Specifications
Year: 1946
Status: Active, Limited Service
Manufacturer(s): Yakovlev - Soviet Union
Production: 1,200
Capabilities: Ground Attack; Training;
Status: Active, Limited Service
Manufacturer(s): Yakovlev - Soviet Union
Production: 1,200
Capabilities: Ground Attack; Training;
Crew: 2
Length: 27.40 ft (8.35 m)
Width: 34.78 ft (10.6 m)
Height: 10.99 ft (3.35 m)
Weight (Empty): 2,260 lb (1,025 kg)
Weight (MTOW): 2,910 lb (1,320 kg)
Length: 27.40 ft (8.35 m)
Width: 34.78 ft (10.6 m)
Height: 10.99 ft (3.35 m)
Weight (Empty): 2,260 lb (1,025 kg)
Weight (MTOW): 2,910 lb (1,320 kg)
Power: 1 x Ivchenko AI-14RF radial piston engine developing 300 horsepower driving a two-bladed propeller at the nose.
Speed: 186 mph (300 kph; 162 kts)
Ceiling: 16,601 feet (5,060 m; 3.14 miles)
Range: 435 miles (700 km; 378 nm)
Ceiling: 16,601 feet (5,060 m; 3.14 miles)
Range: 435 miles (700 km; 378 nm)
Operators: Afghanistan; Albania; Algeria; Austria; Bangladesh; Bulgaria; Cambodia; China; Czechoslovakia; East Germany; Egypt; Guinea; Hungary; Iraq; Laos; Mali; Mongolia; North Korea; Poland; Romania; Somalia; Soviet Union; Syria; Turkmenistan; Vietnam; Yemen; Zambia
The Yak-18 utilized a conventional configuration with a front-mounted engine (driving a two-bladed propeller assembly), single-finned tail unit and low-set monoplane wings. The main wings were fitted ahead of midships. The two crew sat in tandem under a long-running canopy. The undercarriage of early forms was partially retractable, the main legs semi-recessed under the wings and the tail wheel fixed in place.
Original production forms were designated simply as Yak-18. The Yak-18A utilized the Ivchenko AI-14 FR series engine of 260 horsepower and overtook production lines, becoming the definitive Yak-18 form. The Yak-18U was a limited-run model utilizing a retractable tricycle undercarriage. The Yak-18P ("Mouse") was a single-seat acrobatic platform, the Yak-18PM of similar scope though with retractable tricycle undercarriage and the Yak-18PS following suit but incorporating a retractable tailwheel. The sole foreign mark included the Nanchang CJ-5 of China and 379 aircraft of these were produced into 1958. China originally received the aircraft in 1950 as kits delivered from the Soviet Union for assembly before eventually turning to local factories for outright production of the design in the mid-1950s.
While a trainer by design, the Yak-18 was pressed into service as a light bomber by North Korea during the Korean War (1950-1953). Changes to the airframe were minimal for bomb racks were simply added to the fuselage centerline. Due to their slow speed, these light bomber Yak-18s were utilized by the North Koreans in night sorties - and this with limited effect. The United Nations assigned the reporting name of "Max" to the series.
Yak-18 numbers have increasingly dwindled over time, beginning to close the door on the storied Soviet-era design for good. Fewer than 50 make up the flyable stable today (2014).
Yak-18 numbers have increasingly dwindled over time, beginning to close the door on the storied Soviet-era design for good. Fewer than 50 make up the flyable stable today (2014).
Armament
OPTIONAL:
2 x Conventional Drop Bombs.
Variants / Models
• Yak-18 - Initial Production Models
• Yak-18A - Definitive Production Model; fitted with Ivchenco AI-14 FR engine of 260 horsepower.
• Yak-18U - Limited-production model with retractable tricycle undercarriage.
• Yak-18P ("Mouse") - Single-seat acrobatic mount
• Yak-18PM - Single-seat acrobatic mount with retractable tricycle undercarriage.
• Yak-18PS - Acrobatic variant with retractable tailwheel.
• Nanchang CJ-5 - Chinese designation for license-produced versions; 379 examples produced.
