Ye 2A / MiG-23[2]

This lightweight fighter was a direct offspring of the Ye-5—and not, as would appear logical, the Ye-2—but differed from it in the wing and the main gear legs. The delta wing of the Ye-5 was replaced by a sweep – back wing, minus the leading-edge slats of the Ye-2. The upper surface of this wing was fitted with two fences at midspan to play the role of vortex generators in order to increase the ailerons’ effectiveness at great angles of attack. The automatic slats were also discarded because their asymmetrical deployment at times (while sideslipping, for exam­ple) triggered a severe buffet that endangered the aircraft’s pitch and roll stability.

Like the Ye-5, the Ye-2A was powered by the AM-11 turbojet rated for 5,000 daN (5,100 kg st) and was first taken up on 22 March 1956 by G. K. Mosolov. In addition to the prototype, only five other machines were built; yet these were described as "production" aircraft and named

MiG-23s even though an assembly line was set up for true mass pro­duction in factory no. 21 as early as 1956. Oddly, the factory tests were carried out with the Ye-2A/6—the fifth "production” aircraft built in fac­tory no. 21—by G. K. Mosolov, V. A. Nefyedov, G A. Sedov, and others The Ye-2A/3 was transferred to the LII MAP for tests of such spe­cial procedures as power-off landings. Six flights made by test pilot A. P. Bogorodskiy proved that those landings did not present any specific problems. But in the meantime the Ye-5 (with the longer fuselage) proved to be the more promising aircraft, and all Ye-2A flight tests were canceled.

Specifications

Span, 8.109 m (26 ft 7.2 in); length (except probe), 13.23 m (43 ft 4.9 in); fuselage length (except cone), 11.33 m (37 ft 2 in); wheel track, 2.679 m (8 ft 9.5 in); wheel base, 4.41 m (14 ft 5.6 in); wing area, 21 m2 (226 sq ft); empty weight, 4,340 kg (9,656 lb); takeoff weight, 6,250 kg (13,775 lb); fuel, 1,450 kg (3,195 lb); wing loading, 297.6 kg/m2 (61 lb/sq ft).

Performance

Max speed, 1,900 km/h (1,026 kt); climb to 10,000 m (32,800 ft) in 7 3 min; service ceding, 18,000 m (59,050 ft); landing speed, 280 km/h (151 kt); range, 2,000 km (1,240 mi).