, the MiG-15UTI was supplied by the USSR. It served as the main trainer type until the fall of Eastern-bloc in the early 1990s, together with the Aero L-29 and, later the Aero L-39.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-15

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Forces_of_the_National_People%27s_Army

3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungarian_Air_Force#Post–World_War_II_to_Present

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15UTI, part one

The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15UTI was the two-seat trainer variant of the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15bis. It has been regarded as one of the most successful jet-trainer aircraft of all time and, with almost 5500 exemplars having built it's also one of the most produced aircrafts in history.
It was designed by Mikoyan-Gurevich OKB (which stands for "design bureau") and flew for the first time on 27th June 1949. It was produced from 1950 until 1959, just in Soviet factories and, the licensed variants like the Czechoslovak Aero CS-102 ,the Chinese Shenyang JJ-2/FT-2 or the Polish WSK-Mielec SB Lim-1 and Lim2 were still under production as late as 1958 and, in the Chinese case most probably until early-to-mid 1960s. The first factory to produce the UTI variant was the Kuybyshev Aircraft Factory No.1 "Stalin", located at Kuybyshev which manufactured the UTI from 1950 until 1953 which, manufactured 881 exemplars. The second factory to manufacture it was Ulan-Ude's Aircraft Factory No.99, in Ulan-Ude. This one, with 1117 exemplars manufactured from 1951 until 1959 has the record of being the one that most MiG-15UTIs manufactured. The third factory to manufacture it was Kharkov's Aircraft Factory No. 135, in Kharkov which produced 511 of them from 1950 until 1954 and the fourth factory to manufacture it was Novosibirsk's Aircraft Factory No.153, in Novosibirsk which made 924 exemplars making it the second most productive one.
Just like the regular Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15, the UTI version was powered by a single Klimov RD-45F which delivered a thrust power of 5005lb (22.26KN), had an internal fuel tank of 1080L (238 imp. gal. or 250 US gal.) with the possibility of carrying two additional external fuel tanks on the wings with a capacity of 400L (88imp. gal, 106 US gal.) each. It was armed with a single 12,7mm (0,5in) UBK-machine gun placed under the nose and could also mount a single 23mm NR-23 cannon also under the nose. It had also hardpoints to carry either two 50kg (110lb) or 100kg (221lb) bombs underwings.
Due to its high success and popularity, it was quickly adopted as the VVS main trainer and remained in that role until the fall of the USSR in 1992 and, some of the ex-Soviet republics still kept it in active combat service during the conflicts of the 1990s. At VVS's command was used not only in the trainer role but also in the recon role during the 1960s (and more exactly to watch the Czechoslovak-German border during the Soviet Invasion of Czechoslovakia, AKA the Prague Spring) and the type became famous because the first man in space, Yuri Gagarin, was killed in a crash during a training flight in a MiG-15UTI due to poor visibility.
A sub-variant, the MiG-15UTI-P was a single prototype designed in Czechoslovakia by the "1st Aviation Repair Division" (translation not 100% precise) in 1957 which was unarmed but was equipped with a Izumrud RP-1 radar mounted in the nose (which was the same radar type the MiG-17PF had) and was intended to train pilots in the usage of airborne radar. However it wasn't accepted into production as there was already another type covering that need.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-15
2. https://forum.valka.cz/topic/view/22676
3. https://forum.valka.cz/topic/view/12489

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15bis, Prototypes and rare versions

