Yakovlev Yak-17

The Yakovlev Yak-17, with the NATO reporting name Feather, was an early Soviet jet fighter developed from the Yak-15, the main difference being a tricycle landing gear. After the Yak-15 state acceptance trials of May 1947 recommended that change as better suited to a jet, the Yakovlev bureau designed the Yak-15U, which became the Yak-17. It kept the faults of its predecessor, including relatively low speed and range and an unreliable engine still based on the German Jumo 004 with a complicated starting procedure, although its handling was good. Production began in 1948, and total production of all Yak-15 and Yak-17 variants was 717. The two-seat Yak-17UTI trainer, called Magnet by NATO, was the only Soviet jet trainer of the 1940s and was exported in small numbers.