Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-1
Description
Role	Fighter
Crew	one, pilot
First Flight	April 5, 1940
Entered Service	1940
Manufacturer	Mikoyan-Gurevich
Dimensions
Length	8.16 m	26 ft 9 in
Wingspan	10.20 m	33 ft 5 in
Height	2.62 m	8 ft 7 in
Wing area	17.5 m²	188 ft²
Weights
Empty	2,602 kg	5,724 lb
Loaded	3,099 kg	6,818 lb
Maximum takeoff	3,319 kg	7,302 lb
Powerplant
Engine	Mikulin AM-35A
Power	1,007 kW	1,350 hp
Performance
Maximum speed	657 km/h	410 mph
Range	580 km	362 miles
Service ceiling	12,000 m	39,360 ft
Rate of climb	1,008 m/min	3,306 ft/min
Wing loading	177 kg/m²	36 lb/ft²
Power/Mass	0.32 kW/kg	0.20 hp/lb
Avionics
Avionics
Armament
Guns	1 x 12.7 mm BS machine gun 2 x 7.62 mm ShKAS machine guns

The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-1 (Микоян-Гуревич МиГ-1) was a Soviet fighter aircraft of World War II. Although difficult to handle, it formed the basis for the MiG-3, which proved to be a capable high-altitude interceptor aircraft and established a reputation for its designers.

The MiG-1 was designed in response to a requirement for such an interceptor perceived by the Soviet Air Force in January 1939. Initially, Artem Mikoyan and Mikhail Gurevich were competing against Nikolai Polikarpov to fill this niche, but when Polikarpov fell out of favour with Stalin, Mikoyan and Gurevich's design was suddenly accepted for development in November, with a deadline of April for the first flight. As specified, the aircraft was to use the Mikulin AM-37 engine and was to be capable of reaching 670 km/h (417 mph). The approach that Mikoyan and Gurevich selected was to build the smallest possible aircraft around the intended powerplant, thereby minimising weight and drag - the philosophy of the light fighter.

The result was a highly conventional aircraft that flew on schedule on April 5, 1940, although its intended powerplant was not ready in time. Instead, the new fighter flew with the less powerful AM-35, and even with this soon broke the Soviet air speed record by 40 km/h (25 mph). It could not, however, attain the speed originally specified by the air force with this engine. Initially designated I-200, the MiG-1 was put into production almost immediately, and by the end of the year, the type was already being delivered to test squadrons. Here, it was discovered that the high wing loading of the small aircraft produced some very nasty handling problems, including tendencies towards both stalling and spinning, and a lack of directional stability.

As reports of the handling problems came back to Mikoyan and Gurevich, they worked to remedy them, eventually incorporating so many design changes that the type earned the new MiG-3 designation.