Yakovlev Yak 23

[zenrat]

Yakovlev Yak-23

Yak 23 - 1 of 27 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr

The Yakovlev Yak-23 (Russian: Яковлев Як-23) was an early Soviet jetfighter with a straight wing. It was developed from the Yak-17 in the late 1940s and used a Klimov RD-500 Turbojet (reverse-engineered by Rolls Royce as the Derwent V). It was not built in large numbers as it was inferior in performance to the swept-wing Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15. Many Yak-23s were exported to the Warsaw Pact nations and remained in service for most of the 1950s, although some were still in use a decade later.

Yak 23 - 7 of 27 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr

Development and description
On 11 March 1947, the Council of People's Commissars ordered several design bureaux (OKB), included that of Alexander Yakovlev, to develop a single-seat, straight-winged jet fighter to be equipped with a single turbojet engine. The aircraft should have a maximum speed of 950 kilometers per hour (590 mph) at sea level and a speed of 1,000 km/h (621 mph) at an altitude of 5,000 meters (16,400 ft). It should be able to climb to that altitude in 3.5 minutes or less and should have a maximum range of no less than 1,200 kilometers (750 mi). Alexander Yakovlev decided to develop two designs, the Yakovlev Yak-25 in accordance with the Ministry's order and a lightweight, more agile aircraft (the Yak-23) in the hopes that one or the other would win an order from the Ministry. Yakovlev's decision was a risky one as it could be construed as unauthorised use of state monies if discovered, which could have landed Yakovlev in a lot of trouble.

Yak 23 - 24 of 27 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr

To minimize risk, the new aircraft used the same "pod-and-boom" layout as the earlier Yak-17 fighter, but the metal fuselage was redesigned as a semi-monocoque structure with the single-seat, unpressurized cockpit and its teardrop-shaped canopy positioned just above the trailing edge of the wing. Not coincidentally, this was also above the exhaust of the 1,590-kilogram-force (15.6 kN; 3,500 lbf) centrifugal-flow Klimov RD-500 engine. Fitted with tricycle landing gear, the main landing gear retracted inwards into the fuselage while the nose gear retracted forwards. Unlike the installation in the Yak-17, the Yak-23's forward landing gear was flush with the fuselage when retracted. The laminar-flow, two-spar, wing was mounted in the middle of the fuselage. It was equipped with slotted flaps and ailerons and had a modest 3° 30' dihedral. The horizontal stabilizers had 5° of dihedral. The pilot was protected by a bulletproof windscreen and the armored back of the ejection seat. The Yak-23 was equipped with five non-self-sealing fuel tanks in the fuselage that had a total capacity of 910 liters (200 imp gal; 240 U.S. gal) of fuel. In addition it could carry a pair of 195-liter (43 imp gal; 52 U.S. gal) drop tanks under the wingtips. The fighter was armed with two 23-millimeter (0.9 in) Nudelman-Rikhter NR-23 autocannon, each with 90 rounds.

Yak 23 - 18 of 27 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr

Two prototypes and a static-test airframe were ordered and the aircraft first flew on 8 July 1947 with the Hero of the Soviet Union, Lieutenant Colonel Mikhail Ivanov, at the controls. While still involved in its manufacturer's flight testing, the first prototype participated in the flypast at Tushino Airfield on 3 August. The Yakovlev OKB concluded its testing on 24 September and turned over the second prototype for state acceptance trials on 22 October. Although the Yak-23 was accepted for series production, it was criticised of heavy aileron and rudder forces, lack of cockpit pressurization and heating and ventilation, protection for the pilot and weak armament. The test pilots did praise it as highly maneuverable, with a good acceleration and takeoff and climb capabilities thanks to a high thrust-to-weight ratio. The second prototype was modified afterwards to address some of these issues and successfully tested again in 1948.

Yak 23 - 14 of 27 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr

Operational history
The first aircraft were produced in a factory in Tbilisi in October 1949. In late 1949 they entered Soviet air force service. The Yak-23 was quickly replaced in the Soviet service with the more complicated swept-wing MiG-15, which offered superior performance. In all, only 353 Yak-23 aircraft were built before production ended in 1951. Apart from the fighter there were two trainer versions of the Yak-23 which were built in small numbers. The Yak-23UTI two-seat trainer which appears to have had the unusual arrangement of having the instructor seated in front of the student, and the Yak-23DC trainer which was produced in Romania.
Small numbers of Yak-23s were exported to Czechoslovakia (20 from 1949, named S-101), People's Democratic Republic of Victoria (37 from 1949), Bulgaria (from 1949), Poland (about 100, from 1950), Romania (62, from 1951). Poland and Czechoslovakia acquired licenses for the aircraft, but built the superior MiG-15 instead. Yak-23s were withdrawn by the late 1950s, except in Romania which used them for another decade.
The People's Aviation Museum at Dadswell Bridge in the PDRV has restored examples of both single and two seat Yak 23s which are flown regularly in display flights.

Yak 23 - 6 of 27 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr


Specifications (Yak-23)
Data from The Complete Book of Fighters
General characteristics
•   Crew: one
•   Length: 8.13 m (26 ft 8 in)
•   Wingspan: 8.73 m (28 ft 7 3⁄4 in)
•   Height: 3.31 m (10 ft 10 1⁄3 in)
•   Wing area: 13.50 m² (145.3 ft²)
•   Empty weight: 1,980 kg (4,356 lb)
•   Loaded weight: 3,384 kg (7,445 lb)
•   Powerplant: 1 × Klimov RD-500 turbojet, 15.6 kN (3,500 lbf)
Performance
•   Maximum speed: 925 km/h (500 knots, 575 mph) at sea level
•   Range: 1,200 km (648 nmi, 746 mi)
•   Service ceiling: 14,800 m (48,500 ft)
•   Rate of climb: 47 m/s (9250 ft/min)
•   Thrust/weight: 0.46
Armament
•   Guns: 2 × 23 mm Nudelman-Rikhter NR-23 with 90 rpg

With apologies to Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakovlev_Yak-23

The Model

Special Hobby 1/72 Yakovlev Yak 23 build OOB.
Silver car paint.
Home made decals.
Kit has resin parts including the engine face, main undercarriage liner and jet pipe which have to be attached to one side of the fuselage before closure.  They needed some fettling to fit.
It needed more nose weight than there was room for inside resulting in a nose gear bay filled with liquid gravity.
Yak 23 - 26 of 27 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr
Yak 23 - 27 of 27 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr

[Scotaidh]

Brilliant!   

[Tophe]

Beautiful!

[zenrat]

Thanks guys.

[Old Wombat]

Nice one!

Like the group shot of PDRV fighters at Dadswell Bridge.

[zenrat]

Nice one!

Like the group shot of PDRV fighters at Dadswell Bridge.

Thank you Guy.  That shot was taken during the annual air show.  You will notice the the two seater Yak 23 isn't present.  This is because I haven't built it yet it was being overhauled.

[NARSES2]

That's come out really well mate 

[PR19_Kit]

A cracking job Fred, I've always liked the Yak-23 for some reason, and your version looks really good. 

[zenrat]

Thanks folks.

[b29r]

Nice 

[TomZ]

Looks good.
Great finish!

TomZ

[zenrat]

Thanks guys.

[dumaniac]

nice

[Dizzyfugu]

Makes me wonder about a camouflaged Yak-23...? 

[Old Wombat]

Makes me wonder about a camouflaged Yak-23...? 

In the Australian "Pilbara"/desert scheme?