Yakovlev Yak-15
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The Yakovlev Yak-15 (russian: Яковлев Як-15;
NATO reporting name NATO reporting names are code names for military equipment from Russia, China, and historically, the Eastern Bloc (Soviet Union and other nations of the Warsaw Pact). They provide unambiguous and easily understood English words in a uniform manne ...
: Feather,
USAF The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...
/ DOD designation Type 2) was a first-generation
Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
turbojet fighter developed by the
Yakovlev The JSC A.S. Yakovlev Design Bureau (russian: ОАО Опытно-конструкторское бюро им. А.С. Яковлева) is a Russian aircraft designer and manufacturer (design office prefix Yak). Its head office is in Aeroport D ...
design bureau OKB is a transliteration of the Russian initials of "" – , meaning 'experiment and design bureau'. During the Soviet era, OKBs were closed institutions working on design and prototyping of advanced technology, usually for military applications. ...
(OKB) immediately after
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. The main fuselage was that of
Yakovlev Yak-3 The Yakovlev Yak-3 (Russian: Яковлев Як-3) was a single-engine, single-seat World War II Soviet fighter. Robust and easy to maintain, it was much liked by both pilots and ground crew.Glancey 2006, p. 180. One of the smallest and lighte ...
piston-engine fighter modified to mount a
reverse-engineered Reverse engineering (also known as backwards engineering or back engineering) is a process or method through which one attempts to understand through deductive reasoning how a previously made device, process, system, or piece of software accompli ...
German
Junkers Jumo 004 The Junkers Jumo 004 was the world's first production turbojet engine in operational use, and the first successful axial compressor turbojet engine. Some 8,000 units were manufactured by Junkers in Germany late in World War II, powering the Mess ...
engine. The Yak-15 and the Swedish
Saab 21R The Saab 21R was a Swedish fighter/ attack aircraft developed and produced by Svenska Aeroplan AB (SAAB). It was a jet-powered development of the piston-engined SAAB 21 and was the first jet aircraft to be produced by Saab. The R-suffix stand ...
were the only two jets to be successfully converted from piston-power to enter production.Gunston 1995, p. 472 280 aircraft were built in 1947. Although nominally a fighter, it was mainly used to qualify piston-engine-experienced pilots to fly jets.


