The Yakovlev Yak-23 (Russian: Яковлев Як-23; USAF/DoD reporting name Type 28, NATO reporting name Flora) was an early Soviet jet fighter with a straight wing. It was developed from the Yak-17 in the late 1940s and used a reverse-engineered copy of a British engine. It was not built in large numbers as it was inferior in performance to the swept-wing Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15. Many Yak-23s were exported to the Warsaw Pact nations and remained in service for most of the 1950s, although some were still in use a decade later. On 11 March 1947, the Council of People's Commissars ordered several design bureaux (OKB), including that of Alexander Yakovlev, to develop a single-seat, straight-winged jet fighter to be equipped with a single British Rolls-Royce Nene or Rolls-Royce Derwent turbojet engine. The aircraft should have a maximum speed of 950 kilometers per hour (590 mph) at sea level and a speed of 1,000 km/h (621 mph) at an altitude of 5,000 meters (16,400 ft). It should be able to climb to that altitude in 3.5 minutes or less and should have a maximum range of no less than 1,200 kilometers (750 mi). Alexander Yakovlev decided to develop two designs, the Yakovlev Yak-25 in accordance with the Ministry's order and a lightweight, more agile aircraft (the Yak-23) in the hopes that one or the other would win an order from the Ministry. Yakovlev's decision was a risky one as it could be construed as unauthorized use of state monies if discovered, which could have landed Yakovlev in a lot of trouble.
Kit Contents:
- Plane model
- Assembly instructions
- Russian aviation, 52nd Flora Soviet Air Force airbase, Ukraine 1953.
- Adhesive for plastic models with a brush
- Polish Aviation squadron aviation of the Warsaw system air base Poland Warsaw-Okęcie 1955.
- Czech Aviation Division 3 fighter Regiment aviation of Guildoslovakia, air base Brno-Turany 1955
- Bulgarian Aviation Division 41 RED Regiment, Bezemer airbase, Bulgaria May 1961.
- Romanian Aviation Division 14 Regiment, Brasov air base Romania 1960.