The Ultimate Corporate Aircraft

[Rick1128]

Ya, but is it RVSM certified?

Why bother, it can't get that high. Maintenance loves the Yak. No special tools. Always needs work (job security), no engine overhauls (just take the old one off and put the new one on). Accounting has mixed feeling about it. Cheap to buy, just steal one off the ramp. The previous owner is glad to get rid of it.

 

[Lead Sled]

Maintenance loves the Yak. No special tools...

Ya... No special tools. I remember something our mechanic once said. Something along the lines of "I only need three tools - a hammer, a pair of pliers, and a screw driver." Personally, I believe that you can tell how good your mechanic is by the number of parts left over when he's finished.

I only have one Yak storey. About 8 years ago I ran into a Yak crew that was on their way to deliver one in Lima Peru. A couple of weeks later I was on my way down to Santiago Chile and made a tech stop in Lima. The Yak hade already made the headlines - it had crashed the previous day killing all aboard.

'Sled

 

[JimNtexas]

What's all that crap on the Yak's glare shield between the fans and the KMartski GPS?

 

[Gatorman]

Yak...isn't that what you do when you wake up the next morning and drink warm beer and eat cold pizza?

 

[Bad-Andy]

Laugh all you want, but I hate to admit it but the Yak will out last the WSCoD. I have flown both. They had a -40 in FGSL when I was there and we got to know the mechanics pretty well. They ended inviting me for a ride one day on the jumpseat. That ended up with me in the right seat. Talk about a truck with wings... Flying it was like driving my old F-150 without power steering. (It may be a little underpowered, but with long runways at sea level and no terrain to hit, who cares???? It will eventually fly). As for the Vodka preserved crews, talk about some of the best crews around. They may not follow local procedures, the regs, the may not speak a lot of English, and they may be drunk most of the time. But, with the equipment they had to fly (multiple decades old) in the conditions they fly (third world, always overweight, etc), the ones that survive to be old are amazing!!!!!

 

[movingviolation]

What's all that crap on the Yak's glare shield between the fans and the KMartski GPS?

Super high tech PFM radar

 

[jergar999]

Ok CatYaak, I have some old green shag carpeting and countless rattle cans of Krylon laying around in my garage. I don't know how to do it, the materials aren't approved, and it's probably not legal, but in the true Russian aviation tradition lets refurbish one of these things and sell fractions.