The
YakovlevThe Yak Aircraft Corporation is a Russian aircraft designer and manufacturer .-Overview:...
Yak-18 ' onMouseout='HidePop("65765")' href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/NATO_reporting_name">NATO reporting name
NATO reporting names are unclassified code names for military equipment of the Eastern Bloc...
Max) was a
SovietThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
tandem two-seat military primary trainer aircraft. Originally powered by one 119 kW (160 hp)
Shvetsov M-11The Shvetsov M-11 is a five cylinder air-cooled radial aircraft engine produced in the Soviet Union between 1923 and 1952.-Design and development:...
FR-1
radial piston engineThe radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders point outward from a central crankshaft like the spokes on a wheel. This configuration was very commonly used in large aircraft engines before most large aircraft started using turbine engines...
, it entered service in
1946This is a list of aviation-related events from 1946:-January:* January 1 - a British South American Airways Avro Lancastrian becomes the first commercial flight to depart from London Heathrow Airport...
. It is also produced in
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
as the
Nanchang CJ-5.
Design and development
A member of the second generation of Russian aircraft designers, and best known for fighter designs,
Alexander Sergeyevich YakovlevSee Yakovlev for other individuals with the same surnameAlexander Sergeyevich Yakovlev was a Russian aeronautical engineer and airplane designer. He designed the Yakovlev military aircraft and founded the Yakovlev Design Bureau.Yakovlev was a founder of Soviet aviation modeling, air gliding, and...
always retained a light aircraft design section. In May 1945, Yakovlev initiated design of the Yak-18 two-seat primary trainer. He designed it to replace the earlier
Yakovlev UT-2The Yakovlev UT-2 was a trainer aircraft used by the Soviet Air Force from 1937 until the 1950s. It was the standard Soviet trainer during World War II.-Development:...
and
Yak-5The Yakovlev Yak-5 was an experimental trainer aircraft designed by Yakovlev OKB in the Soviet Union, and first flown in 1944. It was the first Yakovlev aircraft to be fitted with a variable-pitch propeller...
in service with the
Soviet Air ForceThe Soviet Air Force, officially known in Russian as Военно-воздушные силы or Voenno-Vozdushnye Sily and often abbreviated VVS was the official designation of one of the air forces of the Soviet Union...
s and
DOSAAFDOSAAF was a paramilitary society in the Soviet Union, Voluntary Society of Assistance to the Army, the Air Force and the Navy . The society was preserved in a number of post-Soviet Republics, e.g., in Russia and Belarus...
(Voluntary Society for Collaboration with the Army, Air Force and Navy, which sponsored aero clubs throughout the USSR). In 1944, an advanced version of the UT-2 had been built and featured an enclosed canopy and fixed landing gear which bears a striking resemblance to the new Yak-18. The new aircraft flew a year later, powered by a 119 kW (160 hp)
Shvetsov M-11The Shvetsov M-11 is a five cylinder air-cooled radial aircraft engine produced in the Soviet Union between 1923 and 1952.-Design and development:...
five-cylinder radial engine and featuring pneumatically operated retractable main landing gear and a fixed tailwheel. It entered service as a trainer later that year and was built by Yakovlev up until 1956. Examples were exported to China in kit form beginning in 1950. The Chinese began producing license built copies in 1954 with the designation
CJ-5.
The Yak 18's greatest claim to fame is its use as a night bomber by the North Korean Air Force during the Korean War. The aircraft were modified with bomb racks on the wing center section and flew over UN troop locations at night to drop bombs and harass UN forces. The five-cylinder engine reminded many of the US troops of the sound made by early gasoline powered washing machines earning them the name: "Washing Machine Charlie". The name "Bed Check Charlie" was also used for these night intruders. The Yak-18's along with Polikarpov Po-2's became quite a nusiance until US night fighters began shooting them down.
Other claims to fame for the Yak-18 are an international speed record for class in 1951 as well as being the aircraft used for initial flight training by Yuri Gagarin (1st human in space) and Ken Rowe (No Kum-Sok: defected with a Mig-15 during the Korean War).
Later, as the need for conventional landing gear trainers abated Yakovlev re-designed the Yak-18 with retractable tricycle landng gear and a Ivchenko AI-14RF radial, 224 kW (300 hp)and was designated the Yak-18A. The design proved exceptionally easy to build and maintain, and it continues in production today, 55 years later, in two of its many variants, the four-seat Yak-18T and two-seat Yak-54.
There are an estimated 40 original Yak-18's in existence worldwide. Three are currently flyable in the USA and 3 are flyable in Europe. Approximately 4 other aircraft worldwide are currently being restored for flight. Many are found in major aviation museums worldwide including the National Air and Space Museum in the USA.
The
CJ-6a, produced in
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
, is sometimes quoted as a variant but is a completely different aircraft designed in China by Bushi Cheng and built by Nanchang Aircraft Company.
Operational history
The Yak-18 became the standard trainer for Air Force flying schools and DOSAAF, is in wide use in China, and in many other countries.
Variants
Yak-18
- The original production version.
Yak-18A
- Re-engined version, powered by a 194 kW (260 hp) Ivchenko AI-14
The Ivchenko AI-14 is a nine-cylinder, air-cooled, radial piston engine designed in the Soviet Union to power aircraft.-Variants:...
FR engine. Built in large numbers.
Yak-18U
- This version was built in small numbers, but it had retractable tricycle landing gear.
Yak-18P (NATO reporting name Mouse)
- Single-seat aerobatic aircraft for use by flying clubs. Adaptation of Yak-18 two-seat trainer.
Yak-18PM
- Aerobatic aircraft.
