The Yakovlev Yak-18T () is a four- or five-seat fully aerobatic utility aircraft developed by

Yakovlev The Joint-stock company, JSC A.S. Yakovlev Design Bureau () is a Russian aircraft designer and manufacturer (design office prefix Yak). Its head office is in Aeroport District, Northern Administrative Okrug, Moscow. It is a subsidiary of Yakovle ...

. Introduced to train

Aeroflot PJSC AeroflotRussian Airlines (, ), commonly known as Aeroflot ( or ; , , ), is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Russia. Aeroflot is headquartered in the Central Administrative Okrug, Moscow, with its hub being Sheremetyevo Interna ...

pilots, it has gained some popularity as a sportplane both inside and outside the former

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. It is powered by a 268-298 kW (360-400 hp)

Vedeneyev M14P The Vedeneyev M14P is a Russian nine-cylinder, four-stroke, air-cooled, petrol-powered radial engine. Producing , its design dates from the 1940s (Kotelnikov 2005), and is itself a development of the Ivchenko AI-14 engine. The engine has been ...

radial engine The radial engine is a reciprocating engine, reciprocating type internal combustion engine, internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinder (engine), cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. ...

, and is designed for stresses of +6.48/-3.24 ''g''.

Design and development

All the Yak-18 and Yak-18T have in common is the model number. The Yak-18T is a unique design, despite its nomenclature. The 18T was designed in the late 60's, as a civilian aircraft. The aircraft has a nosewheel, is a four- or five-seater, and has a nine-cylinder 360 hp radial. The Yak-18T shares systems with the Yak-50/ 52 family. These aircraft all have the 265 kW (355 hp) Vedeneyev M14 nine-cylinder radial engine as well as the same underlying compressed-air system for engine starting, brakes, undercarriage and flaps. The propeller, avionics and other parts are also shared. The Yak-18T, like all Russian aircraft used for training, is aerobatic. Compared with other four-seat light aircraft such as the

Cessna 172 The Cessna 172 Skyhawk is an American four-seat, single-engine, high wing, fixed-wing aircraft made by the Cessna Aircraft Company.Piper PA-28, the Yak-18T is only a little wider and longer but it is much heavier and is equipped with a considerably more powerful engine. The Yak-18T is perhaps better compared with the

Piper Saratoga The Piper PA-32R is a six-seat (or seven-seat), high-performance, single engine, all-metal, fixed-wing aircraft produced by Piper Aircraft of Vero Beach, Florida. The design began life as the Piper Lance, a retractable-gear version of the Piper C ...

which has two extra seats but which has a similar maximum weight, together with a retractable undercarriage and a similarly powerful engine. The Yak-18T is, however, distinguished by its strong construction, aerobatic capability and docile yet responsive handling characteristics. The Yak-18T prototype had its first flight in mid-1967 and subsequently the type was placed in series production in

Smolensk Smolensk is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest cities in Russia. It has been a regional capital for most of ...

Operational history

The Yak-18T went on to become the standard basic trainer with ''Aeroflot'' flight schools, while small numbers also entered service with the Soviet Air Force as liaison and communications aircraft. After approximately 700 were built, many for Aeroflot, production ceased in the late 1980s, to be resumed in 1993. In 2011 it was claimed that the type remained in small-scale production by the Yakolev Design Bureau, although apparently none had been produced in more than a decade. Technoavia has marketed the SM-94, its own development of the Yak-18T, featuring curved windshield, larger fuel tanks and choice of avionics package, but production is dependent on orders being placed.

Operators

; * Cuban Air Force - Former operator. ; * Moldova Air Force - one aircraft in active service for basic training ; * Lithuanian National Defence Volunteer Forces ; *''

'' *

Soviet Air Force The Soviet Air Forces (, VVS SSSR; literally "Military Air Forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics"; initialism VVS, sometimes referred to as the "Red Air Force") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Sovie ...

; *

Armed Forces of Transnistria The Armed Forces of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic; ; are the military forces of Transnistria, a self-proclaimed and internationally International recognition of Transnistria, unrecognized breakaway state located within the internationa ...

Specifications (Yak-18T)

References

External links

Richard Goode Aerobatics - Yak-18T product page

Pilot Magazine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yakovlev Yak-18t Low-wing aircraft Yak-018T 1970s Soviet civil trainer aircraft 1970s Soviet civil utility aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1967 Aircraft with retractable tricycle landing gear Single-engined piston aircraft