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Yakovlev Yak-30

1948 COLD WAR X-PLANE

History

Like the great powers of the Western world during the Cold War, the Soviet Union pushed for the rapid testing and development of many jets. After World War II a war that saw the height of propeller fighter jets turbojets established themselves as the next propulsion system of choice for military fighter jets and bombers, with engineers on all sides racing against time to pair the fledgling technology with a well-established high-speed framework.

Founded before the war in 1934, Yakovlev OKB was one of the powerful forces of the Soviet defense industry at the time, competing with the West alongside the faithful Mikoyan-Gurevich, Lavochkin and Sukhoi.

In 1947, Soviet engineers at Yakovlev OKB introduced their prototype Yak-25 interceptor - a straight-wing aircraft with a single vertical stabilizer, a high-mounted horizontal stabilizer, and a forward-facing cockpit. The aircraft was intended to compete with designs offered to the Soviet Air Force by Mikoyan-Gurevich and Lavochkin.

The single turbojet is nose-aspirated, a system based on a Rolls-Royce "Derwent" V centrifugal supercharger, rated at 3,500 lbf of thrust. The aircraft's first flight took place on November 2, 1947, and testing continued until July of the following year.

While the performance of the Yakolev product proved excellent during this period, it lacked high-speed stability due to the use of a straight-wing main aircraft arrangement - the result was severe flutter. A new tail failed to solve the problem, and Mikoyan-Gurevich's competing design -- which would later become the famous MiG 15 -- was chosen ahead of everyone else.

While this eventually led to the discontinuation of the Yak-25 product itself, work continued on what would become the "Yak-30".

In order to compete with the Mikoyan-Gurevich and Lavochkin (La-15) swept wings, try to see the Yak-25 itself with swept wings. The resulting aircraft had the same general design layout as the Yak-25, but its wing main aircraft now had a 35-degree sweep. Boundary layer fences on the back were prominent, and external fuel tanks were mounted under the wings (early turbojets were thirsty systems, limiting combat range).

The aircraft had the same tubular fuselage as the Yak-25, and an open nose for sucking the Derwent turbojet inside (the British copy of the engine was the "RD-500" and was (illegally) built by Klimov ) .OK). The pilot sits in the front of the cockpit and usually has good visibility from the canopy provided, which is framed only along the front panel.

The tricycle landing gear is fully retractable. The engines are sprayed through circular jet tubes under the rear wing, which itself consists of a vertical fin with a horizontal plane mounted in the center.

In several respects, the Yak-30 mimics many design lines inherited from Mikoyan-Gurevich (in their classic MiG-15 fighter) and Lavochkin (in their La-15).

NOTE: The name "Yak-30", although used for this eventually abandoned Soviet jet program, was repurposed in 1960 for another Yakovlev product - this is the Yak-30 "Magnum" jet trainer machines, four of which were made by it. There is no direct connection between the two products.

The Klimov RD-500 turbojet has more than 3,505 lbf of thrust, a top speed of 636 mph, a range of 1,068 miles, a service ceiling of 49,215 feet, and a rate of climb of 8,070 feet per minute. In contrast, the MiG-15 (MiG-15bis brand) gets 6,000 lbf of thrust from its Klimov VK-1 turbojet, reaches speeds of 658 mph, has a range of up to 770 miles, operates at a service ceiling of 50,855 feet, and climbs Speed ??is 10,080 feet per minute.

The proposed armament for the Yak-30 is a 3 x 23mm Nudelman-Rikhter NR-23 automatic cannon with 75 rounds per gun.

Two Yak-30 prototypes were realized from the now stillborn Yak-25 program. The first flight of the original model was recorded on September 4, 1948, although it was the second prototype to include more beneficial changes, such as Fowler flaps (replacing the original split arrangement), air brakes, and improved landing gear door panels . Onboard systems have also been improved, as have interior volumes.

The Yak 30 proved to be faster and only a little heavier than its predecessor, but unfortunately for Yakovlev's engineers, the main swept aircraft still had problems at the required speeds.

As the MiG-15 was officially accepted as stock in the Soviet Air Force, the Yak-30 was not really considered for a similar service. It was basically spent as a data acquisition/research platform exploring all areas of aviation including swept wings and turbojet propulsion. The program was eventually terminated on its own time after the usefulness of the product was determined. Only two Yak-30 prototypes have ever been completed. In comparison, more than 18,000 MiG-15s were produced and 235 Lavochkin La-15s were used.

Both were introduced in 1949.