You will note in the bottom left hand portion of the screen shows information related to the MiG-3. As with all aircraft information includes the fastest speed of the aircraft, the altitude where that fastest speed is achieved, as well as the speed of the aircraft at zero altitude.
Since the difference between speed at ideal altitude and zero altitude is a straight line, we can create a formula that will calculate the speed of the aircraft at any altitude in between and compare it to other aircraft.
Like so:
Here we can see that at 6,000 feet, a Bf109G-2 achieves a superior speed of 354 mph in comparison to the Yak-1 at 321mph, the LaGG-3 at 316mph, and the MiG-3 at 313mph.
Although speed is not the decisive factor in air-to-air combat, it at least gives us one aspect of the game to look at aside from experience that is so often in favor of Luftwaffe pilots.
Now if we take this a step further and do a speed comparison for the more common fighter aircraft in 1943-44, we can help decide what aircraft we may want to prioritize for air-to-air operations, again with the understanding this is only one facet of the overall calculations that go into deciding who wins and who loses.
Here are some speed comparisons for Bf-109
And some others against Fw-190
We can see that in a lot of cases the German aircraft remain superior, but there are some exceptions with aircraft such as La-5FN, P39 and Yak-3 aircraft, particularly at 10,000 feet and below. Interestingly, Yak-1B did not fare as well as one might expect. Still these are the numbers and may give folks a better idea of what Soviet fighter aircraft stand out in the speed competition.