In this post we're covering many sub-variants, prototypes and dedicated versions of the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15bis (excluding the MiG-15UTI which will have its series of own posts.
The MiG-15Pbis was a variant with just six exemplars built that featured a Torij radar mounted in a radome placed in the nose. It was armed with just the 37mm N-37 cannon to fit the radar equipment, just six of them were built with the first one being completed and flown on 23rd April 1949. It was built by the Moscow Aircraft Factory Number 155, in Moscow from converting a regular MiG-15bis. The remaining 5 were built by Kuybyshev Aircraft Factory Number 1 "Stalin", located at the Russian city of Kuybyshev in 1951. All six of them were used to train pilots in the usage of aircraft-mounted aerial-radars.
The MiG-15Rbis was a reconnaissance variant of the regular MiG-15bis. Three-hundred and sixty-four of them were manufactured by the Gorky Aircraft Factory Number 21, at Gorky, in Russia from 1951 to 1952. To incorporate the reconnaissance gear which consisted on a single AFA-BA/40 daytime camera, one gun was removed so it was armed with just the N-37 cannon and a single N-23 23mm cannon. It had a range of 1045km (649,33 milles) without external fuel tanks and it's worth mentioning that it differed from the Czechoslovakian version as this one was based on the MiG-15bis and the Czechoslovakian version was based on the regular MiG-15. It served with the VVS (Soviet Air Force), the Bulgarian People's Air Force (which, as we couldn't find a pic, the drawing should be considered as speculative) and the Cuban Air Force (which we also couldn't find a pic, so the drawing should be considered as speculative) performing low-level recon missions.
The MiG-15Sbis was a variant with integrated fuel tanks added into the wings in order to achieve a greater range. It had a range of 1200km (745.64 milles), it was produced in 1951 by the Saratov Aircraft Factory Number 22 in Saratov, Russia, which produced all 45 of them. It was armed like a regular MiG-15bis and only saw brief service with the VVS.
The MiG-15bis(ISh) was a ground-support variant. Only 4 of them were manufactured plus other 12 which were converted from the MiG-15bis. All of them were produced or converted by the Research Institute of Air Force for Aircraft Operations and Repairs in 1958. As it was intended for ground-support duties, it had an additional underwing hardpoint to carry a wide arrangement of bombs and/or air-to-ground rockets, apart of the traditional N-37 and NR-23 guns.
The MiG-15bisR was a recon variant locally produced in Czechoslovakia at the town of Kbely by Letecké opravny Kbely n.p.. Seventy-six of them were converted from regular MiG-15bis (or its Czechoslovak licensed version built by Aero) during a production period starting in 1960 until 1963.
As in its Russian counterpart, in order to fit the photographical equipment, it was underarmed with just one NR-23 gun.
Lastly, we have the MiG-15bisSB which was a ground-attack version also built and converted by Letecké opravny Kbely n.p. from either regular MiG-15bis or MiG-15bisR aircraft. Production started as late as 1968 and lasted until 1978 having manufactured 72 machines plus an unknown number of conversions. It featured hardpoints to carry a set of ground-attack rockets (most notably the LR-130 and the LR-55 rocket launcher) and up to six OFAB-100 bombs.
Most of them served with the Czechoslovak Air Force during the 1960s and the 1970s and, apparently, some of them were exported to Iraq where they served in the Iraqi Air Force, however, as we couldn't find any photo or pic whatsoever of the MiG-15bisSB under Iraqi colours, the pic should be taken as speculative.

Sources.
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-15
2. https://forum.valka.cz/topic/view/196279
3. https://forum.valka.cz/topic/view/196286
4. https://forum.valka.cz/topic/view/60332
5. https://forum.valka.cz/topic/view/196285
6. https://forum.valka.cz/topic/view/53557
7. https://forum.valka.cz/topic/view/60333
8. https://forum.valka.cz/topic/view/196279

