A descendant of the single-seat competition aerobatic
Yakovlev Yak-50, the all-metal Yak-52 is powered by a 268 kW (360 hp)
Vedeneyev M14P nine-cylinder
radial engine. Since the aircraft was designed to serve as a military trainer, the development of the aircraft incorporates a number of features to be found on the early postwar fighters: the cockpit tandem layout (instrument panel, seat design, cockpit opening system), tail design, tricycle landing gear, fuselage mixed construction (monocoque with steel tube construction), inner flaps, controls position, access panels on sides of the fuselage, even the location of the radio antenna and overall dimensions of the airplane, which match the
Yakovlev Yak-17 UTI jet fighter trainer (NATO code name Magnet). The aircraft has 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 propeller. At 998 kg (2,200 lb) empty weight, the Yak-52 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 well more than 180 degrees/second (measured up to 352 degrees/second to the right), and is capable of every manoeuvre in the
Aresti catalog. The Yak-52, like most Soviet military aircraft, was designed to operate in rugged environments with minimal maintenance. One of its key features, unusual in western aircraft, is its extensive
pneumatic system. Engine starting,
landing gear,
flaps, and wheel brakes 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
scuba type air bottle. The ground steering/braking arrangement, especially, takes some adjustment for flyers accustomed to
hydraulics, because the aircraft uses
differential braking controlled by
rudder pedals and a hand-operated lever on the control stick. The
tricycle landing gear 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 aircraft be forced to land "wheels up." A number of "westernised" versions of the Yak-52 are now produced. The replacement of the existing Soviet
avionics, fitting of a three-blade propeller and the M14PF 298 kW (400 hp) upgrade to the usual 360 hp
M14P engine, and conversion to
conventional "tail-dragger" landing gear (Yak-52TD) are some of the modifications made to the standard aircraft. There is also a factory-produced Yak-52TW tail-dragger version by Aerostar. The TW has an extra 120 L (32 US gal) of fuel capacity in two extra wing tanks, the M14PF engine designated & three blade propeller, an electric start, and modern instruments. On 16 April 2004, a modernised variant
Yak-52M was flown in Russia. It is fitted with modernised M-14Kh engine, three-blade propeller, and other modifications. Despite being unarmed, Yak-52 planes have been deployed by Ukraine in anti-drone roles during the
Russian invasion of Ukraine, shooting down a Russian
Orlan-10 reconnaissance drone over Odessa in April 2024, and to shoot down a
ZALA drone on 8 June 2024. Images posted on social media suggest that at least one Yak-52 has downed up to eight drones. The Yak-52's low
stall speed allows the plane to pursue drones and carry out maneuvers at slower speeds, enabling a machine gunner in the plane's rear seat to engage drones at close range. ==Variants==