Yakovlev Yak-20

Yakovlev OKB

Industry	Aerospace
Founded	1949
Products	Aircraft

Template:Infobox aircraft The Yakovlev Yak-20 (Russian: Яковлев Як-20) was a Soviet experimental piston-engine trainer aircraft created in 1949. It never entered mass production.

Design and development

Conceived in 1949 by the Yakovlev OKB, the Yak-20 was aimed at aviation clubs as both a training and sport flying platform. The goal was to produce an affordable, modern aircraft that could effectively serve as a pilot trainer while also offering aerobatic capabilities, at a significantly lower cost than the then-current Yak-18.

While sharing structural similarities with the Yak-18, the Yak-20 featured a fuselage constructed from welded steel tubing, covered with aluminum alloy sheets and fabric. Its wings were built from aluminum alloy, with metal skin extending from the leading edge to the single spar, and fabric covering behind the spar. The cockpit accommodated two occupants seated side-by-side beneath a large, rear-sliding blown canopy. Dual stick controls were installed, with the pilot positioned on the left side. Controls included a centrally located push-pull throttle and basic gyro instruments. Power was provided by the newly introduced Ivchenko AI-10 five-cylinder radial engine, notable for its compact size and light weight. This engine delivered 80 hp to a V-515 controllable-pitch counterweight propeller. Fuel was stored in two wing-root tanks, each holding 35 liters (7.7 gallons), located forward of the single wing spar.

Operational history

From its inception, the Yak-20 was engineered to be fully aerobatic and exhibit exceptional resistance to spins. Initial flight evaluations were conducted by pilots Anokhin and Georgii Shiyanov, followed by assessments from DOSAAF aviators and a series of prominent aerobatic sports pilots who were invited to test the aircraft. The overall consensus among these pilots was enthusiasm for its production. Subsequently, State Acceptance trials were performed; however, the official evaluation team deemed the Yak-20 too compact and underpowered, suggesting a redesign to achieve performance comparable to the Yak-18. Some of these concerns were addressed in the second prototype (Yak-20-2), which resulted in an increased weight and diminished the initial prototype’s performance advantages. Given that Yak-18 manufacturing was already well underway, continuing with Yak-20 production was considered unnecessary. The project’s termination was finalized when production of the compact Ivchenko AI-10 engine was discontinued.

Variants

Yak-20-1

Initial prototype model.

Yak-20-2

Second prototype iteration.

External links

• Yakovlev Yak-20
• [1]