Douglas DC-1

The Douglas DC-1 was the first model of the famous American DC (which stands for Douglas Commercial) commercial transport aircraft series. Only one aircraft was produced, but it served as the basis for the DC-2 and DC-3.
Its development dates back to 1931 after a TWA's (Trans World Airlines) Fokker F.10 crashed due to the failure of a wing caused by the water that had seeped between the layers of the wood laminate and dissolved the glue that held the layers together. After the accident, the Aeronautics Branch of the US Department of Commerce placed strict restrictions on the use of wooden wings on passenger airliners. Boeing answered with a new model, the Boeing 247 which was a twin-engined all-metal monoplane with a retractable undercarriage, but their production capacity was reserved to meet the needs of United Airlines, part of United Aircraft and Transport Corporation which also owned Boeing. Therefore TWA needed a similar aircraft to compete with the Boeing 247 and they asked five manufacturers to bid for construction of a three-engined, 12-seat aircraft of all-metal production with a range of 1080 milles (1740 km) at 150mph (242 km/h). The most difficult specification was that the aircraft had to be able to safely take-off from any airport on TWA's main routes with one engine non-functioning. The most difficult one to operate was Albuquerque's airport which is at high altittude and with sever summer temperatures.
Donald Douglas, president of Douglas Aircraft Company was initially reluctant to take part in the contest as he doubted that there was enough market for 100 aircraft, which was the number of sales needed to cover development costs. However, he submitted a design consisting on an all-metal, low-wing, twin-engined aircraft with capacity for 12 passengers, a crew of two and a flight attendant. The specifications exceeded the needs of the TWA even with only two engines, mainly through the use of controllable pitch propellers. It was also insulated against noise, heated and fully capable of flying and making a controlled taking-off on just one engine.
As stated by Donald Douglas, the DC-1 costed $325.000 (That's $5,956,917.88 adjusted for inflation) of the time to design and build.
Only one aircraft was produced and flew for the first time on 1st July 1933 at the hands of Carl Cover. It received the designation of DC-1 (standing for 'Douglas Commercial-1'). It was tested for half-year and performed over 200 test flights proving its superiority over other airliners of the time like the Ford Trimotor or Fokker Trimotor. It was flown accross the USA from New York to Los Angeles, on 19th February 1934 setting a new record of 13 hours and 5 minutes.
Back on 15th September 1933, TWA accepted the aircraft with some modifications like an increased passenger capacity from 12 to 14 and adding more powerful engines. They also ordered a production of 20 of them which, at its developed version would be known as the Douglas DC-2.
The DC-1 never entered active service with TWA but was used for promotion purposes. It was sold in May 1938 to Lord Forbes in the United Kingdom, who operated it for a few months as his personal aircraft and was sold in October to the French Société Française de Transports Aériens which sold it just weeks later, in November 1938 to the Spanish Republicans.
It was assigned to the LAPE (Lineas Aéreas Postales Españolas - Spanish Postal Airlines) where it saw at least two camouflage schemes (as shown below) and was notorious for having transported the Spanish Republican Cabinet to the exile on 6th March 1939 from Valencia to Toulouse, in France.
It was given back to the Francoist authorities after the end of the Spanish Civil War and it was assigned to Tráfico Aéreo Español (Spanish Air Traffic - the most inmediate predecessor of Iberia, Spanish national airline) which re-registered it and named it as "Manuel Negrón". It was lost in December 1940 when after having taken-off from the airport of Malaga, it crashed shortly after for unknown reasons and it was scrapped.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_DC-1
2. https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_DC-1 (translated)
3. https://aeropinakes.com/wordpress/1938/11/13/douglas-dc-1-de-lape-ejemplar-unico/ (translated) 
4. http://jaon.es/dc1/index.htm (translated) 

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15bis, Korean war. Part four.

