Menu

Yakovlev Yak-11 “Moose”
(trainer aircraft)

Specifications:
  • Length: 8.20 m (26 ft 10.5 in)
  • Wingspan: 9.4 m (30 ft 10 in)
  • Height: 3.28 m (10 ft 5 in)
  • Wing area: 15.40 m2 (166 sq ft)
  • Empty weight: 1,900 kg (4,189 lb)
  • Max takeoff weight: 2,440 kg (5,379 lb)
  • Powerplant: 1 × Shvetsov ASh-21 air-cooled radial piston engine, 521 kW (700 hp)
  • Maximum speed: 460 km/h (289 mph, 251 kn)
  • Cruise speed: 370 km/h (230 mph, 200 kn)
  • Range: 1,250 km (795 mi, 691 nmi)
  • Service ceiling: 7,100 m (23,295 ft)
  • Rate of climb: 8.1 m/s (1,600 ft/min)
  • Wing loading: 161 kg/m2 (32.9 lb/sq ft)
  • Power/mass: 0.17 kW/kg (0.10 hp/lb)
  • 1x nose-mounted machine gun, either 12.7 mm UBS or 7.62 mm ShKAS
    up to 200 kg (440 lb) of bombs on two underwing racks

The Yakovlev Yak-11 (NATO reporting name: “Moose”) is a trainer aircraft used by the Soviet Air Force and other Soviet-influenced air forces from 1947 until 1962.

The Yakovlev design bureau began work on an advanced trainer based on the successful Yak-3 fighter in mid-1944, although the trainer was of low priority owing to the ongoing Second World War. The first prototype of the new trainer, designated Yak-UTI or Yak-3UTI flew in late 1945. It was based on the radial-powered Yak-3U, but with the new Shvetsov ASh-21 seven-cylinder radial replacing the ASh-82 of the Yak-3U. It used the same all-metal wings as the Yak-3U, with a fuselage of mixed metal and wood construction. The pilot and observer sat in tandem under a long canopy with separate sliding hoods. A single synchronised UBS 12.7 mm machine gun and wing racks for two 100 kg (220 lb) bombs comprised the aircraft’s armament.

An improved prototype flew in 1946, with revised cockpits and a modified engine installation with the engine mounted on shock absorbing mounts.[2] This aircraft successfully passed state testing in October 1946, with production beginning at factories in Saratov and Leningrad in 1947.

Production Yak-11s were heavier than the prototypes, with later batches fitted with non-retractable tailwheels and revised propellers. A 7.62 mm ShKAS machine gun was sometimes fitted instead of the UBS, while some were fitted with rear-view periscopes above the windscreen.

In total, Soviet production amounted to 3,859 aircraft between 1947 and 1955. with a further 707 licence-built by Let in Czechoslovakia as the C-11.

See also Yakovlev Yak-3