Yakovlev Yak-15
| Yak-15 | |
|---|---|
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| The only surviving Yak-15, displayed at the Vadim Zadorozhny Technical Museum, Moscow (2012) | |
| Role | Fighter |
| Manufacturer | Yakovlev |
| First flight | 24 April 1946 |
| Introduction | 1947 |
| Primary user | Soviet Air Force |
| Produced | 1946–47 |
| Number built | 280 |
| Developed from | Yakovlev Yak-3 |
| Developed into | Yakovlev Yak-17 |
The Yakovlev Yak-15 (Russian: Яковлев Як-15; NATO reporting name: Feather,USAF/DOD designation Type 2) was a first-generation Soviet turbojet fighter developed by the Yakovlev design bureau (OKB) immediately after World War II. It used a reverse-engineered German Junkers Jumo 004 engine. Along with the Swedish Saab 21R, it was one of only two jets to be successfully converted from a piston-powered aircraft and enter production. 280 aircraft were built in 1947. Although nominally a fighter, it was mainly used to qualify piston-engine-experienced pilots to fly jets.
On 9 April 1945, the Council of People's Commissars 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 piston-engined fighter. The piston engine was removed and the jet engine was mounted underneath the forward fuselage 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 gave the aircraft a "pod-and-boom" configuration. 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 23-millimeter (0.91 in) Nudelman-Suranov NS-23 , 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 into an inverted U-shape to clear the engine. The vertical stabilizer was slightly enlarged, but the tailplane was unmodified. The conventional landing gear was also unmodified other than the tailwheel which now used several steel leaf springs as shock absorbers. The Yak-Jumo carried a total of 590 kilograms (1,300 lb) of fuel.
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