Yakovlev Yak-50 (1949)

Yak-50
Role Fighter/interceptor
Manufacturer Yakovlev
First flight 15 July 1949
Status Cancelled
Primary user Soviet Air Forces



Yakovlev Yak-50

Yakovlev Yak-50 was an early experimental turbojet interceptor aircraft designed in 1948 by the Yakovlev OKB in the USSR. The aircraft was essentially a stretched version of the Yakovlev Yak-30 (1948), with a more powerful engine and greater wing sweep. The Yak-50 is perhaps most significant as the first Yakovlev aircraft equipped with velosipednoye (bicycle) landing gear, a trademark of later Yakovlev designs. The Yak-50 designation was later reused for a propeller-driven aerobatic and trainer aircraft.[1]

Development and design

On February 21, 1949 a Sovmin order requested the Yakovlev OKB to design a lightweight, radar-equipped, all-weather and night interceptor capable of Mach 0.97 at 4,000 m (13,000 ft). The aircraft was to utilize the Klimov VK-1 engine which first appeared on Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 and MiG-17 fighters. This engine was itself a Soviet copy of the British Rolls-Royce Nene centrifugal turbojet initially known as the RD-45. The leading fighter OKBs each created a prototype to meet the requirement, which included the Lavochkin La-200, Mig I-320, Suchoi Su-15 (unrelated to the later aircraft with the same designation) and the Yak-50 (again, unrelated to the later aircraft). A major difference was that while Yakolev used one engine, the other design bureaus used two.[1]

Testing

The aircraft first flew on 15 July 1949,[1] with test pilot Anokhin achieving supersonic speed (Mach 1.03 at 10,000 m (33,000 ft)) in a shallow dive during one of the test flights.

Ultimately, none of the newly developed aircraft was selected, and an upgraded MiG-17 was eventually employed. Yakolev later used the velosipednoye landing gear in the Yak-140 fighter and the Yak-120, and later in the Yak-25 and Yak-28 where it proved highly successful.[1]

The Yak-50 never received an ASCC name or USAF reporting number.[1]

Operators

 Soviet Union

Specifications

General characteristics

Performance

Armament

See also

Related development
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era
Related lists

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Gunston, 1997
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