The Yakovlev Yak-23 (NATO designation Flora) was a jet fighter developed in the USSR.
History
The Yak-23 was developed as a simple lightweight jet fighter, on Yakovlev's own initiative. It was a development of earlier Yak-15 and Yak-17 fighters, retaining their non-conventional layout with a jet engine in the fuselage nose and exhaust under the cockpit, but the construction was all new. The Yak-23 used a Soviet copy of the British Rolls-Royce Derwent turbojet engine, produced as the RD-500. It first flew on July 8, 1947. After successful flights, it underwent state trials in 1948 and was accepted for series production. It was evaluated as highly maneuverable, with a good acceleration and take-off and climb capabilities thanks to high thrust-to-weight ratio. Faults were poor directional stability at speeds around Mach 0.8 and lack of cockpit pressurization. Despite being one of the best straight-wing jet fighters, it was inferior to new swept-wing designs.
The first aircraft were produced in a factory in Tbilisi in October 1949. In late 1949 they entered Soviet air force service, and were also ordered for export in 1949-50. The Yak-23 was quickly replaced with more complicated swept-wing MiG-15, which offered superior performance. In total, only 310 Yak-23 aircraft were built before production ended in 1950. Apart from the fighter, the Yak-23UTI two-seat trainer was developed, with an instructor's cockpit extended towards nose, but only a small series was produced.
Small numbers of Yak-23 were exported to Czechoslovakia (21, named S-101), Bulgaria, Poland (about 100), Romania, Hungary, Albania. Poland and Czechoslovakia acquired licence of Yak-23, but didn't start production in favour of the MiG-15. Yak-23s were withdrawn by the late 1950s. They were not used in combat. A single Yak-23 was stolen by US intelligence in 1953 and evaluated in the USA.
Specifications (Yak-23)
General Characteristics
- Crew: one
- Length: 8.12 m (26 ft 8 in)
- Wingspan: 8.73 m (28 ft 8 in)
- Height: 3.31 m (10 ft 10 in)
- Wing area: 13.50 m² (145 ft²)
- Empty: 1,980 kg (4,356 lb)
- Loaded: 3,384 kg (7,445 lb)
- Maximum takeoff: kg ( lb)
- Powerplant: 1x Tumansky RD-500 turbojet, 15.6 kN (3,498 lb) thrust
Performance
- Maximum speed: 923 km/h (577 mph)
- Range: 1,400 km (875 miles)
- Service ceiling: 14,800 m (48,500 ft)
- Rate of climb: 13,450 m/min (44,116 ft/min)
- Wing loading: 251 kg/m² (51 lb/ft²)
- Thrust-to-weight ratio: 0.47:1
Armament
Related content
Related development:
Yakovlev Yak-15 -
Yakovlev Yak-17
Comparable aircraft:
MiG-9 -
FMA Pulqui
Designation sequence:
Yak-19 -
Yak-20 -
Yak-21 -
Yak-23 -
Yak-24 -
Yak-25 -
Yak-26