Design


Development and description

On 9 April 1945, the
Council of People's Commissars The Councils of People's Commissars (SNK; russian: Совет народных комиссаров (СНК), ''Sovet narodnykh kommissarov''), commonly known as the ''Sovnarkom'' (Совнарком), were the highest executive authorities of ...
ordered the Yakovlev OKB to develop a single-seat jet fighter to be equipped with a single German Jumo 004 engine. To save time, Yakovlev based the new design (known as the Yak-3-Jumo or Yak-Jumo) on the latest version of his successful
Yakovlev Yak-3 The Yakovlev Yak-3 (Russian: Яковлев Як-3) was a single-engine, single-seat World War II Soviet fighter. Robust and easy to maintain, it was much liked by both pilots and ground crew.Glancey 2006, p. 180. One of the smallest and lighte ...
piston-engined fighter. The piston engine was removed and the jet engine was mounted underneath the forward
fuselage The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraft t ...
so that its exhaust exited underneath the middle of the fuselage. To protect the fuselage, a steel heatshield was added to its bottom. The deeper forward part of the fuselage caused the configuration of the aircraft to resemble a "pod-and-boom". Very few changes were made to the metal fuselage other than at the aircraft's nose. This was recontoured to accommodate the armament of two
Nudelman-Suranov NS-23 The NS-23 was a aircraft cannon designed by A. E. Nudelman, A. Suranov, G. Zhirnykh, V. Nemenov, S. Lunin, and M. Bundin during World War II as a replacement for the Volkov-Yartsev VYa-23 cannon. It entered service in 1944. The NS-23 round was d ...
autocannon An autocannon, automatic cannon or machine cannon is a fully automatic gun that is capable of rapid-firing large-caliber ( or more) armour-piercing, explosive or incendiary shells, as opposed to the smaller-caliber kinetic projectiles (bull ...
, an additional fuel tank above the engine and the engine itself. No changes were made to the wings other than the elimination of the air intakes for the oil cooler and the bending of the front wing
spar SPAR, originally DESPAR, styled as DE SPAR, is a Dutch multinational that provides branding, supplies and support services for independently owned and operated food retail stores. It was founded in the Netherlands in 1932, by Adriaan van Well, ...
into an inverted U-shape to clear the engine. The
vertical stabilizer A vertical stabilizer or tail fin is the static part of the vertical tail of an aircraft. The term is commonly applied to the assembly of both this fixed surface and one or more movable rudders hinged to it. Their role is to provide control, sta ...
was slightly enlarged, but the
tailplane A tailplane, also known as a horizontal stabiliser, is a small lifting surface located on the tail (empennage) behind the main lifting surfaces of a fixed-wing aircraft as well as other non-fixed-wing aircraft such as helicopters and gyroplane ...
was unmodified. The
conventional landing gear Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Term ...
was also unmodified other than the tailwheel which now used several steel
leaf spring A leaf spring is a simple form of spring commonly used for the suspension in wheeled vehicles. Originally called a ''laminated'' or ''carriage spring'', and sometimes referred to as a semi-elliptical spring, elliptical spring, or cart spring, it ...
s as shock absorbers. The Yak-Jumo carried a total of of fuel. Yak-15 forward fuselage and engine
Taxi A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice ...
tests began in October 1945, but the heatshield proved to be too short and the heat from the engine exhaust melted the
duralumin Duralumin (also called duraluminum, duraluminium, duralum, dural(l)ium, or dural) is a trade name for one of the earliest types of age-hardenable aluminium alloys. The term is a combination of '' Dürener'' and ''aluminium''. Its use as a tra ...
skin of the rear fuselage as well as the rubber
tire A tire (American English) or tyre (British English) is a ring-shaped component that surrounds a Rim (wheel), wheel's rim to transfer a vehicle's load from the axle through the wheel to the ground and to provide Traction (engineering), t ...
of the tailwheel. Modifications to rectify the problems took until late December. By this time a second prototype had been completed with a solid steel tailwheel and an enlarged tailplane. After a few taxiing tests, it was transferred to the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (
TsAGI The Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (also (Zhukovsky) Central Institute of Aerodynamics, russian: Центра́льный аэрогидродинами́ческий институ́т, ЦАГИ, Tsentral'nyy Aerogidrodinamicheskiy Institut, ...
) for full-scale
windtunnel Wind tunnels are large tubes with air blowing through them which are used to replicate the interaction between air and an object flying through the air or moving along the ground. Researchers use wind tunnels to learn more about how an aircraft ...
testing that lasted until February 1946. On the 26th of that month, the Council of People's Commissars issued requirements that the aircraft should have a maximum speed of at
sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...
and a speed of at an altitude of . It should be able to climb to that altitude in minutes or less and it should have a range of at 90% of maximum speed. Two prototypes were to be ready for flight testing on 1 September.Gordon 2002, p. 50 The Mikoyan-Gurevich OKB was developing the
MiG-9 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-9 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-9, USAF/DoD designation: Type 1, NATO reporting name: Fargo) was the first turbojet fighter developed by Mikoyan-Gurevich in the years immediately after World War II. ...
at the same time. According to aviation historians
Bill Gunston Bill Gunston (1 March 1927 – 1 June 2013) was a British aviation and military author. He flew with Britain's Royal Air Force from 1945 to 1948, and after pilot training became a flying instructor. He spent most of his adult life doing research ...
and
Yefim Gordon Yefim Gordon (russian: Ефим Гордон, born 1950 in Vilnius, Soviet Union) is a Lithuanian aircraft photographer and author who specializes in Soviet aircraft and Russian aviation. Biography Gordon graduated in 1972 from the Polytechnic ...
