The Mikoyan/Gurevich Ye-2 "Faceplate"

Mikoyan/Gurevich Ye-2

The E-2 is a completely new model I have developed for YSFlight, it will be available to be downloaded by end June 2022. At present landing gear is not supported.

Unlike with the Mikoyan/Gurevich E2, many of the aircraft hosted with YSFlight, performance figures and charts are available online. Performance data related to turn rates are available, for example, for the F-16 and the Mig-21 as well as the Mirage 2000.

When it comes to modelling an aircraft that existed only as a concept, or an aircraft that was built as a prototype, but for which no manuals or performance figures are available, it becomes more difficult to create a realistic flight model. To this end, some of the performance figures will have to be estimated.

The Case of the YE-2

The Mikoyan - Gurevich Ye-2 was built as a prototype to be evaluated against the delta winged Mig-21, originally called the Ye-4.

One of the first items to be estimated will have to be the turn rate as it is all important in the context of a combat simulator, as well as the rate of climb. The maximum turn rate is roughly proportional to the wing loading of the aircraft at the time of the turns, and if the thrust provided by the engine is insufficient, which it always is, even in the case of the F-16, then the aircraft will slow down. Instead of predicting sustained turn rates, it is easier to predict maximum sustained turn rates.

So what will the turn rate of the Ye-2 be like? It was similar to the Mig-21, however the wing areas and loadings are different. Here are some turn rates of aircraft.

Considering the weights of the Ye-2, empty weight is listed at this site (1) as 4,350 kg. The wing area is listed as 21 square metres, giving a wing loading at empty weight of 207 kg/sq. m which is comparable to the Mirage 2000, however the wing of the Ye-2 is more efficient than the delta and is unlikely to lose speed in turns due to high drag. What is the weight of fuel to be carried? The F-16 can carry 3000 kg of fuel, the Mig-21 2277 kg. Assuming that the Ye-2 can carry the same amount f fuel, the wing loading will range from around 230 to 300 kg/sq.m. So turn rates, they will stay the same.

Rate of Climb

Rate of climb is not listed however thrust to weight at take-off weight is listed as 5100/6250 giving a T/W of 0.81 (1) . The Mig 21 has a thrust to weight of 0.79 which is comparable.

(2) http://ram-home.com/ram-old/ye-2.html

(3) http://aviastar.org/air/russia/mig-e2.php

YSFlight DAT File

The modified YSFlight .dat file for the Mig-21 is used, with its corrected landing speed, stall speed and therefore turn performance. The items that need to be modified are listed below:

IDENTIFY "MIG-Ye-2"

THRAFTBN 5.1t #THRUST WITH AFTERBURNER 5.0t > 5.1

THRMILIT 3.8t #THRUST AT MILITARY POWER 3.0t > 3.8

WEIGHCLN 5.1t #WEIGHT CLEAN

WEIGFUEL 3.0t #WEIGHT OF FUEL OK

WEIGLOAD 0.2t #WEIGHT OF PAYLOAD 6.0 >0.2

FUELABRN 6.5kg #FUEL CONSUMPTION WHEN USING AFTERBURNER

FUELMILI 0.45kg #FUEL CONSUMPTION AT MILITARY POWER

REM WINGAREA CHANGED FROM 23 to 21

WINGAREA 21m^2 #WING AREA 23 >21

CROLLMAN 3.0 #ROLL MANEUVABILITY CONSTANT 3 > 10? Slower rate of roll more intertia

Max speed may have to be changed as well, since initially the Ye-2 was not able to achieve Mach 2.

The basic model is completed, including transparencies, landing gear will be added next. (Updated June 4, 2022)

Landing Gear:

The way landing gear works is this: the landing gear is specified as a separate .srf section and then referred to in the animation section, with the relevant animations. Fortunately, we have the Mig-21 landing animation which can be simply added on to the dnm file, or, better still, the .srf section for the Mig 21 body can be removed and replaced with the .srf for the Ye2A, preserving the landing gear and lights.