Yakovlev Yak-11

Template:Short description Template:Infobox aircraft

The Yakovlev Yak-11 (Template:Langx; NATO reporting name: "Moose") is a trainer aircraft used by the Soviet Air Force and other Soviet-influenced air forces from 1947 until 1962.

Design and developmentEdit

The Yakovlev design bureau began work on an advanced trainer based on the Yak-3 fighter in mid-1944, although the trainer was of low priority owing to the ongoing Second World War.<ref name="GunRus p469">Gunston 1995, p. 469.</ref> The first prototype of the new trainer, designated Yak-UTI or Yak-3UTI flew in late 1945. It was based on the radial-powered Yak-3U, but with the new Shvetsov ASh-21 seven-cylinder radial replacing the ASh-82 of the Yak-3U.<ref name="OKBYak p249">Gordon Komissarov and Komissarov 2005, p. 249.</ref><ref group="nb">The single-row ASh-21 was essentially half of the two-row, 14-cylinder ASh-82.<ref name="GunRus p469"/></ref> It used the same all-metal wings as the Yak-3U, with a fuselage of mixed metal and wood construction. The pilot and observer sat in tandem under a long canopy with separate sliding hoods. A single synchronised UBS 12.7 mm machine gun and wing racks for two 100 kg (220 lb) bombs comprised the aircraft's armament.<ref name="GunYak p97">Gunston and Gordon 1997, p. 97.</ref>

File:LET C-11 ‘1706’ (33733903654).jpg

Let C-11

An improved prototype flew in 1946, with revised cockpits and a modified engine installation with the engine mounted on shock absorbing mounts.<ref name="OKBYak p249"/> This aircraft passed state testing in October 1946, with production beginning at factories in Saratov and Leningrad in 1947.<ref name="GunYak p99">Gunston and Gordon 1997, p. 99.</ref>

Production Yak-11s were heavier than the prototypes, with later batches fitted with non-retractable tailwheels and revised propellers. A 7.62 mm ShKAS machine gun was sometimes fitted instead of the UBS, while some were fitted with rear-view periscopes above the windscreen.<ref name="GunYak p99"/> Soviet production totalled 3,859 aircraft between 1947 and 1955, with a further 707 licence-built by Let in Czechoslovakia as the C-11.<ref name="OKBYak p250-1">Gordon Komissarov and Komissarov 2005, pp. 250–251.</ref>

Yak-11UEdit

In 1951, Yakovlev revised the design of the Yak-11, adding a retractable tricycle landing gear, with two variants proposed, the Yak-11U basic trainer and Yak-11T proficiency trainer, which carried equipment similar to contemporary jet fighters. The new aircraft had reduced fuel capacity and was unsuitable for operations on rough or snow-covered runways, and so was rejected for Soviet service, although a few units were built in Czechoslovakia as the C-11U.<ref name="OKBYak p251">Gordon Komissarov and Komissarov 2005, p. 251.</ref>

Operational historyEdit

File:Yak 11 Egyptian 1964.jpg

Egyptian Air Force Yak-11

The Yak-11 entered service in 1947, serving as a standard advanced trainer with the Soviet Air Forces and DOSAAF.<ref name="OKBYak p250">Gordon Komissarov and Komissarov 2005, p. 250.</ref> Both the Yak-11 and C-11 were used in all Warsaw Pact countries and were exported to eighteen countries, including many African, Middle Eastern and Asian countries.<ref name="GunYak p99"/>

Egyptians used the aircraft extensively during their intervention in the Yemeni Civil war. Egyptian aircraft were modified with Sakr 78mm unguided rockets and two .303in guns in the wings. and were used in the ground attack role.

North Korean Yak-11s were used in combat in the Korean War, with one Yak-11 being the first North Korean aircraft shot down by US forces when it was destroyed by a North American F-82 Twin Mustang over Kimpo Airfield on 27 June 1950.<ref name="IAPRtwin p160-1">Thompson 2001, pp. 160–161.</ref> East Germany used the Yak-11 to intercept American reconnaissance balloons.<ref name="OKBYak p250"/>

Surviving aircraftEdit

File:86 Yak 11 N5934 Czech Mate 2014 gold heat photo D Ramey Logan.jpg

Heavily modified Yak-11 used for air racing

Due to its Yak-3 lineage, the Yak-11 has recently seen widespread popularity among warbird enthusiasts. Highly modified versions of the Yak-11 are often seen at air races. About 120 Yak-11s remain airworthy.