Aircraft model
YAKOVLEV YAK-52S
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The Yak 52 is the Soviet primary and aerobatic trainer, built in Romania under licence, with a 360 hp nine-cylinder radial, retractable tricycle gear and pneumatic systems throughout. Large numbers came west after 1990 and they operate on the experimental register in the United States.
It is a serious aerobatic aircraft — certified in its home country to plus seven and minus five g — and it is loud, powerful and enormous fun. The ownership realities are the point to understand. The M-14P radial has a short overhaul life by Western standards and is supported by a small specialist network. The pneumatic systems that operate the gear, flaps and brakes are unfamiliar to most mechanics and need someone who knows them. Documentation is translated. It operates in the experimental exhibition category with the operating limitations that carries.
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Put YAKOVLEV YAK-52S side by side with up to two other models.
- YAKOVLEV YAK-52S
What it is
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | tricycle |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Vedeneyev M-14P (radial) |
| Horsepower | 360 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | amateur-built |
| Production start | 1979 |
| Production end | 1998 |
| Endorsements required | complex;high-performance |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 108 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 290 nm |
| Service ceiling | 13,000 ft |
| Climb rate | 1,500 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 54 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | — |
| Landing over 50 ft | — |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 639 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 447 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 2,877 lb |
| Empty weight | 2,238 lb |
| Usable fuel | 32 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 20.2 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $30,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $90,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 750 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $45,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $80,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 1 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 0 |
| Median year built | — |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | — |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | — |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 0 |
| Transfers per 100 active | — |
| Airworthiness directives | 0 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | none |
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 1-2 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | —3 |
| Support | 0.2 of 104 |
| Liquidity | —5 |
- Accident record: class median 29.1 · 174 models in class.
- Severity: class median 9.09.
- Access: class median 974.
- Support: class median 81.
- Liquidity: class median 20.47.
- Each of the five categories places the model within its peer class, from 0 (the worst of the class) to 10 (the best): a position among comparable models, not a grade. The overall score is the sum of the categories shown that are scored, out of 10 for each (50 when all five are); it is given only when at least 4 of the five are scored, and it can be set against another model's only when both are in the same peer class and scored on the same categories.