During 1948 to 1949 a total of 430 Yak-17s were produced. From 1951 to 1953 11 of the type were delivered to Poland and used to convert pilots from Yak-9s to jet-powered Yak-23s and to train new pilots. This particular Yak-17 flew with the Polish AF with serial 4 but was transferred in 1953 to the Instytut Lotnictwa (Institute of Aviation, hence IL on the nose), registered SP-GLM and used to prepare test pilots for flight testing of the new TS-11 Iskra, then under development. After the final flight in 1960 it was transferred to the museum.

This aircraft was supplied to Czechoslovakia withe intention of serving as a protoype for licenced production by Avia. However, jet aircarft technology progressed so quickly that the idea was dropped and, instead, it acted as a testbed under the S-100 designator for the Air Force between 1949 and 1950, after which it was assigned to the Military technical Academy as a training aid. The frame came to the Letecké Muzeum Kbely from the Technical museum in Brno in 1967.

[Olympus PEN E-PL2 + M.Zuico 14-42mm]

Was originally painted as 02 Red Polish Air Force

Seen in the Polish Aviation Museum

A licence-built Yak-17

[Nikon D300s + Tokina 12-24mm/4]

First flown in 1947, the Yak-17 was produced mainly in its two-seat trainer form. In the background, the Star Wars-like jet pipe battery of the Sukhoi T-4 and the Myasishchev M-52 which has wingtip-mounted engines.

The Yak-17, NATO code name 'Feather', was produced during 1948/49. Of the 430 completed, most were two-seat trainers, but 02 Red undergoing restoration here, is one of the less common single-seat fighter versions.