Yakovlev Yak - 30 ( 1960 ) The Yakovlev Yak - 30 ( NATO reporting name Magnum ) , originally designated Yak - 104 , was Yakovlev ' s entry in a competition for the first military jet trainer aircraft designed for Warsaw Pact nations . Designed to succeed the Yak - 17 UTI , it also led to the development of the Yakolev Yak - 32 sport jet . The Yak - 30 lost to the L - 29 Delfin , and neither it or the Yak - 32 entered production . Design and development . In 1959 the Soviet Air Force held a competition for the first purpose built jet trainer to enter service with the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact nations . Prior to this time all Soviet jet trainers , such as the Yakovlev Yak - 17 UTI , had been modified from existing jet fighters . Since Yakovlev had produced most of the Soviet Union ' s trainer aircraft since World War II , winning the competition was extremely important , as the winner would be produced extensively for many years to come . Yakovlev ' s entry in the competition was the Yak - 30 . Surprisingly , it was the only competitor from within the Soviet Union . The Yak - 30 was an all - metal aircraft made entirely from light alloys . It was designed to be easy and inexpensive to build , the two wing spars being made from pressed - sheet ribs . The simple , elliptical fuselage housed the pupil and instructor in a single unpressurized tandem cockpit . Fuel was limited to 600 liters ( 132 gallons ) in a bag tank located in the fuselage above the wing . The engine was the Turmanskii - designed RU - 19 , made especially for the aircraft . Like the rest of the aircraft , it was simply - designed , a single - shaft turbojet with a seven - stage axial compressor , rated at 900 kg ( 1 , 984 lbs ) thrust . Air was fed from very small inlets located in the wing roots , and discharged directly under the rear fuselage with no jetpipe . To ease servicing , the engine could be lowered straight down without disturbing the fuselage . The tailplane was fixed halfway up the sharply swept fin , and all control surfaces were manually driven by rods which ran down a dorsal spine extending along the upper surface of the aircraft , ending at the rear of the canopy . The long , continuous canopy was of blown Plexiglas , and bulged to give a better view downward . It slid to the rear on long rails . The ejection seats could both be fired by the instructor , while the pupil could fire only his own seat . Both cockpit positions had a complete set of controls . The tricycle undercarriage was retractable . The main units retracted inward , while the steerable nose wheel retracted forward into a bay covered by two doors . Though provisions were made for armament similar to the military version of the single seat Yakovlev Yak - 32 , no armament was placed on the four prototypes . Technical manager on the program was K V Sinelshcikov . Chief engineers were V A Shavrin , V G Tsvelov and V P Vlasov . Operational history . The OKB built a single static / fatigue test airframe , as well as four flying prototypes ( callsigns 30 , 50 , 80 and 90 ) . Two Yak - 32 ' s were also assembled at the same time . Factory testing took place from 20 May 1960 through March 1961 . A total of 82 flights were made with 43 hours 36 minutes of flight time . No difficulties in operating the aircraft were found . The competition ultimately came down to three aircraft , the rivals being the Czechoslovak L - 29 Delfin , and the Polish TS - 11 Iskra . The Iskra was quickly eliminated and sent back to Poland , leaving the Yak - 30 in a head - to - head competition with the L - 29 , in which the Yak design showed far better performance , including lower weight , better maneuverability and lower production costs . However , in the end , a political decision was reached to select the more robust Czechoslovak L - 29 in August 1961 to serve as the primary jet trainer for all Soviet and Warsaw Pact nations except for Poland . Immediately after this decision OKB pilot Smirnov set several official light jet world records in the Yak - 30 . These included speed over a 25 kilometer course ( 767 . 308 kph ) , and maximum altitude of 16 , 128 meters . One of the surviving prototypes is on display at the Central Air Force Museum , at Monino , outside of Moscow .