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Aerobatics in a Yak - 52 over Gower.
15/06/09
If you have been out and about Gower recently you may well have looked up and seen and/or heard the Ospreys Aerobatic Display Team going through their paces. I was lucky enough to be offered a ride in a Yak 52, a noisy, thirsty and powerful cold war aircraft, to get an introduction to some adrenalin filled Aerobatics.
Designed by the Alexander Sergeevich Yakolev, the great Russian aircraft designer, the Yak 52 first flew in 1976 and was designed originally as a 2 crew aerobatic trainer for students in the Soviet Air Force, 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 and whilst strapping in to the back seat it soon becomes evident that every gauge, placard and switch is in Russian. Alexander Yakolev designed his first Yak aircraft back in 1934, You step back in time - Yuri Gagarin (the first man in space) learned to fly in a Yak-18, it has a great history and tradition. Since 1934, when production began over 70,000 airplanes have been built with more than 100 types and modifications.
The start up process is complicated and uses compressed air from the Yak's internal hydraulic system to give the engine and gigantic 8 ft propellor a helping hand. With a smoke filled roar and the sweet if not worrying smell of burning oil it bursts into life. The all metal construction is very strong and can tolerate huge stresses whilst in flight. Only the control surfaces (rudder, elevators and ailerons) are fabric covered in order to keep weight and control forces (effort needed to actually fly the aircraft) to a minimum.
The sturdy and reliable Vendeneyev 360 HP 9-cylinder radial engine ensured that we climbed effortlessly off the runway at Swansea. With a top speed of 147 mph in level flight and an abundance of clear blue skies we headed west to Port Eynon. The hundreds of holidaymakers on the campsites and caravan parks were treated to steep diving turns into the bay at up to 250mph. With the Gower rushing by and my senses working overtime it's easy to see why the name 'Yak' invokes similar emotions for Russians as 'Spitfire' does for the British! The Yak-52 offers performance and ease of operation, second-to-none. It is stressed to +7 and –5 Gs, and is capable of every aerobatic manoeuvre. The aircraft has inverted fuel and oil systems permitting inverted flight for as long as two minutes.
We spent around 5 minutes over Port Eynon looking down at it from all angles and throughout I felt completely at ease and enjoyed every second. We climbed out of the bay in a steep turn with Carreglwyd campsite on the wing tip, headed East and climbed to and levelled off at 3000 feet...
The barrel roll is a horizontal cork screwing manouever through the air. Being so responsive, the Yak rolls in under 2 seconds - the faster you corkscrew the more G you produce - acceleration in the downward (head-to-feet) direction, expressed in units of gravity. As you roll you experience positive G throughout, up to maximum of 3G.
We completed 6 adrenalin filled Barrel Rolls in all. Being forced into my seat was no different to a roller coaster ride, but seeing Gower upside down - amazing!! We went on to experience negative G by climbing the aircraft and pushing the stick forward - this is known as a parabolic curve. NASA trains its astronauts in a modified aircraft affectionately called the "Vomit Comet", the Boeing 727. The 727's mission is to fly a parabolic curve so that for a portion of the ride the aircraft, and its contents, become weightless. If you Watched BBC2 "James May on the Moon" you will have seen him airborne in the "Vomit Comet" and the fun and difficulties of negative G - Weightlessness . Due to the 5 - point harness in the Yak, thankfully I remained planted in my seat but nevertheless it's a very strange feeling and luckily no sick bags were needed. By the end of the 30 minutes I had a smile a mile wide. It's something I will never forget and am eagerly looking forward to the next time with hopefully Loops, Spins, Snap Rolls and even some Hammerheads..
It's an incredible experience to fly in a Yak -52 whether doing blood pumbing aerobatics or a gentle scenic flight. Team Osprey is the only formation display team in Wales and will be peforming at the Wales National Airshow on July 11-12th. The Four man team is based at Swansea airport.
Below are two great clips. The first are The "Yakovlevs display team" who have been thrilling audiences since 1999. The second is someone skydiving out of a Yak 52 whilst inverted in a loop.
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