As we previously mentioned, the MiG-15's menace forced the USAF to cancel the daytime raids in favour of night radar-guided missions fron November 1951 onwards. That supposed a threat for Communist defenses as their only specialized night-fighting unit was equipped with the outdated propeller-driven Lavochkin La-11 which was totally inadequate for intercepting the B-29. Therefore, part of the regiment was re-equipped with the MiG-15bis and another night-fighting unit joined the Soviet forces in Manchuria, causing American bombers to suffer losses again.
On 10th June 1952, between 21:50 and 22:30 four MiG-15bis attacked a formation of B-29s over Sonchon and Kwaksan. Lt. Col. Mikhail I. Studilin seriously damaged a B-29A, forcing it to land at Kimpo Air Base, close to Seoul. Some minutes later Maj. Anatoly Karelin shot down two more superfortress. Their wingmen also managed to damage one B-29 each. Eventually Karelin achieved the ace status by shoting down six B-29, all of them at night. After those actions, the B-29's nightly raids were cancelled for two months.
The MiG-15 wasn't as effective against the Marine Corps' ground-based F3D Skynight which overtook the role of the F-94 Starfire after proving its ineffectiveness. The F3D had some concers regarding performance, however it compensated with their search radar that allowed the Skynight to see their targets clearly, while the MiG-15's directions to find bomber formations were of little use in detecting escorting fighters. On the night of 2-3rd November 1952 a Skynight piloted by Maj. William Stratton and Hans Hoagland as radar operator damaged a MiG-15bis piloted by Cpt. V. D. Vishnyak. Shortly later, on the night of 8-9 November another Skynight shot down the MiG-15bis of Lt. Ivan P. Koyalov who ejected safely. During that first months of operations of the F3D, the Skynights claimed five MiGs for no losses on their own and no B-29 escorted by them were lost to the enemy. However, on the night of 16th January 1953 a Skynight almost was shot down by a MiG-15bis when the Skynight of Cpt. George Cross and Master Sgt. J.A. Piekutowski was seriously damaged in an attack by a Soviet MiG-15bis. The Skynight made it back home in Kunsan Air Base with difficulty. Later, on the night of 29th May 1953 Chinese MiG-15 pilot Hou Shujun shot down a F3D over Anju killing the radar operator (whose remains were found in the year 2001) and making the pilot, Cpt. James B Brown to go MIA.
The MiG-15bis also had to face planes from the Royal Navy. In fact, on 8th August 1952 a Hawker Sea Fury belonging to the Royal Navy and piloted by Peter "Hoagy" Carmichael shot down a MiG-15bis making the Sea Fury one of the few propeller aircraft to shot down a jet fighter after the end of the World War II. On 10th September 1952 a Vought F4U Corsair shot down another MiG-15bis but the F4U was shortly later shot down by another MiG.
According to Soviet sources, the MiG-15s of the 64th IAK (the fighter corps which included all the subordinated units that took part in the conflict) made a total of 60450 daylight combat sorties, 2779 night ones, engaged the enemy in 1683 aerial battles and 107 of them at night claiming to have shot down a total of 1097UN aircraft over Korea including 647 F-86s, 185 F-84s, 118 F-80s, 28 F-51s, 11 F-94s, 65 B-29, 26 Gloster Meteors and 17 aircraft of various types.
The Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force and the North Korean Air Force (the union of those two air forces received the name of United Air Army) had also the MiG-15 and MiG-15bis in their rows. Despite the complains of the USSR about the Chinese being too slow on introducing more MiG-15 regiments into the conflict, by 1951 there were only two Chinese fighter regiments operating over Korea, both of them in the night-fighter duties. As they weren't completely trained and equipped, they were commited to the defence of China, but saw some action against USAF's recon aircraft, some of which went very deep into China.
As by September 1951 the aerial supremacy was almost in Communist hands, plans were laid down to deploy Chinese and North Korean fighter regiments into Korean soil, outside of China. Except for some brief period in January 1951, it wasn't until 25th September 1951 that the PLAAF's MiG-15s saw action. That day 16 MiG-15s engaged a formation of F-86s with pilot Li Yongtai claiming a victory at the cost of a MiG and its pilot. The North Korean fighter regiment got into action one year later, in September 1952 and, from then until the end of the war, the United Air Army claimed to have shot down 211 F-86s, 72 F-84s and F-80s and 47 aircraft of other types at the cost of 116 Chinese pilots and 231 aircraft including 224 MiG-15s, three Lavochkin La-11s and 4 Tupovlev Tu-2s. Many Chinese pilots achieved the ace status, among them Zhao Baotong with 7 victories, Wang Hai, with 9 and both Kan Yon Duk and Kim Di San with 5 each.
It's not known the number of North Korean MiG-15s lost during the conflict but, according to defectors, it should be at around 100 for the whole war. Therefore a total of 659 MiG-15s were lost during the Korean War at the cost of 224 F-86 Sabres. However numbers are not completely clear and they could vary.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-15#The_Korean_War_(1950–1953)
2. https://forum.valka.cz/topic/view/53180
3. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15bis, Korean war. Part three.

