The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-9 (NATO Reporting name: Fargo) was the first Soviet turbojet fighter developed by Mikoyan-Gurevich in the years immediately after World War II. It used reverse-engineered German BMW 003 engines. Categorized as a first generation jet fighter, it was moderately successful, but suffered from persistent problems with engine flameouts when firing its guns at high altitudes due to gun gas ingestion. A number of different armament configurations were tested, but nothing solved the problem. Several different engines were evaluated, but none were flown as the prototype of the MiG-15 promised superior performance.
MiG-9s had been replaced by MiG-15s by the time the United States decided to use atomic bombs during the Korean War but they remained a second line of defense deep in Red Chinese territory. Hank McCutcheon's B-29 faced this threat while on the atomic bombing mission to Harbin but the Twin Mustangs escorting the bombers managed to fend them off despite being a propeller model.[1]
The Gurevich 9 was the front line jet fighter of the North Japanese Air Force. Although the jets bore the red star inside the rising sun of the air force, everyone knew that they were piloted by Red Air Force pilots.
1=denotes a character who was a POV for one volume or less
2=denotes a character who was a POV for two volumes
3=denotes a character who was a POV for three volumes
† Denotes a deceased POV.
