JAK-55

The Yakovlev Yak-55 is a modern Russian aerobatic aerobatic plane with a fixed undercarriage in the medium wing configuration. The drive was provided - in the Yak-55M version - by a single radial engine Vienna M-14P with a power of 360 HP. The prototype flight took place in 1981. Serial production was carried out in the years 1985-1991, which led to the creation of about 110 copies of this aircraft. The Yak-55 was developed at the Yakovlev design bureau as a new aerobatic machine to replace the Yak-50 in this role. Interestingly, the Soviet designers decided to rely as little as possible on their very successful previous design and create a completely new machine. Finally, a machine was created with an all-metal structure, highly refined aerodynamics, maneuverable and easy to pilot, as well as behaving well at low speeds, with a relatively large wingspan. However, the new construction was not well received, and Yakovlev's office decided to modify it. As a result, two major upgrades were created: the Yak-55M with a reduced wingspan and a more powerful engine than the Yak-55 and Yak-56, i.e. the two-seater training version of the Yak-55M. The Yak-55M version gained more recognition than the original version and was one of the most produced versions of this aircraft.