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Yakovlev Yak-18

Yak-18 (Як-18)

Picture - A Polish Yakovlev Yak-18 in flight

Role: Training aircraft
Manufacturer: Yakovlev, China Nanchang Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation, China Nanchang Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation
First flight: 1946
Introduced: 1946
Primary users: Soviet Air Force DOSAAF People's Liberation Army Air Force Polish Air Force

The Yakovlev Yak-18 (Russian: Як-18, also transcribed as Jak-18, NATO reporting name Max) was a Soviet tandem two-seat military primary trainer aircraft. Originally powered by one 119 kW (160 hp) Shvetsov M-11FR-1 radial piston engine, it entered service in 1946. It is also produced in China 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 Yakovlev 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-2 and Yak-5 in service with the Soviet Air Forces and DOSAAF (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-11 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 single most successful attack of the North Korean aviation during the war was destroying of a fuel dump with nearly 5.5 million gallons of fuel in Inchon area in June 1953 by 4 or 5 Yak-18s. 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. There are an estimated 40 original Yak-18's in existence worldwide. Three are currently flyable in the USA and three are flyable in Europe. Approximately four 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 China, 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

Picture - Polish Air Force Yak-18 in the Polish Aviation Museum

Yak-18
The original production version.
Yak-18A
Re-engined version, powered by a 194 kW (260 hp) Ivchenko AI-14 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

Picture - Yak-18A

Aerobatic aircraft with retractable tailwheel.
Hongzhuan-501 (Red Craftsman)
Probable original designation for early CJ-5 production aircraft.
Nanchang CJ-5
The Yak-18 was built under licence in China as the CJ-5 for use by the PLAAF, PLANAF and civilian flying clubs. 379 CJ-5's had been built when production ended in 1958.

Picture - Yak-18, commemorated on the 1986 USSR stamp

Similar model designation

The Yak-18T was developed as an Aeroflot training aircraft and also as a light passenger transport aircraft, with a 4-seat cabin for one pilot and three passengers. It is not a variant of the Yak-18 as it has very little in common, and was designed from scratch 20 years later.

Operators

Picture - Yak-18 operators

Afghanistan

Afghan Air Force - 14 acquired from 1957 and retired by 2001.

Albania

Albanian Air Force - 43 (including Chinese CJ-6 variants).

Algeria

Algerian Air Force

Austria

Austrian Air Force

Bangladesh

Bangladesh Air Force

Bulgaria

Bulgarian Air Force

Cambodia

Royal Cambodian Air Force

China

People's Liberation Army Air Force - manufactured in China under the designation CJ-5.

Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakian Air Force

East Germany

East German Air Force

Egypt

Egyptian Air Force

Guinea Hungary

Hungarian Air Force

Iraq

Iraqi Air Force

Laos

Lao People's Liberation Army Air Force

Mali Mongolia

Mongolian People's Air Force

North Korea

North Korean Air Force

Poland

Polish Air Force

Romania

Romanian Air Force - 17

Somalia

Somali Air Corps

Soviet Union

DOSAAF
Soviet Air Force

Syria

Syrian Air Force

Turkmenistan Vietnam

Vietnam People's Air Force

Yemen

Yemen Air Force

Zambia

Military of Zambia

Specifications (Yak-18A)

Picture - Yak-18

General characteristics

Crew: two, student and instructor
Length: 8.35 m (27 ft 5 in)
Wingspan: 10.60 m (34 ft 9 in)
Height: 3.35 m (11 ft 0 in)
Wing area: 17.8 m² (191 ft²)
Empty weight: 1,025 kg (2,255 lb)
Loaded weight: kg (lb)
Max takeoff weight: 1,320 kg (2,904 lb)
Powerplant: 1x— Ivchenko AI-14RF radial, 224 kW (300 hp)

Performance

Maximum speed: 300 km/h (187 mph)
Range: 700 km (436 mi)
Service ceiling: 5,060 m (16,596 ft)
Rate of climb: m/s (ft/min)
Wing loading: kg/m² (lb/ft²)
Power/mass: kW/kg (hp/lb)

Related development

Nanchang CJ-6
Yakovlev Yak-20

Comparable aircraft

Zlin Trener
LWD Junak
De Havilland Chipmunk
Percival Prentice
Ryan Navion

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Source: WikiPedia