, representatives from Yakovlev and Mikoyan-Gurevich tossed a coin on 24 April 1946 to determine which aircraft would be the first Soviet jet to fly. Yakovlev lost and the Yak-Jumo made one circuit of the airfield before landing. The manufacturer's flight testing of the aircraft was completed on 22 June, but its early success caused the
Council of Ministers A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...
to issue a new requirement on 29 April for two aircraft powered by the Soviet-built RD-10 engine (known as the Yak-15, Yak-15RD10 or Yak-RD). Aside from the new engine, the requirement differed from the previous one only in a range of at optimum cruise speed and a reduction of the maximum
ceiling A ceiling is an overhead interior surface that covers the upper limits of a room. It is not generally considered a structural element, but a finished surface concealing the underside of the roof structure or the floor of a story above. Ceilings ...
to . Two prototypes were ordered to be available for flight testing on 1 September 1946. Yakovlev was able to adapt the two existing prototypes to the RD-10 with little trouble and one aircraft participated in the August 1946
Tushino Tushino ( rus, Тушино, p=ˈtuʂɨnə) is a former village and town to the north of Moscow, which has been part of the city's area since 1960. Between 1939 and 1960, Tushino was classed as a separate town. The Skhodnya River flows across the ...
flypast A flypast is a ceremonial or honorific flight by an aircraft or group of aircraft. The term flypast is used in the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. In the United States, the terms flyover and flyby are used. Flypasts are often tied in w ...
. The day after the aerial display,
Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...
summoned
Artem Mikoyan Artem (Artyom) Ivanovich Mikoyan (russian: Артём Ива́нович Микоя́н; hy, Արտյոմ (Անուշավան) Հովհաննեսի Միկոյան, translit=''Artyom (Anushavan) Hovhannesi Mikoyan''; – 9 December 1970) was a ...
and Aleksandr Yakovlev to his office and ordered that each OKB build 15 aircraft to participate in the 7 November parade in
Red Square Red Square ( rus, Красная площадь, Krasnaya ploshchad', ˈkrasnəjə ˈploɕːətʲ) is one of the oldest and largest squares in Moscow, the capital of Russia. Owing to its historical significance and the adjacent historical build ...
commemorating the anniversary of the
October Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...
. Factory No. 31 in
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was chosen to build the new aircraft because it was still building conventional Yak-3s and could easily switch to the jet fighter. All 15 aircraft were built before the deadline, although they lacked any armour, were provided with an enlarged fuel tank in lieu of armament, and had an incomplete
avionics Avionics (a blend word, blend of ''aviation'' and ''electronics'') are the Electronics, electronic systems used on aircraft. Avionic systems include communications, Air navigation, navigation, the display and management of multiple systems, ...
outfit. The parade was canceled and two of the aircraft were modified with a single 23 mm cannon and began State acceptance trials which lasted until April 1947. The tests revealed a number of problems in that the thick wing inherited from the Yak-3 limited the top speed of the aircraft, the engine exhaust damaged the surface of the airfield, the cockpit often filled with smoke from kerosene and oil that had dripped onto the engine, and the aircraft was very short-ranged. Despite these problems, the Yak-15 proved to be very easy to fly, even for pilots accustomed to piston-engined fighters, and caused the VVS to accept the fighter as a conversion trainer. Even before the State acceptance trials were completed, the Council of Ministers ordered the aircraft into production in December 1946. 50 aircraft were to be built between January and April 1947, equally split between single-seat aircraft and two-seat trainers, armed with only a single cannon. The trainer ran into serious development difficulties and all the aircraft of the first batch were single-seaters. Fifty of these participated in the
May Day May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice. Festivities may also be held the night before, known as May Eve. T ...
flypast in Moscow in 1947. A total of 280 Yak-15s were produced through the end of the year, exclusive of prototypes. The aircraft were distributed in small numbers to fighter aviation regiments based in the USSR, Poland, Romania, Hungary, and Manchuria for use as conversion trainers. The aircraft's manoeuvrability led it to be used by a number of informal acrobatic display teams throughout the late 1940s. A single prototype of the two-seat trainer was the first aircraft of the first production batch built by Factory No. 31 in the fall of 1946. The prototype did not begin manufacturer's flight testing until 5 April 1947, even though the primary differences from the single-seat version were limited to a redesigned forward fuselage that accommodated an additional cockpit for the trainee where the armament used to be and a sideways-opening,
canopy Canopy may refer to: Plants * Canopy (biology), aboveground portion of plant community or crop (including forests) * Canopy (grape), aboveground portion of grapes Religion and ceremonies * Baldachin or canopy of state, typically placed over an a ...
. The trainer was initially designated as the Yak-Jumo ''vyvoznoy'', but it was eventually designated as the Yak-21 although some documents refer to it as the Yak-15V, Yak-15UT or Yak-21V. Further work on the trainer was cancelled with the success of the trainer version of the
Yak-17 The Yakovlev Yak-17 (russian: Яковлев Як-17; USAF/ DOD designation Type 16, NATO reporting name Feather) was an early Soviet jet fighter. It was developed from the Yak-15, the primary difference being tricycle landing gear. The traine ...
with its
tricycle undercarriage Tricycle gear is a type of aircraft undercarriage, or ''landing gear'', arranged in a tricycle fashion. The tricycle arrangement has a single nose wheel in the front, and two or more main wheels slightly aft of the center of gravity. Tricycle ge ...
. One Yak-15 was used to test a prototype aerial refueling system in 1949, although the installation on the fighter and the
Tupolev Tu-2 The Tupolev Tu-2 (development names ANT-58 and 103; NATO reporting name Bat) was a twin-engine Soviet high-speed daylight and frontline (SDB and FB) bomber aircraft of World War II vintage. The Tu-2 was tailored to meet a requirement for a high ...
bomber used as the tanker were both dummies to test procedures and fit.


