Yakovlev Yak-23

Yak-23
Polish Yak-23 in the Lubuskie Muzeum Wojskowe, Drzonów
Role	Fighter aircraft
Manufacturer	Yakovlev
First flight	8 July 1947
Introduction	1949
Retired	Late 1960s
Primary users	Soviet Air Force Polish Air Force Romanian Air Force Czechoslovak Air Force Bulgarian Air Force
Produced	October 1949–January 1951
Number built	316 + 3 prototypes
Developed from	Yakovlev Yak-17

The Yakovlev Yak-23 (in Russian Як-23, USAF/DoD reporting name Type 28), NATO reporting name Flora) was an early Soviet jet fighter with a straight wing. It was developed from the Yak-17 in the late 1940s and used a reverse-engineered copy of a British engine. 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.

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 British Rolls-Royce Nene or Rolls-Royce Derwent 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 unauthorized use of state monies if discovered, which could have landed Yakovlev in a lot of trouble.

...
Wikipedia