The
YakovlevThe Yak Aircraft Corporation is a Russian aircraft designer and manufacturer .-Overview:...
Yak-52 (Як-52) is a Soviet primary trainer aircraft which first flew in 1976. It is still being produced in
RomaniaRomania is a country located in Southeastern and Central Europe, North of the Balkan Peninsula, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea. Almost all of the Danube Delta is located within its territory...
by
AerostarAerostar S.A., is an aeronautical company based in Bacău, Romania.-History:Since its establishment in 1953, the name changed in turn from U.R.A. into I.R.Av, I.Av...
, which gained manufacturing rights under agreement within the now defunct
COMECONThe Council for Mutual Economic Assistance , 1949–1991, was an economic organization of communist states and a kind of Eastern Bloc equivalent to—but less geographically inclusive than—the European Economic Community...
socialist trade organisation. The Yak-52 was designed originally as an
aerobaticAerobatics is the practice of flying maneuvers involving aircraft attitudes that are not used in normal flight. Aerobatics are performed in airplanes and gliders for training, recreation, entertainment and sport...
trainer for students in the Soviet
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...
training organisation, which trained both civilian sport pilots and military pilots.
Since the early 1990s and the fall of the Soviet Union, many Yak 52s have been exported to the west.
The
YakovlevThe Yak Aircraft Corporation is a Russian aircraft designer and manufacturer .-Overview:...
Yak-52 (Як-52) is a Soviet primary trainer aircraft which first flew in 1976. It is still being produced in
RomaniaRomania is a country located in Southeastern and Central Europe, North of the Balkan Peninsula, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea. Almost all of the Danube Delta is located within its territory...
by
AerostarAerostar S.A., is an aeronautical company based in Bacău, Romania.-History:Since its establishment in 1953, the name changed in turn from U.R.A. into I.R.Av, I.Av...
, which gained manufacturing rights under agreement within the now defunct
COMECONThe Council for Mutual Economic Assistance , 1949–1991, was an economic organization of communist states and a kind of Eastern Bloc equivalent to—but less geographically inclusive than—the European Economic Community...
socialist trade organisation. The Yak-52 was designed originally as an
aerobaticAerobatics is the practice of flying maneuvers involving aircraft attitudes that are not used in normal flight. Aerobatics are performed in airplanes and gliders for training, recreation, entertainment and sport...
trainer for students in the Soviet
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...
training organisation, which trained both civilian sport pilots and military pilots.
Since the early 1990s and the fall of the Soviet Union, many Yak 52s have been exported to the west. Of the approximately 1,800 produced to date, most now fly in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
,
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
,
New ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous smaller islands, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands. The indigenous Māori named New Zealand Aotearoa, commonly translated as The Land of the Long White Cloud...
,
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
and other western countries.
Design and development
A descendant of the single-seat competition aerobatic
Yakovlev Yak-50Yakovlev Yak-50 was an early turbojet interceptor aircraft designed by the Yakovlev OKB in USSR. The Yak-50 designation was later reused for a propeller-driven aerobatic and trainer aircraft:*Yakovlev Yak-50 *Yakovlev Yak-50...
, the all-metal Yak-52 is powered by a 268 kW (360 hp) Vedeneyev M14P 9-cylinder
radial 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...
. The aircraft has inverted fuel and oil systems permitting inverted flight for as long as two minutes. The engine drives a two-bladed counter-clockwise rotating, variable pitch, wood and fiberglass laminate
propellerA propeller is a type of fan which transmits power by converting rotational motion into thrust. A pressure difference is produced between the forward and rear surfaces of the airfoil-shaped blade, and air or water is accelerated behind the blade...
.
At 998 kg (2,200 lb) empty weight, the Yak-52 is responsive and very capable as an aerobatic aircraft. Yet it is also easy to fly and land. It has been used in international aerobatic competition up to the Advanced level. It is stressed to +7 and –5 Gs, rolls (to the right) at 180 degrees/second and is capable of every manoeuvre in the
Aresti catalogThe Aresti Catalog is the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale standards document enumerating the aerobatic manoeuvers permitted in aerobatic competition...
.
