Ikarus S-49

__NOTOC__ infobox Aircraft
name = Ikarus S-49
type = fighter-bomber
manufacturer = Ikarus Aircraft factory

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caption =
designer = Kosta Sivcev, Svetozar Popovic, Slobodan Zrnic
first flight =
introduced = 1946
retired = 1961
status =
primary user = Yugoslav Air Force
more users =
produced =
number built = 158
unit cost =
variants with their own articles = The Ikarus S-49 was one of the first fighter aircraft produced in Yugoslavia after World War II by the Ikarus Aircraft factory. It was a conventional, low-wing cantilever monoplane with retractable tailwheel undercarriage and bore a strong resemblance to the Yakovlev Yak-9, although it was in fact a fresh design.

Development

After the Resolution of Informbiro in 1948 and breakup with Soviet Union, Yugoslavia was forced to rely on its domestic military industry. The same constructors that built the Rogozarski IK-3 before the war, engineers Kosta Sivcev, Slobodan Zrnic and Svetozar Popovic, used existing technical documentation of IK-3 to construct a new fighter aircraft, the Ikarus S-49. The first prototype of the S-49A flew in the June of 1949. The first operational aircraft were delivered to combat units at the beginning of 1950.

The S-49A was of mixed construction, with Soviet built VK-105 engines which were no longer available after 1948. Therefore, it was decided to produce a new version of aircraft powered by the similar French Hispano-Suiza 12Z-17 engine. Because of the bigger and heavier engine, the new aircraft had to be of all metal construction with a much longer nose. While the aircraft was mainly built by Ikarus, the wings and tail were built by the SOKO factory in Mostar cite book |last= Green|first= W |coauthors=Swanborough, G |title= The Complete Book of Fighters |edition= |year= 1994|publisher= Smithmark |isbn= 0-8317-3939-8. The armament remained the same as with Ikarus S-49A and it consisted of one 20 mm MG-151 German cannon and two 12.7 mm Colt Browning machineguns. In addition, under wing racks for two 50 kg bombs or four 127 mm HVAR missiles were added.

At the beginning of 1952, the new fighter aircraft Ikarus S-49C was introduced in to the units of Yugoslav Air Force. About 130 S-49C were produced during the fifties and they remained in service until 1961 .

Variants

* S-49A - mixed construction and Klimov M-105 engine (45 built)
* S-49C - all-metal construction and Hispano-Suiza 12Z engine (113 built)

Operators

*
** Yugoslav Air Force

pecifications (Ikarus S-49C)

aircraft specification

plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=prop
ref=The Complete Book of Fighters
crew=one pilot
length main=9.06 m
length alt=29 ft 8¾in
span main=10.30 m
span alt=33 ft 9½ in
height main=2.90 m
height alt=9 ft 6 in
area main=16.65 m²
area alt=179 ft²
empty weight main=2,818 kg cite web |url= http://www.airwar.ru/enc/fww2/s49.html|title= Ikarus S-49|accessdate=2007-08-07 |work=/www.airwar.ru |language= Russian]
empty weight alt=6,200 lb
loaded weight main=
loaded weight alt=
max takeoff weight main=3,568 kg
max takeoff weight alt=7,850 lb
engine (prop)=Hispano-Suiza 12Z-17
type of prop=water cooled V-12
number of props=1
power main=1,104 kW
power alt=1,500 hp
max speed main=628 km/h
max speed alt= 339 knots, 390 mph
max speed more= at 1,525 m (5,000 ft)
range main=690 km
range alt=373 nm, 429 mi
ceiling main=10,000 m
ceiling alt=33,000 ft
climb rate main=
climb rate alt=
loading main=
loading alt=
power/mass main=
power/mass alt=
more performance=
*Climb to 6,000 m (19,700 ft): 6 min 54 sec [cite web |url= http://1000aircraftphotos.com/Contributions/Ruvidic/4565.htm|title= Ikarus S-49C|accessdate=2007-08-07 |format= |work=1000aircraftphotos.com ]
armament=
* 1 × 20 mm MG-151/20 cannon
* 2 × .50 Colt Browning M2 machine guns with 650 rounds per gun
* 2 × 50 kg (110 lb) bombs or 4 × 5 in HVAR missiles aircontent
related=
similar aircraft=
see also=
lists=

References