Throughout its existence, MiG specialized in fighters and built several experimental and record aircraft. The fuselage is oval and narrow with a rounded tail fin. Cockpit is placed in the rear fuselage because of very long nose which holds a liquid-cooled engine and compressors. An air intake is located on either side of the fuselage. Low-set wings are elliptical with small air intakes at the leading edge near the fuselage.
Tail plane is delta-shaped with rounded trailing edge.
Landing gear with tail wheel is retractable. However, MiG-1 was troubled with unreliable compressors and was never produced. An improved version called MiG-3 went in production in 1942, and a total of 3222 airplanes were built. The fuselage was long and narrow with a small canopy in the nose. Wings were delta-shaped with rounded tips and were very thick in the roots.