Yak-18PS
- Aerobatic aircraft with retractable tailwheel.
Yak-18TThe Yakovlev Yak-18T is a four-place, fully aerobatic utility aircraft. Introduced to train Aeroflot pilots, it has recently gained some popularity as a sportplane in both the East and the West...
- not a variant as it has very little in common, and was designed from scratch 20 years later,
- Aeroflot
OJSC "AeroflotRussian Airlines" , commonly known as Aeroflot , is the largest airline in Russia, based on passengers carried per year. Aeroflot, headquartered in Moscow, is one of the oldest airlines in the world, tracing its history back to 1923...
training aircraft. The Yak-18T is also a light passenger transport aircraft, with a 4-seat cabin for one pilot and three passengers.
Nanchang CJ-5
- The Yak-18 was built under licence in China as the CJ-5.
Operators
Afghanistan
- Afghan Air Force
The Afghan National Army Air Corps is one of six "corps" of the military of Afghanistan, and the only one responsible for air defense and air warfare. It was established officially in 1924 and for most of its history has functioned as a small but separate air service...
- 14 acquired from 1957 and retired by 2001.
- Albanian Air Force
The Albanian Air Force is the national Air Force of the Albanian military. Currently it operates under the Albanian Joint Forces Command and it is regrouped in the Albanian Air Brigade...
- 43 (including Chinese CJ-6 variants).
- Algerian Air Force
The Algerian Air Force is the aerial arm of the Algerian People's Military.- Inventory :In 2006 a large contract with Russia provided for over 80 top modern fighters, yet to be delivered...
- Bangladesh Air Force
The Bangladesh Air Force , is the tactical and strategic air branch of the Bangladesh Armed Forces. It also provides air support for ground troops...
- Bulgarian Air Force
The Bulgarian Air Force is a branch of the Bulgarian Army, the other two being the Bulgarian Navy and Bulgarian land forces. Its mission is to guard and protect the sovereignty of Bulgarian airspace, to provide aerial support and to assist the Land Forces in case of war. The Bulgarian Air Force is...
- Royal Cambodian Air Force
The Royal Cambodian Air Force is the branch of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces which is charged with operating all military aircraft in Cambodia.-Organization:...
- People's Liberation Army Air Force
The People's Liberation Army Air Force is the aviation branch of the People's Liberation Army, the military of the People's Republic of China...
- manufactured in China under the designation CJ-5.
- Czechoslovakian Air Force
- Egyptian Air Force
The Egyptian Air Force, or EAF , is the aviation branch of the Egyptian armed forces. The EAF is headed by an Air Marshal . Currently, the commander of the Egyptian Air Force is Air Marshal Reda Mahmoud Hafez Mohamed...
- Hungarian Air Force
The Hungarian Air Force is the air force branch of the Hungarian Army.-1918 - Pre-World War II:Following the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy in 1918, a small air arm was established operating surviving aircraft from Hungarian factories and training schools...
- Iraqi Air Force
The Iraqi Air Force or IQAF is the military branch in Iraq responsible for the policing of international borders, surveillance of national assets and aerial operations...
- Lao People's Liberation Army Air Force
-History:The present-day LPLAAF is decended from the Aviation Laotienne, which was established by the French and later became the Royal Lao Air Force. Pathet Lao guerrilla forces began to operate a few aircraft from 1960, as did another rebel group led by Kong Le. Kong Le forces were later...
- Mongolian People's Air Force
- North Korean Air Force
The Korean People's Air Force, , is the name of the unified aviation forces of North Korea. The KPAF is the second-largest branch of the Korean People's Army with an estimated 110,000 personnel. It possesses between 1,600 and 1,700 aircraft of different types, mostly of Soviet and Chinese origin....
- Polish Air Force
Polish Air Force is the air force branch of the Polish Armed Forces. Until 1 July 2004 it was officially known as Wojska Lotnicze i Obrony Powietrznej...
- Romanian Air Force
The Romanian Air Force is the air force branch of the Romanian Armed Forces It has an air force headquarters, an operational command, four air bases and an air defense brigade...
- Somali Air Corps
The Somali Air Force is the air force of Somalia. The Somali Aeronautical Corps was the name of the Somali Air Force during the pre-independence period. After 1960, when Somalia gained independence, the name changed to the Somali Air Force...
- DOSAAF
DOSAAF was a paramilitary society in the Soviet Union, Voluntary Society of Assistance to the Army, the Air Force and the Navy . The society was preserved in a number of post-Soviet Republics, e.g., in Russia and Belarus...
- Soviet Air Force
The Soviet Air Force, officially known in Russian as Военно-воздушные силы or Voenno-Vozdushnye Sily and often abbreviated VVS was the official designation of one of the air forces of the Soviet Union...
- Syrian Air Force
The Syrian Air Force is the Aviation branch of the Syrian armed forces.-Markings:The roundel used by the Syrian Air Force has the same basic design as that used by the Egyptian Air Force. It consists of three concentric circles, with a red outer, white middle and black inner...
- Vietnam People's Air Force
Vietnamese People's Air Force or Không Quân Nhân Dân Việt Nam is the air force of Vietnam. It was the successor of the North Vietnamese Air Force and absorbed the Republic of Vietnam Air Force following the re-unification of Vietnam in 1975....
- Yemen Air Force
-North and South Yemen:Certainly one of the more obscure air forces of the Middle-East is that of Yemen, locally known as al-Quwwat al-Jawwiya al-Yamaniya. The Yemen Air Force took its first steps around 1926 when a small air arm was established. During the mid-'50's the Imam of Yemen established...
Specifications (Yak-18A)
See also
External links