The Yak-52, like most Soviet military aircraft, was designed to operate in rugged environments with minimal maintenance. One of its key features, and a radical departure from most western aircraft, is its extensive pneumatic system. Engine starting,
landing gearLanding Gear is Devin the Dude's fifth studio album. It was released on October 7 2008. It will be his first studio album since signing with the label Razor & Tie. It features a high-profile guest appearance from Snoop Dogg. As of October 30, 2008, the album has sold 18,906 copies.-Track...
,
flapFlaps are hinged surfaces on the trailing edge of the wings of a fixed-wing aircraft. As flaps are extended, the stalling speed of the aircraft is reduced, which means that the aircraft can fly safely at slower speeds...
s, braking and steering are all pneumatically actuated. Spherical storage bottles for air, replenished by an engine driven compressor, are situated behind the rear cockpit and contents displayed on the instrument panels. The operating pressure is between 10 and 50 bars (145 and 725 psi) and an emergency circuit is reserved for lowering the undercarriage if the normal supply is exhausted or the compressor fails. Additionally both main and reserve bottles can be charged from a port on the ground with compressed air, usually from a
ScubaA diving cylinder, scuba tank or diving tank is used to store and transport high pressure breathing gas as a component of SCUBA . It provides gas to the SCUBA diver through the demand valve of a diving regulator.Diving cylinders typically have an internal volume of between and a maximum pressure...
type air bottle. The steering/braking arrangement, especially, takes some adjustment for flyers accustomed to
hydraulicsHydraulics is a topic in applied science and engineering dealing with the mechanical properties of liquids. Fluid mechanics provides the theoretical foundation for hydraulics, which focuses on the engineering uses of fluid properties. In fluid power, hydraulics is used for the generation, control,...
, because the plane uses differential braking controlled by
rudderA rudder is a device used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft,or other conveyance that moves through a fluid . On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw and p-factor and is not the primary control used to turn the airplane...
pedals and a hand operated lever on the control stick.
The
tricycle landing gearTricycle gear describes an aircraft undercarriage, or landing gear, arranged in a tricycle fashion. The tricycle arrangement has one gear strut in front, called the nose wheel, and two or more main gear struts slightly aft of the center of gravity....
is retractable, but it remains partially-exposed in the retracted position, affording both a useful level of drag in down manoeuvres and a measure of protection should the plane be forced to land "wheels up."
A number of "westernised" versions of the Yak-52 are now produced. The replacement of the existing Soviet
avionicsAvionics means "aviation electronics". It comprises electronic systems for use on aircraft, artificial satellites and spacecraft, comprising communications, navigation and the display and management of multiple systems...
, fitting of a three-blade aerobatic
propellerA propeller is a type of fan which transmits power by converting rotational motion into thrust. A pressure difference is produced between the forward and rear surfaces of the airfoil-shaped blade, and air or water is accelerated behind the blade...
(Yak-52W) and conversion to
conventional "tail-dragger" landing gearthumb|The [[Piper PA-18|Piper Super Cub]] is a popular taildragger aircraft.thumb|right|A [[Cessna 150]] converted to taildragger configuration by installation of an after-market modification kit.thumb|right|A taildragger by Jodel: the 1965 D140C Mousquetaire...
(Yak-52TD) are the major modifications to the standard aircraft. There is also a factory produced Yak-52TW tail-dragger version which looks like a small Yak-11. The TW has some nice features such as an extra 120 l (32 US gal) of fuel capacity in two extra wing tanks, a 298 kW (400 hp) engine designated M-14PF, an electric start, and modern instruments.
On April 16, 2004, a modernised variant
Yak-52M was flown in Russia. It is fitted with modernised M-14Kh engine, three-blade propeller, ejection seats and other modifications.
Military operators
- Armenian Air Force
The Armenian Air Force is a small air arm formed by independent Armenia in 1992 in the wake of the dissolution of the Soviet Union. It is organized and equipped principally to provide Armenian ground forces with tactical air support in the form of ground attack and airlift in mountainous terrain...
- Georgian Air Force
The Georgian Air Force is the air arm of the Georgian Armed Forces. Currently, it has 1,813 military and civilian personnel, up to 22 fixed wing aircraft and 11 helicopters of different type and 380 air defense missiles of the "surface-to-air' class. The Air Force was founded in 1991 in the wake...
- 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...
- Border Guard
The border guard, border patrol, border police, or frontier police of a country is a national security agency that performs border control, i.e., enforces the security of the country's national borders...
- 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...
- 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...
- 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....
Specifications (Yak 52)
See also
External links