Gimpy Pilot Report – Yakovlev Yak-52

On Friday 6/7/2013 I had the great pleasure of meeting Roger Baker, a retired airline pilot and owner of N85YK, a 1985 Yakovlev Yak-52. The Yak-52 has been the primary trainer in use in Russia and her client states since the late 70’s. Roger has been importing and flying Yak’s and other Soviet/Russian aircraft for roughly 20 years – he has over 1,500 hours in the Yak-52 alone. I suspect one would be hard pressed to find a better or more knowledgeable introduction to the Yak.

One of the first things you notice when you walk up to a Yak is this is a big plane, it sits up tall on its semi-retractable landing gear, it weighs 2,200 lbs empty, and it is driven by a massive 620 cubic inch, 360 horsepower 9 cylinder radial engine swinging a 7 foot diameter prop.

Roger provided a great systems overview and briefing on the history of the Yak while we waited for San Diego’s “June Gloom” cloud layer to raise up enough to give us enough ceiling to depart McClellan-Palomar (KCRQ). On the ground, Roger demonstrated one of the idiosyncrasies driven by Yakovlev’s selection of pneumatics (compressed air) to drive the systems.

Given the extreme environments that the planes were expected to see in operation under the DOSAAF (government flying club/pilot screening) training program in Russia and her client States, the design team at Yakovlev chose to avoid the challenges of complex hydraulic systems and used air instead, including for engine starting, actuation of the retractable landing gear and flaps, as well as for the brakes.

Roger maneuvered us onto the runway, applied power (which induced a smile, the Vedenyev M-14P engine makes a truly marvelous noise), and we were off. I would estimate the ground roll at maybe 1000 feet and about 8 seconds. The pneumatics raised the gear, and we were on our way under a thick canopy of gray cloud. Once clear of the airport area Roger gave me control and I flew the remainder of the flight save for some maneuvering demos from Roger and our approach back into Palomar.

Once in the air, the Yak is truly at home. Control pressures were reasonably light, although 5YK has the control bungies installed which gave it, I thought, an artificially heavy feel in ailerons, but the bungies would probably help to keep a ham-handed student pilot from hurting themselves by inadvertently pulling too many G’s with the elevator.

In cross country mode out to the practice area we set cruise power (about 72% RPM and 700mm manifold pressure) and were seeing a little over 120 KTAS or about 140 mph at around 3000 ft. the Yak will not be winning any speed dashes with similarly powered but smaller planes like the Extra 300L I was flying last year, but a person could buy 4 Yaks for the cost of a used 300L, or a person could buy one Yak, and feed it 3000 gallons of fuel (~200 hrs of flying).

After some exploratory turns to get the feel for how G builds up, we flew the contact or aerobatic portion of the sortie which consisted of rolls, loops, barrel roll, a half-cuban eight and a nicely executed hammerhead. The Yak is a thoroughly aerobatic airplane, something which would be unexpected to me given that it has a flat-bottom airfoil, but it really is a great aerobatic mount. Roll rate is maybe 120-150 degrees per second I would say, and it takes some arm to get full deflection with any speed on, but throughout our flight it remained solid, and predictable.

With two of us aboard and full fuel, we were towards the top end of the weights allowable, but as we burned off fuel and got lighter the plane flew very well but it is clearly and expectedly limited in terms of vertical maneuvering – with maybe ½ fuel and solo, I believe it would be far more capable – I have seen video of Yak’s getting a vertical snap-roll and capping it with a hammerhead or a sharp spin entry so I know it can be done.

A clear difference between the Yak and the Extra, or the Christen Eagle (the other 2 planes I have acro experience in) is that the Yak is going to make you work for everything. It is literally 1000 lbs heavier than the Eagle, and about 800 lbs heavier than the Extra when empty, and while the Vedenyev is a great motor, the big and heavy Yak airframe is not really clean and it soaks up all of the available horsepower.

Because I am still a working man, and Roger had commitments as well, we headed back to the barn after about 35 minutes of fun in the practice area. Slipping under the thick cloud layer was a sight that we as pilots are blessed to experience, it is truly magical. As we approached the coast I gave control back to Roger for our approach and landing, and he put 5YK down softly.

After shutdown, we buttoned her back up, and explored a few more of the idiosyncrasies of the big radial and the air system. Blowing the ‘snot valve’, setting the oil tank valve to closed, and tying her down were all that remained.

I now know why people are so enamored of the Yak, it is a solid performing aircraft that is delightful in flight, has a great military feel and character, is truly built like a tank, and is, relatively speaking, affordable to acquire, feed, and maintain. Throw in the reliable flow of parts, experienced pilot and maintenance community in the US, and especially the Red Star Pilot’s Association, and the Yak-52 is a clear winner.

I want to thank Roger Baker, the owner of N85YK for his hospitality and sharing of expertise before and during our flight. Roger is a great stick, knows the plane inside and out, and is good people to boot. It was a pleasure and an honor to fly with you sir.

The Yak-52 marks the 33rd different make/model I have had the pleasure of flying since earning my license in 1992.

‘Gimp