Ye-50A

The Ye-50A high-altitude interceptor was designed in 1956 and built in the Gorki production factory after approval of a full-scale mock-up that

retained the Ye-2A airframe structure. The power unit was composed of the AM-11 turbojet and the S-155 rocket engine. Like the Ye-50, the new prototype had its rocket engine, accessories, and hydrogen perox­ide tank gathered in the fin base. A frame was added in the tail of the fuselage, and a jet air pump nozzle was installed in the engine bay.

The wing, the stabilator, the cockpit hood, and the gear were iden­tical to those of the Ye-2A. The inside fuselage arrangement was also identical to that of the Ye-2A all the way to frame no. 20. Beyond that point and back to the fin attachment fittings, it was identical to that of the Ye-50. The fuel system was modified slightly, tank nos. 6 and 7 being removed. The rocket engine control and supply systems were gathered in a long, easy-to-remove fairing on the underside of the fuse­lage. The production factory was ordered to build a batch of twenty Ye – 50As, but they were never finished because L. S. Dushkin OKB closed and therefore could not supply the needed rocket engines.

Specifications

Span, 8.109 m (26 ft 7.2 in); length (except probe), 13.25 m (43 ft 5.7 in); fuselage length (except cone), 11.53 m (37 ft 9.9 in); wheel track, 2.679 m (8 ft 9.5 in); wheel base, 4.41 m (14 ft 5.6 in).

The Ye-6/1, the first MiG-21 prototype, was ill fated. Engine failure led to the death of its test pilot, V. A. Nefyedov.

The Ye-6/2, the second MiG-21 prototype, was equipped experimentally with launch rails at the wing tips In this photograph, they hold K-13 air-to-air missiles