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The Yakovlev Yak-23 (NATO designation Flora) was a jet fighter developed in the USSR.
Yak-23 in Muzeum Orla Bialego in Poland History
The Yak-23 was developed as a simple lightweight jet fighter, onYakovlev'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 a hull nose and exhaust under pilot's cab, 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 succesfull flights, it underwent state trials in 1948 and was accepted for a serial 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 stability at speeds about Mach 0.8 and lack of cockpit pressurization. Despite it was one 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 aircraft Yak-23 were built before the production's end in 1950. Apart from the fighter, the Yak-23UTI two-seat trainer was developed, with an instructor cab 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 a favour of MiG-15. Yak-23's were withdrawn by the late 1950's. They were not used in combat. Single Yak-23 was stolen by the US intelligence in 1953 and evaluated in the USA.
Specifications
- Length: 8.13 m
- Wing span: 8.73 m
- Height: 3.3 m
- Weight: (empty) 1,980 kg (maximum) 3,384 kg
- Engine: RD-500 turbojet producing 15.9 kN thrust
- Speed: (maximum, sea level) 925 km/h
- Range: 1080 km (with additional fuel tanks)
- Ceiling: 14,800 m
- Armament: Two Nudelman-Suranov NS-23 23 mm cannon (later two NR-23) with 90 rounds each
Related content
Related development:
Yakovlev Yak-15 -
Yakovlev Yak-17
Comparable aircraft:
MiG-9 -
FMA Pulqui
Designation sequence:
Yak-18 -
Yak-19 -
Yak-20 -
Yak-23 -
Yak-24 -
Yak-25 -
Yak-26
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