OKB Yakovlev: A History of the Design Bureau and its Aircraft

The Yakovlev design bureau started life in 1927 when Aleksandr Sergeyevich Yakovlev (1894-1977) brought out his first aircraft, the two-seat AIR-1. The first nine designs created by Yakovlev remained in prototype form, being developed largely at his own initiative; in 1935, however, his fortune changed when the UT-2 primary trainer entered large-scale production. In the immediate pre-war years and during World War Two the Yakovlev OKB proved quite versatile, developing such varied aircraft as the Yak-4 light bomber of 1939, the Yak-6 light transport and the Yak-1 fighter of 1940. The latter was the progenitor of a highly successful series of fighters including the Yak-7, Yak-9 and Yak-3. After the war, diversity continued. For a while, fighters were still strongly on the agenda; the Yak-15 first flew on 24th April 1946, the same day as the MiG-9, and evolved into the Yak-17 and Yak-23 featuring the same 'pod-and-boom' layout. The twinengined Yak-25 interceptor was brought out in 1952, again becoming the first in a line of twinjet tactical aircraft - mostly bombers and reconnaissance aircraft. Civil aircraft development also continued on a large scale, the OKB developing such successful aircraft as the Yak-18 trainer/aerobatic aircraft family, the Yak-40 feederliner (1966) and the Yak-42 short/medium-haul airliner (1974). The company even tried its hand at helicopters: the tandem-rotor Yak-24 was brought out in 1952, entering small-scale production in 1955. Though overshadowed as a 'fighter maker' by Mikoyan and Sukhoi, the Yakovlev OKB did not give up. The Yak-38 VTOL attack aircraft first flew in 1970, entering service with the Soviet Navy in 1976. A major success was achieved in 2002 when the Yak-130, the company's latest trainer, was selected by the Russian Air Force.

About the Author :
Yefim Gordon was born in 1950 in Vilnius, Lithuania, and graduated from the Kaunas Polytechnical Institute in 1972 as an engineer/electronics designer. He has been a resident of Moscow since 1973, when, as a hobby, he started collecting photographs and books on the history of Soviet aviation. This has now developed into a major archive. Since the 1980s he has been a professional aviation journalist and writer, with over 80 books published on Soviet/Russian aviation in Russian, English, Polish and Czech, as well as close to 120 magazine features and photo reports. He is also an accomplished photographer, with countless photos published in the western press; the current edition of Jane's All the World's Aircraft features more than 50 of his photographs.