There are a number of Yak-52s registered in the Netherlands, five of which regularly fly with the Dutch Thunder Yaks Display Team. In addition, a Sukhoi 29 flew with the Display Team in recent years. The Yakovlev Yak-52 was built under license by several factories in the former USSR countries. Our Yaks are built at Aerostar S.A. in Romania. The Yak-52 was designed as a basic trainer in the Soviet Union. There they almost all flew for the DOSAAF, a paramilitary organization in the Soviet era where people could learn to fly at a young age. In fact, this was a pre-selection for the Air Force and almost all Air Force pilots started their careers on the Yak-52. The aircraft is designed as a two-seat tandem with the instructor sitting behind the student. The standard colors of the DOSAAF – white with red – have often been replaced during sales to new Western owners by an exuberant or even ‘warbird’ color scheme based on original color schemes. The Yak-52 is standard equipped with a large powerful 9 cylinder Vedeneyev M-14P radial engine and a V530T-D35 propeller. This propeller has two large wide blades and is therefore also called ‘the paddle’. The Yak-52 is suitable for load factors from +7 to -5 G. More about the Yak-52.
