Yakovlev Yak-18 – Fotos e Vídeo

O Yakovlev Yak-18 é uma aeronave de treinamento primário militar de dois lugares que foi fabricada na União Soviética de 1946 a 1956. Foi projetado por Alexander Sergeyevich Yakovlev, um renomado projetista de aviões de combate, que também manteve uma seção de design de aeronaves leves. O Yak-18 era movido por um motor de pistão radial Shvetsov M-11 FR-1 de 119 kW (160 hp) e apresentava um trem de pouso principal retrátil e uma roda traseira fixa. Era fácil de construir e manter, e tornou-se o treinador padrão da Força Aérea Soviética e da DOSAAF, a sociedade voluntária de colaboração com os militares.
O Yak-18 was also exported to China, where it was produced as the Nanchang CJ-5, and to other countries. The Yak-18 was used as a night bomber by the North Korean Air Force during the Korean War, dropping bombs over UN troop positions and earning the nicknames “Washing Machine Charlie” and “Bed Check Charlie”. The Yak-18 was also the aircraft used for initial flight training by Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space, and Ken Rowe, a North Korean pilot who defected with a MiG-15 jet fighter. The Yak-18 is considered one of the most successful trainer aircraft in history, and its variants, such as the Yak-18T and the Yak-54, are still in production and use today.