I have been doing a consistent but small amount of aerobatic flying for the last 18 months, all in a Super Decathlon 180HP.

I always look at the prices for Super D's, Pitt's etc...

I came across the Yak 52 available in both the tri & tail wheel versions. +7 -5 G's at least.

Some are $40k, up to this really nice glass cockpit one here asking $139k: http://www.planesandboats.com/2000-yak-52-tw/

Some have the M14P 400hp engine! Roll rate of 2 seconds for 360 degrees which is phenomenal for a big heavy bird.

What say you, good & bad? One of their type clubs here: http://flyredstar.org/forum.php

(and that radial sound to boot!)

Hi Sheldon,

I have maintained a few of these over the years. They are well built, fairly simple airplanes. They are fun to fly, noisy, rattly, and pretty easy to handle.

Maintenance wise, the M14P is pretty easy to work on. Air pumps fail often and are a miserable job to change. Cylinders come loose pretty often too because the Russians use a paper base gasket that compresses over time and causes the studs to lose torque. Dry tappet clearance / rocker clearance checking and adjustments should be done at least ever 100 hours.

The air system is like all Russian and Chinese birds, labor intensive and prone to leak. Air leaks will literally drive you crazy. Keep the desiccant filter on the firewall clean and the air bottles oiled and you shouldn't have too much of a problem with actuators. We had our customers on a 3 year gear and uplock actuator cycle. One year nose, 2nd year left main, 3rd year right main, 4th year nose and so on.

If you have any questions, Id be glad to help.

Curtis
Baker Aviation

Can u give an indication of the costs associated with the maintenance items you mentioned?

They look slow and boring; what's the mission for this species?

Their mission? Well, to fly upside down, chandelle yourself silly, Lomcevak your titties off and barrell roll all the way to your destination of course!

They are slow, no doubt about that...and I found that unless you are just going out for 45 minutes of acro or a little formation, they aren't very fun or comfortable. Fuel and range is another issue because the airplane has none. Without the extended bladders or the belly tank, the airplane only has 60 litres (16 gallons) per side. It burns about as much as an IO-550 (15-16 gpg) so at 120-130 kts, range and time in the air are fairly limited.

Average maintenance costs are about the same as any small radial powered "warbird" The air-pump is about a 5 hour job to change and a $900 part. Cylinders are 1AMU and about $500 to change. The air system is a labor hog, trying to find air leaks, replacing internally corroded lines and valves, and fixing frozen / old actuators are usually billed at time and material.

Yup, The systems are simple, and the M-14 was made to be worked on often. Support is still readily abundant in both the USA and abroad. The Soviets built planes to fly and had maintenance programs to keep them flying.

On the Yak 52, the air system controls the brakes, starter, flaps, etc... any issues with that system and you can get stranded... and the issues will arise even if the system was leak-free. Without a scuba bottle you could be AOG, it is mandatory GSE for these types.

Our Sukhoi has an extremely simple air system only needed for starting. Hydraulic brakes and no flaps/retracts makes it much more simple to maintain than its Yak cousin. I honestly like the setup. You'll need a savvy mechanic who is willing to work on exotics because its only like western planes in the theoretical sense. Everything about the Eastern planes is just "different"

We got a Zlin 526 instead of a Yak simply because of the deal we got on it. Cleveland brakes, mechanical flaps, electric gear and starter, auto-magic propeller, etc. Plus it is a bit more of an acro plane, and less warbird in its flying and handling sense.

I really like the eastern acro planes.

Make it easy on yourself and move into a Pitts, the next natural step after the Decathlon. You will have a clean hangar floor, and way less maintenance headaches.
Also, the cool factor when at the flight line trumps the round engine symphony.
PM me for more.
TN

I always thought the Extra 300 was the ideal plane if you like aerobatics and it can go places as well.

My hangar neighbor has one. Cool plane but limited. And from what he says the air system is a pain. Used air to start, gear, etc., so without you were stuck.

I guess some questions are in order:
How many seats do you want? What kind of acro are you into? Sunday positive G acro planes are much more versatile for other things like cross country flights than their advanced/unlimited competition cousins.

Do you want the warbird feel? Do you like to work on planes and keep them flying or do you want a turnkey plane that just does its thing, because Yaks are more warbird in their heritage, and take a lot of basic wrenching to remain flying. Especially so on a $40k Russian original tricycle gear version opposed to the completely new or rebuilt 52TW's that are more expensive. I don't want to imply that they cannot be turnkey, just that it takes a bit of work and a whole new mindset to get there.

If you like the Super Decathlon for its cross country flying and ability to do other things than just acro, then you should probably look into the Pitts, Skybolt, Christen Eagle, Extra, etc.


So what is your acro mission?

I have owned a Yak 52 and Yak 50 and have a shitload of my life inside them.
I am not a big fan of the TW. The Yak 52 is a nice cheap little machine and the TW adds things that I don't care about (so I bought a 50).

It is a horse though. You will need to feed it and clean it and keep after it.

But flying a radial and doing any and all acro maneuvers you could imagine doesn't suck. Its a great platform to learn formation and advanced formation.

In 1300 hours flying Yaks I was never stuck once for lack of air and never brought a spare are bottle with me. Its really a lot of fun if you like mechanical things that make cool noises like me.

How is the Zlin doing, Steve?

I owned a Yak 52 for 8 years and enjoyed it tremendously. Very capable aerobatic performer especially for vertical maneuvers. While capable it is also relatively easy to fly. IT really has no bad habits. I competed at the Sportsman level with mine and it is probably capable up through the intermediate level if that is your interest. It is also just an all around fun plane, probably as close as most of us can come to having Your own personal "fighter" plane.

There are some quirks to owning one. The compressed air system for starting, flaps, and brakes is not especially troublesome, but don't forget to shut it off at the end of the day or you will be stranded. Or worse, God forbid you manage to start the plane with it turned off after a short break from flying. You can find yourself taxing a 360hp aircraft with no brakes or steering (switch the mags off! Quick!)

The range is short but the 60 liters per tank can be well managed with the accurate fuel gauge system. I flew a 400hp version, it was nice but 360hp is fine especially if you keep it light. FUel burn at 80% (aerobatic) power is 18 gallons per hour, at 61%!power it drops to 12.5 gph. You will want to use that power setting for trips of any distance, which will give you a TAS of about 114 KTs. I sold mine to get a more family oriented plane when we were expecting my first child. I sometimes miss it. It was loads of fun. But x country and night flying is improved in my current plane.

I'm not ready to go public with that whopper just yet. lets just say that I'm busy getting a lot of things flying again.