Ikarus S-49
The Ikarus S -49 was a single-seat Yugoslav fighter aircraft of the 1950s.
Development
With the end of the communist Yugoslavia relations with the Soviet Union in 1948, was the Yugoslav air force in an unfavorable position; at that time Yugoslavia could not obtain warplanes from the West. It was still too big in the West skepticism about the new Communist Yugoslavia. At this time, the Soviet Yakovlev Yak -1 and Yakovlev Yak -3 formed the core of the Yugoslav Air Force. Their mainly consisting of wood and covered with plywood and canvas construction allowed easy maintenance of these aircraft. Because of the urgent need for new aircraft, but also for fear of a possible intervention of the Soviet Union, the decision was taken to start with the production of a domestic fighter. With the task Kosta Sivčev, Slobodan Zrnić and Svetozar Popovic were commissioned. Kosta Sivčev and Slobodan Zrnić had worked IK -3 before the Second World War in the design of the Yugoslav fighter Rogožarski and brought relevant experience.
In June 1949 the prototype of the first Yugoslav post-war hunter domestic production, the Ikarus S- 49A flew. Mass production began at the Icarus works in Novi Sad and Belgrade. When driving a 12- cylinder V- engine Klimov served WK- 105PF -2 Soviet design with 1300 hp. The armament corresponded to the technology used by the Yakovlev fighters, while other components were taken from both the Jak - 3 and the IK -3, so that the Ikarus S -49 is considered to be a mixture of the Yakovlev Yak -3 and Rogožarski IK -3.
Appeared in 1952 the further developed Ikarus S- 49C. Since the procurement of the Soviet Klimov engines was no longer possible, was chosen as a new drive of the Hispano Suiza HS 12Z -17. This required a redesign of the S -49 fighters, as the Hispano -Suiza engines were larger and heavier than the Klimov engines. From the S- 49C, there were two versions, the second of which eventually came into serial production.
Use
Depending on the source Ikarus S -49 were produced between 112-227. A portion of the aircraft was never used operationally, but served the supply of spare parts. The Ikarus S -49 served in the Yugoslav Air Force until the early 1960s, after which it was replaced by the North American F -86.