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Yakovlev Yak-15 (Feather)

1947 COLD WAR

History of Yakovlev Yak-15 (feather)

After the fall of Germany in May 1945, the Soviets (and the Allies) had some captured technical data on turbojets. The jet age is coming, and all the victors in the world will benefit from the work that German engineers did in the months and years leading up to the end of World War II. Not only were valuable data obtained from the victors, but as with the Soviet Air Force, the large inventories of engines in abandoned or captured German manufacturing facilities were offset. The technology can then be thoroughly tested and eventually reverse engineered to gain new insights into the then-evolving technology.

The German Junkers Jumo 004B series turbojet engine became a trophy of the Soviet Union and was soon collected in large quantities and shipped to various Soviet companies for testing.

The Soviet Union, like Britain and the United States, insisted on letting their own domestic jet engine projects get off the ground during the war, and Britain (along with Germany) got ahead at the end of the war. Thus, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin encouraged the use of captured German engines to facilitate the introduction of new Soviet jet fighters until mature domestic technology became available in abundance.

Engineers received German engine samples and began fitting them into a heavily modified fuselage consisting of piston-powered Yak-3 fighter jets that had previously served in the war - some quantities are now available. The end result will create a lightweight body that complements the Jumo 004B's relatively underpowered performance.

The Yak-3 is in many ways a traditional fighter, with low-set monoplane wings mounted forward amidships, a single-seat cockpit with reasonable all-round visibility, and a forward-mounted engine bay. The rear fins are conventional, with short vertical and horizontal fins. In the revised design, the piston-driven engine was replaced by a turbojet in the front of the design (now known by the Soviet designation "RD-10" and designed by Tumansky). The three-bladed propellers are also gone, replaced by the large air intakes required for the aspirated engine. The low-lying monoplane wing was retained, and the rear end of the fuselage and tail-tow landing gear of the original aircraft were retained to speed up development.

The aircraft first flew on April 24, 1946, and was designated the Yakovlev Yak-15, becoming one of the first jet fighters in service with the Soviet Air Force. The aircraft was on public display in its full aerial glory during the upcoming Tushino Aviation Day in August 1946.

After the evaluation period that ended in 1947, during which the aircraft performed quite well under the control of Soviet test pilots, the type was accepted into service and officially equipped with two guns - initially 2 x 20 mm BM-20 series , then 2 x 23mm Nudelman-Suranov NS-23 series guns - these are mounted on the upper nose assembly. Each cannon received 60 rounds of ammunition. Power from the RD-10 engine provides a top speed of up to 500 mph at an altitude of 315 miles. The plane's service ceiling is close to 43,800 feet.

Deliveries of the new Jak-15 began in 1947, and in total at least 280 were produced in 1946-1947. NATO continued to traditionally designate the new fighter jets as "Feather" (Soviet fighter jets were given the "F" designation, while bombers were given the "B" designation).

The Yak-15 was further developed into the "Yak-21" as a two-seater trainer. The fuselage is equipped with seats for an instructor and a student pilot (in the front cockpit, the fuselage is lengthened), with redundant flight controls in both seating positions.

All pilots required training, as jet flying brought a whole new set of rules and concerns to the "green" and experienced Soviet pilots. The Yak-15U was a development model with powered tricycle landing gear, but it was not mass-produced.

The Yak-15U existed on a two-seat trainer frame called the Yak-21T, but these were also not mass-produced with the Yak-15 series.

The Soviet Air Force would be the sole operator of the Yak-15 as their tenure was relatively short and production was never really quantified enough to be exported to the allies. The Yak-15 was retired in 1953 and was soon replaced by improved jets, including the revolutionary MiG-15 from the Korean War.