As both the engine and the arrangement proved to be a success, the choice of engine for the SM-2 single-seat supersonic fighter proposal was clear. It had a similar wing to that of the previous I-350 with a 55 degree sweepback at quarter chord and 60 degree at leading edge. It was powered by two Mikulin AM-5F turbojet engines with 4.490 lb of thrust power and an afterburner ratio of 2.700 kg (5952,481 lb). It was armed with two 37 mm N-37D cannons placed at the root of the wings and, according to some sources, it could carry rocket launchers and/or bombs under the wings.
The first SM-2, which by now had received the official designation of I-360, flew for the first time on 24th May 1952 and was unique in having a T-shaped tail, as it was clearly influenced by the previous MiG-17. Later, on 25th June, it achieved the speed of mach = 1.04 (1.240,4 km/h - 7707,49 mph) in level flight. Further testing showed that the wing tended to blanket the tailplane at high levels of attack and, in order to fix this, it was lowered to a mid-point on the fin. Flight tests of this modified prototype, which was called SM-2/2 revealed little improvement so the surface was lowered even more, to the base of the fin, this being accompanied with some increase in the vertical tail surface area. All these changes resulted in more satisfactory handling characteristics. The prototype was lost during its 132nd test flight in 1953 due to a tail flutter. It was estimated that the maximum attainable mach number for the machine was 1,19 (1.419,29 km/h - 881,90 mph), however, no exact details on performance are available.
Sources:
1. http://www.aviastar.org/air/russia/mig_i-360.php
2. https://www.armedconflicts.com/Mikoyan-Gurevich-I-360-t813
3. http://ram-home.com/ram-old/i-360.html
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-19
5. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters
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