Yakovlev Yak-18 (Max)

History

During World War II (1939-1945), the Yakovlev UT-2 was the standard primary aircraft trainer/combat trainer for Soviet pilots. The UT-2 first flew in July 1937, and 7,243 have been produced by operators in Europe and Asia. As a result, in May 1945, when the war in Europe was over, Alexander Yakovlev began designing a successor, called the Yak-18. The maiden flight was completed quickly, the aircraft entered service in 1946, began an excellent production run that lasted until 1956, and service operations went well beyond that. It turns out that there are many operators, including Asia, Europe and Africa - mainly the Soviet Union and satellite states.

Its simplicity allows for locally licensed Chinese production under the CJ-5 name in Nanchang.

The Yak-18 was in a conventional configuration, with front engines (driving the twin-blade propeller assembly), single-tail fins and low-positioned monoplanes. The main wing is installed in front of the midship. The two crew members sat side by side under a long canopy.

Early forms of the landing gear were partially retractable, the main legs were semi-sunk under the wings, and the tail wheels were fixed.

The initial production form was simply called the Yak-18. The Yak-18A used the 260 hp Ivchenko AI-14 FR series engine and overhauled the production line to become the final Yak-18 form. The Yak-18U is a limited edition model with a retractable tricycle landing gear. The Yak-18P ("Mouse") is a single-seat acrobatic platform, the Yak-18PM has a similar range but has a retractable tricycle landing gear, and the Yak-18PS is this way but with a retractable tail wheel.

The only foreign builds included the Chinese Nanchang CJ-5, which produced 379 aircraft by 1958. China initially received aircraft from the Soviet Union as kits for assembly in 1950, eventually turning to local factories to fully manufacture designs in the mid-1950s.

Although the Yak-18 was a trainer by nature, the Yak-18 was used by North Korea as a light bomber during the Korean War (1950-1953). The changes to the fuselage were minimal, except for the addition of bomb racks on the centerline of the fuselage. Due to their low speed, these Yak-18 light bombers were used by the North Koreans for night operations - with limited effectiveness.

The United Nations named the series "Max".

Over time, the number of Yak-18s continued to decline and began to close the door on the famous Soviet-era design. Today (2014) fewer than 50 people make up a flight stall.

Specification

Basic

Production

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Performance

Performance

Armor

Changes