Yak-17-RD10

On 29 April 1946, five days after the Mikoyan-Gurevich I-300 (MiG-9 Prototype) and the Yak-Jumo made their first flights, the Council of Ministers ordered that the Yakovlev OKB begin design of a new aircraft similar to the Yak-Jumo, using the RD-10 engine with improved aerodynamics. This generally resembled the original aircraft, but the wings were entirely redesigned with
laminar flow airfoil An airfoil (American English) or aerofoil (British English) is the cross-sectional shape of an object whose motion through a gas is capable of generating significant lift, such as a wing, a sail, or the blades of propeller, rotor, or turbine. ...
s, the tail structure was enlarged and an
ejection seat In aircraft, an ejection seat or ejector seat is a system designed to rescue the aircraft pilot, pilot or other aircrew, crew of an aircraft (usually military) in an emergency. In most designs, the seat is propelled out of the aircraft by an ex ...
was fitted. The back of the seat was armoured and the pilot was also protected by a bulletproof
windscreen The windshield (North American English) or windscreen (Commonwealth English) of an aircraft, car, bus, motorbike, truck, train, boat or streetcar is the front window, which provides visibility while protecting occupants from the elements. Mo ...
. The entire canopy was also redesigned to accommodate the new windscreen. The landing gear could not be housed in the thin wings so it was redesigned to retract into the fuselage. Low and high wing loading wing versions were considered, but the low wing loading wings were chosen for the prototype. At an altitude of 5000 meters, the Yak-17-RD10, as the new fighter was designated, was expected to have a top speed of ; a significant improvement over that of the production Yak-15. The aircraft was completed on 3 September and ground tests lasted until 26 September, but it never flew as the Yak-15 had already been ordered into production and its
conventional landing gear Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Term ...
was already deemed obsolete.Gordon 2002, p. 62


Survivors

Only one Yak-15 survives, 'Yellow 37' at the
Vadim Zadorozhny Technical Museum Vadim (Cyrillic: Вадим) is a Russian, Ukrainian, Romanian, Slovene masculine given name derived either from the Persian ''badian'' (anise or aniseed), or from the Ruthenian word ''volod'' (russian: волод), meaning ''to rule'' or ''vaditi ...
outside
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
. It was purchased by the technical museum when the Yakovlev OKB's museum was liquidated in 2006.


Variants

''Data from: ''OKB Yakovlev *Yak-Jumo (Yak-3-Jumo): The first prototypes of the Yak-15 series, powered by captured Jumo 004 engines. *Yak-15-RD10: (also referred to as Yak-RD) Initial designation of prototypes and early production aircraft powered by Soviet-built RD-10 engines (copies of the Jumo 004), with no or reduced armament. *Yak-15: Production aircraft with full armament *Yak-21: Two-seat training version of Yak-15. One built, but not proceeded with because of the success of the trainer version of the Yak-17.Gordon 2002, p. 64 *Yak-15V: (V - ''Vyvozny'' - familiarisation trainer) Alternative designation for the Yak-21. *Yak-15U: (U - ''Uchebnotrenirovochnyy'' - training) Alternative designation for the Yak-21. *Yak-15U (Yakovlev Yak-15U-RD10): (U - ''uloochshenny'' - improved) Improved Yak-15 with tricycle undercarriage and drop tanks, became the prototype of the Yak-17 proper.


Similar but unrelated aircraft

Yak-17-RD10: An experimental aircraft, similar in appearance to the Yak-Jumo aircraft, but actually largely new, incorporating improved aerodynamics, an ejection seat and protection for the pilot. The sole prototype remained unflown after further development was cancelled on 26 September 1946, as taxi tests were being carried out.


Users

;. *
Soviet Air Forces The Soviet Air Forces ( rus, Военно-воздушные силы, r=Voyenno-vozdushnyye sily, VVS; literally "Military Air Forces") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Soviet Air Defence Forces. The Air Forces ...


Specifications (Yak-15)


See also


Citations


Bibliography

* Gordon, Yefim. ''Early Soviet Jet Fighters''. Hinkley, UK: Midland, 2002. * Gordon, Yefim and Dmitriy Kommissarov. ''Early Soviet Jet Fighters''. Manchester, UK: Hikoki Publications, 2014. * Gordon, Yefim, Dimtry Kommissarov, and Sergey Komissariov. ''OKB Yakovlev: A History of the Design Bureau and Its Aircraft''. Hinkley, England: Midland, 2005. * Green, William and Gordon Swanborough. ''The Complete Book of Fighters''. New York: Smithmark, 1994. * Greenwood, John T., Robin Higham and Von Hardesty. ''Russian Aviation and Air Power in the Twentieth Century''. Milton Park, UK: Routledge, 1998. * Gunston, Bill. ''The Osprey Encyclopedia of Russian Aircraft 1875-1995''. London: Osprey, 1995. * Gunston, Bill and Yefim Gordon. ''Yakovlev Aircraft Since 1924''. London: Putnam Aeronautical Books, 1997. * Mikolajczuk, Marian. ''Yakovlev Yak-23: The First Yakovlev Jet Fighters''. Sandomirez, Poland: Stratus, 2008.


External links


Description page on aviation.ru
{{Use dmy dates, date=January 2021 Yak-015 1940s Soviet fighter aircraft Single-engined jet aircraft Low-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1946