Yakovlev Yak-52 (Bacau) trainer

A descendant of the single-seat competition aerobatic Yakovlev Yak-50, the all-metal Yak-52 was designed as a primary trainer aircraft in the former Soviet Union, introduced in 1976 and first flown in 1978.  It is powered by a 268 kW (360 hp) Vedeneyev M14P 9-cylinder radial engine.

The one shown was produced in Bacau, Romania, by Aerostar, which gained manufacturing rights under agreement within the now defunct COMECON Eastern Bloc trade organisation.

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 US, UK, New Zealand, Australia and elsewhere.