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Yak-17
Yak-17 in Central Air Force Museum
Role	Fighter aircraft
Manufacturer	Yakovlev
First flight	June 1947
Introduced	1948
Retired	early 1960s
Primary users	Soviet Air Force Polish Air Force Romanian Air Force PLA Air Force
Produced	1948-1949
Number built	430
Developed from	Yakovlev Yak-15
Variants	Yakovlev Yak-23

The Yakovlev Yak-17 (Russian: Як-17 ), was an early Soviet jet fighter, developed from the Yak-15.

Reporting codenames were as follows:-

• Yak-17 - (USAF/DoD reporting name "Type 16"^[1], NATO reporting name "Feather"^[2][3])
• Yak-17UTI - (USAF/DoD reporting name "Type 26"^[4], NATO reporting name "Magnet"^[5][6])

[edit] Design and development

Developed in 1947. A prototype designated Yak-15U, converted from Yak-15, first flew in June 1947. Main visible difference was a new tricycle landing gear. A less obvious difference between Yak-17 and its predecessor Yakovlev Yak-15 was that the former was largely a metal aircraft while the latter was still largely built from wood like its propeller ancestor in World War II. In March 1948 the it was ordered for series production and its designation was changed to Yak-17. Only two variants were built: Yak-17 single-seat fighter and Yak-17UTI (Type-26/Magnet) two-seat trainer. 430 were built in total, in 1948–1949.

[edit] Operational history

Yak-17 was first publicly displayed at the Soviet Aviation Day of 1949, at Tushino.

Yak-17, being one of first Soviet jet fighters, had faults, like relatively low speed and range and unreliable engine (based upon the German Junkers Jumo 004), with a complicated starting procedure. On the other hand, its handling was very simple and similar to popular propeller fighters Yak-3 and Yak-9, what made it an excellent transitional machine to jet fighters, especially in a trainer variant.

[edit] Variants

Yak-17

Fighter version, serial built.

Yak-17UTI / Yak-17V

Two-seat training version first seen at 1949 Soviet Aviation Day, Tushino.

[edit] Operators

Yak-17UTI in the Polish Aviation Museum

 People's Republic of China

• People's Liberation Army Air Force

 Czechoslovakia

• Czechoslovak Air Force tested one Yak-17 aircraft.

 Poland

• Polish Air Force operated 3 Yak-17 (transcribed as Jak-17) and 1 Yak-17UTI (known as Jak-17UTI or Jak-17W), from 1950 and were withdrawn by 1955.
• Instytut Lotnictwa received one Jak-17 from Polish Air Force and used it with civilian markings SP-GLM for tests between 1957 and 1960.

 Romania

• Romanian Air Force operated 4 Yak-17UTI as trainers for the Yak-23s from 1951 until 1958

 Soviet Union

• Soviet Air Force operated Yak-17 aircraft from 1948 to early 1950s.

[edit] Specifications (Yak-17)

General characteristics

• Crew: one, pilot
• Length: 8.70 m (28 ft 6 in)
• Wingspan: 9.20 m (30 ft 2 in)
• Height: 2.30 m (7 ft 7 in)
• Wing area: 14.9 m² (160 ft²)
• Empty weight: 2,081 kg (4,578 lb)
• Loaded weight: 2,890 kg (6,358 lb)
• Max takeoff weight: 3,240 kg (7,128 lb)
• Powerplant: 1× Klimov RD-10A turbojet, 8.9 kN (2,000 lbf)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 748 km/h (468 mph)
• Range: 395 km (247 miles)
• Service ceiling 12,750 m (41,820 ft)
• Rate of climb: 12 m/s (2362 ft/min)
• Wing loading: 194 kg/m² (40 lb/ft²)
• Thrust/weight: 0.31

Armament

• 2x 23 mm Nudelman-Suranov NS-23 machine guns with 60 rounds each

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Description page on aviation.ru

[edit] See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Yakovlev Yak-17

Related development Yak-3 - Yak-15 - Yak-23
Comparable aircraft Lavochkin La-152 - Lavochkin La-156