In the end of January 1952, the 303rd IAD was replaced with the 97th IAD which was composed of 16th and 148th IAP. The next month, the 324th IAD was replaced by the 190th IAD which was composed of 256th, 494th and 821st IAP. These new units were poorly trained with most of the pilots having only 50-60 hours flying the MiG. Therefore, those units suffered higher losses by the now better prepared American Sabre pilots. During this period, at least two Soviet pilots achieved the ace status, Major Arkadiy S Boytsov and Vladimir N Zabelin with six and nine victories respectively.
From February 1952 to July 1952 a total of 81 MiG-15s were lost and 34 pilots were killed by F-86 Sabres, at the cost of only 68 UN aircraft, including 36 F-86s. The greatest losses came on 4th July 1952 when a total of eleven MiGs were shot down by Sabres with one pilot KIA. This was done in the context of the secret "Maple Special" Operation which was a plan conceived by Col. Francis Gabreski to cross the Yalu river (which marked the border between North Korea and China and was strictly forbidden, at least officially) and catch the MiGs unaware when they were taking off or landing, as they were in disadvantage, flying slow, at low level and, depending on the situation, short on ammo and fuel.
Even under those circunstances, the MiG pilots managed to score two important victories against American aces, like when on 10th February 1952 Maj. George Andrews Davis Jr. , an ace credited with 14 victories, 10 of which confirmed by communist forces, was shot down and killed. It's not clear who shot down him and it's authorship was disputed between 1st Lt. Mikhail A Averin and the Chinese Zhang Jihui. Later, during that same 4th July 1952, some few seconds after shooting down 1st Lt. M. I. Kosynkin, Cpt. Clifford D. Jolley (who would achieve ace status later in the war) was forced to eject from his crippled F-86E after being caught by surprise a MiG-15bis flown by 1st Lt. Vasily R. Krutkikh.
In May 1952 new and better trained Soviet units arrived in Korea, the 133rd and 216th IADs. They replaced the 190th and 97th IADs by July 1952 and, even if they couldn't achieve aerial superiority, as the American forces were well prepared now, they certainly neutralized American air superiority in the area between September 1952 and July 1953 when the cease-fire was signed. In September 1952 another Soviet unit, the 32nd IAD also started combat operations. As usual, the victories/losses numbers are debated both by American and Russian historians, but on at least three occasions Soviet MiG-15 pilots gained the upper hand against Sabre aces.
The first one took place on 7th April 1953 when the ace Cpt. Harold E. Fischer was shot down over Manchuria shortly after damaging a Chinese and Soviets MiGs over Dapu airbase. The attacker's identity is disputed between 1st Lt. Grigory N. Berelidze and the Chinese pilot Han Dechai.
The second one took place some few days later, on 12th April 1953 when Cpt. Semyon A Fedorets who was a Soviet ace with 8 credited victories, shot down the F-86E of Norman E Green, but was however, shortly attacked by the future American top ace of the Korean war Cpt. Joseph McConnell. In the ensuing dogfight, they shot each other down, ejecting and being rescued safely.
The third one took place on the days prior to the armistice, on 20th July 1953 when, during a raid deep into Manchuria, and after having shot down two Chinese MiGs, Majors Thomas M Sellers and Stepehn L Bettinger (who was an ace credited with 5 kills), tried to catch by surprise two Soviet MiG-15s that were landing in Dapu. The Soviet pilots skillfully forced the Americans to overshoot, reversed direction and shot both down. Cpt. Boris N Siskov forced Bettinger to bail out and his wingman 1st Lt. Vladimir M. Klimov killed Major Sellers. That was Siskov's fifth victory, making him the last ace of the Korean War and those were also the two last Sabres shot down by Soviet aircrafts during the war.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-15
2. https://forum.valka.cz/topic/view/53180
3. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15bis, Korean war. Part two.

