Yakovlev Yak - 52 The Yakovlev Yak - 52 ( Як - 52 ) is a Soviet primary trainer aircraft which first flew in 1976 . It is still being produced in Romania by Aerostar , which gained manufacturing rights under agreement within the now defunct COMECON socialist trade organisation . The Yak - 52 was designed originally as an aerobatic trainer for students in the Soviet DOSAAF training organisation , which trained both civilian sport pilots and military pilots . Since the early 1990s and the fall of the Soviet Union , many Yak 52s have been exported to the west . Of the approximately 1 , 800 produced to date , most now fly in the United States , United Kingdom , New Zealand , Australia and other western countries . Design and development . A descendant of the single - seat competition aerobatic Yakovlev Yak - 50 , the all - metal Yak - 52 is powered by a 268 kW ( 360 hp ) Vedeneyev M14P 9 - cylinder radial engine . Since the aircraft was designed to serve as a military trainer , the development of the aircraft incorporates a number of features to be found on the early post - war fighters : to be noted that the cockpit tandem layout ( instruments panel , seats design , opening system of the cockpit ) , tail design , tri - cicle landing gear , fuselage mixed construction ( monocoque with steel tube construction ) , inner flaps , controls position , access panels on sides of the fuselage , even the location of the radio antena and overall dimensions of the airplane , strikingly match with the Yakovlev Yak - 17 UTI jet fighter trainer ( NATO code name Magnet ) . Indeed we can believe the fact that Yakovlev design bureau , at the time of aircraft conception , had in mind a more economical and easier to maintain " Yak - 17 UTI piston engine version " for the military . The aircraft has inverted fuel and oil systems permitting inverted flight for as long as two minutes . The engine drives a two - bladed counter - clockwise rotating , variable pitch , wood and fiberglass laminate propeller . At 998 kg ( 2 , 200 lb ) empty weight , the Yak - 52 is responsive and very capable as an aerobatic aircraft . Yet it is also easy to fly and land . It has been used in international aerobatic competition up to the Advanced level . It is stressed to + 7 and – 5 Gs , rolls ( to the right ) at 180 degrees / second and is capable of every manoeuvre in the Aresti catalog . The Yak - 52 , like most Soviet military aircraft , was designed to operate in rugged environments with minimal maintenance . One of its key features , unusual in western aircraft , is its extensive pneumatic system . Engine starting , landing gear , flaps , and wheel brakes are all pneumatically actuated . Spherical storage bottles for air , replenished by an engine driven compressor , are situated behind the rear cockpit and contents displayed on the instrument panels . The operating pressure is between 10 and 50 bars ( 145 and 725 psi ) and an emergency circuit is reserved for lowering the undercarriage if the normal supply is exhausted or the compressor fails . Additionally both main and reserve bottles can be charged from a port on the ground with compressed air , usually from a Scuba type air bottle . The ground steering / braking arrangement , especially , takes some adjustment for flyers accustomed to hydraulics , because the plane uses differential braking controlled by rudder pedals and a hand operated lever on the control stick . The tricycle landing gear is retractable , but it remains partially exposed in the retracted position , affording both a useful level of drag in down manoeuvres and a measure of protection should the plane be forced to land " wheels up . " A number of " westernised " versions of the Yak - 52 are now produced . The replacement of the existing Soviet avionics , fitting of a three - blade propeller and the M14PF 298 kW ( 400 hp ) upgrade to the usual 360 hp M14P engine , and conversion to conventional " tail - dragger " landing gear ( Yak - 52TD ) are some of the modifications made to the standard aircraft . There is also a factory produced Yak - 52TW tail - dragger version . The TW has an extra 120 l ( 32 US gal ) of fuel capacity in two extra wing tanks , the M14PF engine designated & three blade propeller , an electric start , and modern instruments . On April 16 , 2004 , a modernised variant Yak - 52M was flown in Russia . It is fitted with modernised M - 14Kh engine , three - blade propeller , and other modifications .