The Yakovlev Yak-15, NATO reporting name Feather, was a first-generation Soviet turbojet fighter immediately after World War II. 280 aircraft were built altogether. It was developed from the Yak-3 piston-engined fighter. The piston engine was removed and the jet engine was mounted underneath the forward fuselage so that its exhaust exited underneath the middle of the fuselage. To protect the fuselage, a steel heatshield was added to the bottom of the fuselage. It used a reverse-engineered German Junkers Jumo 004 engine.

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Although nominally a fighter, it was mainly used to qualify piston-engine-experienced pilots to fly jets. It was armed with 2 × 23 mm Nudelman-Suranov NS-23 cannon with 60 rounds each.

The model is from Pioneer 2, built OOB. I include a photo of the Yak-15 next to a die-cast Yak-3 to show the family resemblance.

I hope you enjoy the article and photos.

Dirk Schenk

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