Yakovlev Yak-50 (1949)

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]

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

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

Data from

General characteristics

  • Crew: 1
  • Length: 11.12 m (36 ft 6 in)
  • Wingspan: 8.01 m (26 ft 3 in)
  • Wing area: 16 m2 (170 sq ft)
  • Empty weight: 3,085 kg (6,801 lb)
  • Gross weight: 4,155 kg (9,160 lb)
  • Powerplant: 1 × Klimov VK-1 centrifugal-flow turbojet engine, 26.5 kN (6,000 lbf) thrust

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 1,120 km/h (700 mph, 600 kn)
  • Range: 850 km (530 mi, 460 nmi)
  • Service ceiling: 16,050 m (52,660 ft)
  • Rate of climb: 68 m/s (13,400 ft/min)
  • Wing loading: 260 kg/m2 (53 lb/sq ft)
  • Thrust/weight: 0.65

Armament

See also

Related development

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

Related lists

References
  1. Gunston, 1997
  • Gunston, Bill. Yakovlev Aircraft since 1924. London, UK: Putnam Aeronautical Books, 1997. ISBN 1-55750-978-6.
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