After those first encounters, the main characteristics of the main aerial battles for the rest of the war were shown. Both MiG-15 and MiG-15bis had higher ceiling than the Sabre and could also accelerate faster than the F-86A/E/Fs thanks to its better thrust-to-weight ratio. The MiG-15's climbing rate was also better than the F-86A and the F-86E one, however the F-86F matched the MiG-15's rate. The MiG-15 had also a better turn radius above 10.000m (33.000ft) and, with its 37mm N-37 cannon and two 23mm NR-23 cannons, was better armed than the F-86.
However, the MiG was slower at low altittudes and had a less sophisticated World War II-era gyroscopic gunsight than the Sabre.
Therefore, if the MiG-15bis managed to engage the Sabre in the vertical plane, or in the horizontal one above 10.000m, it gained a significant advantage and could easily escape from the Sabre by climbing to its ceiling knowing that the Sabre couldn't. Anyway, below 8000m (26.247ft) the Sabre had a slight advantage over the MiG in most aspects except for the climb rate, especially if the Soviet pilot decided to fight in the horizontal plane.
That's why the main mission of the MiG-15, during the Korean war, wasn't to fight the F-86 Sabre, but to intercept the formations of B-29 Superfortress. That task was assigned to elite VVS (Soviet Air Force) units in April 1951 like the 324th IAD leaded by Colonel Ivan Kozhedub or, in June that same year, the 303rd IAD of General Georgiy A. Lobov.
Due to the Black Thursday, the USAF stopped their strategic bombing campaign until they decided to resume them in October 22 when a mission was launched to neutralize the North Korean aerodromes of Namsi, Taechon and Saamchan in order to inflict more losses to the MiG-15. On 22nd October 1951 a formation of 56 MiG-15bis intercepted nine B-29s which were escorted by 34 F-86s and 55 F-84Es. Despite their numerical inferiority, the Soviet pilots managed to shot down eight B-29s and two F-84Es, for the price of a single MiG-15. The USAF called that day "Black Tuesday". That and the Black Thursday, forced the USAF to abandon the precision day-bombing campaign and switch to radar-oriented night raids.
From November 1951 to January 1952 both UN and Communist forces tried to achieve aerial superiority or, at least, deny it to the enemy, over the Yalu river. Therefore the intensity of aerial combats reached peaks not seen yet between MiG-15 and F-86 pilots. During the period from November 1950 to January 1952 no less than 40 Soviet pilots were credited as aces, with five or more victories. The first Soviet pilot to achieve that status was Cpt. Stepan I. Naumenko on 24th December 1950 with Cpt. Sergei Kramarenko being the second one to achieve it on 29th July 1951. Around 16 more Soviet pilots became eventually aces and the most successful one was Maj. Nikolay Sutyagin with 22 victories, 13 of them confirmed by the USAF. He was followed by Col. Yevgeny Pepelyaev with 19 claims, 15 confirmed and Maj. Lev Shchukin with 17 claimed and 11 verified.
Thanks to the technical advantage of the MiG specially at high altittudes, the MiG leaders were able to dictate the tactical situation at least until the battle was started. They could decide to fight or to stay out. The advantage of the radar control from the ground also allowed the MiGs to pass through the gaps in the F-86 control pattern.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-15
2. https://forum.valka.cz/topic/view/53180
3. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15bis, Korean war. Part one.

The Soviets had secretly been deploying MiG-15 squadrons close to the North Korean border, in the Manchurian province of Antung in August 1950 and were already training Chinese pilots in mainland China when China entered the war supporting North Korea. By October, the Soviet Union had agreed to provide state-of-the-art MiG-15 fighters together with trained crews to flight them. At the same time, agreed to supply both the Chinese and North Koreans with their own MiG-15s and train their pilots.
In November, the 50th IAD (Soviet Fighter Regiment) joined the war with its MiG-15s and their noses painted red and in North Korean Markings and more units were moved to the Far East Theatre.
Despite many successful clashes where the MiG-15 appeared victorious, on 9th November the first loss of a MiG-15 took place when a Grumman F8F that had took-off from the USS Philippine Sea carrier shot down a MiG-15.
In order to counter the MiG-15 menace, three squadrons equipped with the F-86 Sabre, America's only swept-wing fighter of the time, were rushed to the Far East in December 1950. On 17th December Lt.Col. Bruce H. Hinton forced Major Yakov N. Yefromeyenko to eject from his burning MiG. During the following days both sides clashed with both sides exaggerating their claims on aerial victories. The USAF claimed eight MiGs and the Soviets claimed twelve F-86s when actual losses were three MiGs and at least four F-86s.
That same month, the Soviet 324th IAD Division arrived to Antung, the main base of the Soviet units, formed mainly with elite units, among them Col. Ivan Kozhedub, who was the top Soviet ace of the World War II and it wasn't until April 1951 that they entered into action.
The main mission of the MiG-15 wasn't to clash against the F-86 but to intercept the large formations of B-29 Superfortress. One of those action took place on 12th April 1951 when a formation of 44 MiG-15s faced an USAF formation of three squadrons of B-29 Superfortress (44 bombers) escorted by 96 F-80 and F-84 fighters. The Soviets managed to lure the escorts away and shot down three B-29 and badly damage 7 bombers more and 11 F-80 shot down. Due to that action, which is known as the "Black Thursday" in the USAF, bomber operations were put on hold for three months, switching from day bombings in large formations to night bombing in small formations.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-15#The_Korean_War_(1950–1953)
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MiG_Alley
3. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters