Yak-40 | A village trijet

The Yak-40 is a three-engine jet passenger aircraft of local airlines, developed by the Yakovlev Design Bureau in the 1960s. An aircraft that has incorporated a huge number of advanced and, at the same time, controversial solutions, which made it one of the most unusual Soviet civil aircraft. However, despite the controversy of the concept applied, the Yak-40 became one of the most widespread passenger aircraft in the USSR, while claiming some niches even on the open international market. The Yak-40 became the first Soviet civilian aircraft to be certified in the countries of Western Europe.
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[@blobusus]

Back in 1973 I was just 13, and an airplane nut. A neighbor used to give me his old Aviation Weeks and they had a card that you could send in for manufacturer's pamphlets. I checked the box for the Yak-40. Under 'title' I put 'Student', which is what I was at the time. So a couple of months later I got a big, thick envelope from the Soviet Union, which surprised my parents - but not as much as the address, wherein they'd abbreviated my name and title to 'Robert Quay - STUD'. We still laugh about that today. It was a pretty cool pamphlet - I wish I still had it.

[@BlackMoth1971]

Funny!! I have a similar story. I used to have a title "Assistant to the Managing Director" in Eastern Europe and they commonly addressed me as "the Ass to MD".

[@guaporeturns9472]

That’s cool as heck... wonder what others were available?

[@MarkUKInsects]

I am a similar age, That worked both ways, my father was a mechanic at the small Toyota dealer. They would get lots of letters from kids is Poland and the then USSR asking for Toyota pamphlets. The dealer would happily send them too. What I remember was all the amazing stamps they had.

[@erikziak1249]

Question: Why was the third engine mounted on the Yak-40? Answer: To compensate for the added mass and aerodynamic drag caused by mounting of the third engine.

[@ervandrush3116]

Haha! Not really, but very interesting

[@dodoubleg2356]

BAWHAHA!!! THAT'S BRILLIANT!! 😂👍👍✌️

[@skooter2767k]

The same could be said of the 727, Dc-10 etc...

[@mozeskertesz6398]

@@skooter2767k you are wrong. The answer for them is the old Etops, which was made a much longer route for 2-engine plane than 3-engine planes. Cause jet engines weren't safe as now.

[@AA-sg2py]

@@mozeskertesz6398 *facepalm

[@henrychubbs2823]

The plane "devoured fuel like mother's soup." Your colloquial expressions really enhance the videos.

[@superdupergrover9857]

Never heard before but immediately understood.

[@filipmortimer6321]

I don't know about Russian, but "mother's soup" is quite a popular colloquialism in Polish ;)

[@FlowerCrownOfPoppy]

@@filipmortimer6321 I believe it's a common slavic colloqualism

[@solarpower09]

@@filipmortimer6321 ohhhh, I remember that "Zhurek staropolsky v hlebe"! Can't find it in Russia unfortunately.

[@henrychubbs2823]

@@superdupergrover9857 Exactly. It provides an instant visual.

[@Errr717]

"This story begins in mid-1960's ... all my stories begin in the 1960's". When I heard that I knew I had to watch the entire video. I love your sense of humor in narrating the story. 😃

[@thedevilinthecircuit1414]

I've always thought the Yak 40 to be one of the most beautiful passenger jets ever made. It has lovely lines and attractive proportions. The wing shape is reminiscent of the North American P51 Mustang. Cheers and thank you, Sky!

[@andreborowski4954]

I was lucky to fly with this beatiful bird 3 or 4 times from Almaty to Petropavlovsk in the north of Kazakhstan. And had a long talk to one stewardess of Polish origin who worked with the arilien for 25 years..an Airline which had an Arab owner and few Jak 40ties..(forgotten how many..6?). They have been bouth from scrap and used and used and used..nothing happened, once only one engine broke, no spares..all was fittet with the glue make of flower and water...and still running. Very quiet flights, the walls were cold..should not be toutched. In Almaty we had to walk through the deep snow to reach the Yak 40..as it could not get into a normal gate. Once I wanted to make a picture of this beatiful plane in tha morning sun with snow and minus 30°C. Tried my digital camera..then I saw two soldiers running to me in the deep snow...they were very angry. "Did you made pictures" ...yes, I admitted. Gibe me tha tape!!!!!! But there is no tape in this camera! What!!! No tape!!! ....well...ok...so it is fine!!!! All the best for you! Cheers!!! It was in ...2005 or 2006.

[@TF5598]

High five!

[@Errr717]

2005 ... really? They were still flying them? That's amazing.

[@andreborowski4954]

@@Errr717 I assume they are still flying. On April 10th , 2010 when the Polish Government Tu 154M was exploded at Smolensk there was a Jak 40 which landed just before the katastrophy, going there to prepare the visit. So these planes are ..probably still used as "business jets" in the world.

[@davidrivera6807]

Beautiful story like it alot. I read it at 3.15 am on Saturday very Entertaining And interesting.

[@greggravitas5849]

All smiles reading this, thank you for sharing your experience!

[@richard999]

As a westerner who worked in the aircraft industry, I was really pleased in the 1990’s to fly in a number of Russian built aircraft. The feeling was always that they were robust and functional. Flying in the Yak-40 was a joy albeit the plane was quite tiny and as you point out it flew at quite a low altitude which was a bit disconcerting over even modest mountain ranges.

[@skypekai]

My local airplane museum got one from when our army decommissioned them, can't wait to check it out when they reopen!

[@ManmohanMohanty]

Hi guys, if you get a chance, pls visit my channel on aviation and travel and watch my videos. Latest video is available here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eZulZWyChcR2epo If you like the content, pls subscribe to my channel for more upcoming videos. Thanks!

[@mrbyzantine0528]

Where at?

[@skypekai]

@@mrbyzantine0528 Kunovice, Czech Republic. They are moving it from the hangar to the museum field tomorrow morning, will go czech it out.

[@byronbailey9229]

My third wife was a flight attendant on Czech Yak-40 operating around Eastern Europe. 28 Pax. One flight attendant, two pilots and a flight engineer. Great crew party time on hotel layovers. She then went onto Tu154 and then A310 flying Prague - New York - Montreal.

[@myLAMP2011]

Thank you Sky for translating the video into English ! :) Yak40 was the first plane with who I flew when I was a very young child. The emotions received back then opened for me a huge love for planes and aviation and now almost 30 years later, now as myself as a pilot, I always feel happiness and thankfulness when seeing and hearing a Yak40 in a video. Thanks again and greetings from Estonia!

[@jamesdunn3864]

I did a lot of private flying in and around the Persian Gulf between 1995 and 2005. When I flew into Ras Al Khaimah airport I frequently saw a Yak 40 on the apron. It was used for visa runs between Ras al Khaimah and Kish Island off the Iranian coast. What was disturbing was to see fire tenders in close attendance when the Yak-40 was about to start its engines. Apparently, it was not uncommon for one or more of its engines to catch fire on start up. If the apron was covered in soot and water and fire hoses, these were signs that such a fire had recently occurred.

[@marcheck3400]

It's a village bus, but with 3 jet engines. You can't be any cooler than that.

[@hectorkeezy1499]

I can’t help loving the YAK 40 ❤️. It is like keeping a classic car running. It burns a lot of fuel, but is a lot of fun.

[@twotone3471]

The west's aircraft that matches this the closest was the de Haviland DHC-6 Twin Otter. Kind of slow, couldn't fly too high, carried 20 people to places where "Runway" was more of a suggestion that planes could land nearby than a place where commercial air transport was a thing. And has been modernized to sell to modern customers due to there just being nothing out there like it.

[@Unchainedmaple888]

Rear mounted tri jets still look the coolest imo

[@adrianenterprise5829]

Ikr

[@COIcultist]

@@adrianenterprise5829 I'll go for a rear quad. The most wonderful VC10.

[@Cyber_kumo]

@@COIcultist I prefer the Il-62.

[@rickc303]

As opposed to forward mounted tri jet??

[@adrianenterprise5829]

@@COIcultist yes there also very nice

[@sevenlux7093]

"...and a heart attac to any economist" :-D Обожаю твой юмор!

[@justforever96]

So it has jet engines but a straight wing, thrust reverse but not slats, thrust reverse on the center engine but NOT on the side engines (the reverse is more common). What a delightfully eccentric little jet, I like it.

[@McRocket]

Other then the low ceiling...I REALLY like it. Love the rear stairs, the simplicity and it's even cute.

[@RD-xh9ss]

I recently learned about the L-39. A sort of training jet that could be owned privately. Didnt know engine in L-39 came from the yak-40. Good info on the history. Great video. Keep up the good work.

[@ManmohanMohanty]

Hi guys, if you get a chance, pls visit my channel on aviation and travel and watch my videos. Latest video is available here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eZulZWyChcR2epo If you like the content, pls subscribe to my channel for more upcoming videos. Thanks!

[@thedevilinthecircuit1414]

Steering the L-39 on the ground is accomplished by applying the left and right brakes; the nose wheel is a simple caster like on an office chair. Several ground accidents have occurred because the pilot forgot there's no rudder-pedal steering.

[@uchuts]

Vladivostok Air used to fly Yak-40 to my city until 10 years ago. My dad called it 'crane fly' to sound funny. It was really loud with black smoke when it flew over our house at take off thrust. Good old days.

[@jsvno]

Cool, lived in Vladivostok from 1990 to 95 and was pax several times Vlad to Khabarovsk. Even flew one myself (i was a licensed jet pilot). Love the "Soviet area" planes. When not considering the economics...

[@redlock4004]

I have a soft spot for machines that are built for utility, like a work horse, and the designers let form follow this functionality. The name village jet for the Yak 40 is perfect. Thanks for this video :)

[@danielkennedy1524]

Some 40s still were flying in cuba to other Islands on 007. A few in Hati as well

[@rudolfladyzhenskii2718]

It was deigned as regional jet to serve small airports with short airstrips in the mountains at high altitudes. So, it needed all that power.

[@connectorxp]

I‘ve seen a nicely restored, for static display, Yak 40 at the Lufthansa Technik Sofia hangar base, which was quite easily accessible for closer inspection.

[@kevinheard8364]

that non-successor successor was a BIG improvement ...wow .... great job

[@AKAtheA]

the tuned-up version with Garret engines has 4x the range...

[@TJK152]

You should do the YAK-42 next!

[@douglasfaichnie6931]

That’s what I was thinking! Yes please Sky!

[@SteeGrav]

I just wanted to thank you for your so well researched videos on soviet and Russian planes in English. You are the best. Will you some day be making videos about engines and motorists? I know you do whole airplanes but engines and their stories would do interesting stories and you do researched and présentation so well... thank you again.

[@Mauscmkwk]

The yak now critically endangered

[@daveroche6522]

Thank you Skyships - yet again, an excellent, factual analysis (I love the occasional quirky comments - so human and indeed, humourous!). My favourite (6) commercial jets (alphabetically) are ... - BAE146 (despite the Kapton wiring issues on the originals), - Boeing B777, - HS-121 Trident, so ahead of its time - Mk3: "the first 5-engined 3-engined jet" - IL-62: THAT wing design!, - Lockheed L10-11 (despite certain issues with the autopilot altitude-hold function) & - YAK-40. “Time flies, and so will we” - stay safe, everyone.

[@frostyfrost4094]

In 1969 there was an Airport at Portsmouth with grass runways,A YAK40 was demonstrated to Channel Airways in the September of that year.

[@pus1948]

I flew with the Yak 40 in Kazahkstan. From Almaty to Semey and to Oust. It was all but comfortable, very noisy and quite cold.

[@ATLOffroad]

There’s one of these on a tactic display in Long Xuen, Vietnam. It was Ho Chi Minh’s private plane.

[@LongTran-em6hc]

It's not

[@greateraviationgl91]

Yes! Soviet airliners again yay :D By the way, i also like how the Yak-40's design look strange to the Cessna Citation and Pilatus PC-12 lol

[@TheAutisticOwl]

You mean PC 24?

[@737Garrus]

That moment when You realize the Yakovlev Yak-40 is basically a tiny Boeing 727: A low-wing, 3 engine jet aircraft , all engines in the back, a tail ramp under the back, a T-tail and it carried passengers. It kinda checks all the boxes the 727 does, just it does it in less size.

[@Kalashnikov413]

The purpose of both plane is different tho

[@ervandrush3116]

30 passengers on a trijet. Crazy Soviet ecomony)

[@pinkdispatcher]

Dassult still builds small trijets. The Falcon 7x and 8x. Almost exactly the same size, but a *lot* faster.

[@user-xe7jl7kz5z]

If now fuel prices were the same as in the USSR, I would be incredibly happy) Saving on fuel in those days was the last thing to think about.

[@nomayor1]

That is the point. Communism is not about companies making money. It is about PEOPLE having the best service.

[@ervandrush3116]

@@nomayor1 So what? Did people in the USSR get the best service?

[@dumbstupidfalk]

@@ervandrush3116 in many many ways we did. and being a kid in Soviet Union was the best.

[@joshthayer1100]

I few on a few Yak-40s during the 1980s. As an American tourist, then student, and finally tour-group leader, I found them quite mind-blowing compared to anything else I flew on. I really enjoyed the oddness of them. How steeply they took off and landed was kind of badass and thrilling. But most of my friends and then tourists found the experience very unnerving, especially walking through that very small door in the back and into the small cabin. Great fun watching this video.

[@wilcharl]

You read my mind! I was just thinking we need a video of the Yak-40 last night - Now we need one on the Yak-42

[@liv4combat]

Impressive aircraft. Great video. Keep'em coming!

[@MattThornton87]

Superb video!! Such a charismatic happy looking little jet, love the big landing gear wheels. Amazing to hear about the modern 2 engine version, hopefully some orders will follow. Need the Yakety Yak song at the end.... Thanks for uploading!

[@donmerz657]

Thanks for your wonderful perspective on aircraft. I have really enjoyed your work on KZbin!

[@REPOMAN24722]

I always loved the look of these, I love tri jets.

[@davidwebber8636]

Great piece of work. Thank you.

[@was-vc7ie]

Made my first flight to Moldova from Hungary in the -40. Return trip was in the -42

[@davidtucker3729]

really nice plane and as always a great episode. Thanks Sky

[@KJohansson]

Excellent, again a actual plane is used to illustrate the story. Only Sky does this! :)

[@toddrf4058]

It really has beautiful lines. I really enjoy your commentary.

[@grochomarx2002]

Another great video! Thank you!

[@CaptMikey-vc4ym]

Sky; Fantastic! Great to see you are covering some of the smaller 50's to 70's Soviet airliners. Would it ever be great to see a few in North American aviation museums! The '40 was the true first regional jet. I hope in later videos you can cover the AN-24 to An-32 series and the Beriev BE-6 and Be-12 and the Beriev M-10. All landmark aircraft. Good stuff!

[@ch2507d]

Flew on one from Zagreb to Budapest in 2000 with Malev. Actually an ok aircraft, and a very good feature of folding seats for pax so you can change to cargo as needed

[@gcrauwels941]

Thanks for this about the Yak-40. Interesting little tri-jet with early Citation-like wings.

[@ivoryjohnson4662]

Classic Skyship wonderful!!!!!!

[@torehaaland6921]

This was a very interesting description. A good video.

[@galja6889]

Great video! Woderful story told really well. Thank you

[@Mionwang]

Holy cow skyships now has 150k+ subs! I still remember when the channel had less than 30k. Congrats bud!

[@kimtaco7107]

Can't wait to watch another sky video!

[@cz1214cz1]

Hi thank you for sharing this precious story of a legendary aircraft~~

[@spyboter4500]

Very nice videos! I'm a great fan of the channel! Really nice shots of the Il-14 at Burgas Airport!

[@dmitryostrovsky5763]

Very well done. EXCELLENT

[@gruenherz54]

You are getting even better!

[@hedgehog3180]

Never drop your accent. I know people always want you to do that with English but I like it and it makes your channel unique.

[@metalbird89]

He has already improved a lot

[@mikemontgomery2654]

Very interesting jet. There is a lot there that I certainly didn’t know. Thanks for making this video.

[@paulwinter9672]

Fascinating, thank you.

[@uranium_enjoyerOfficial]

One man i know few times flew yak 40. As he says, it was like shaky old bus in rush hour, but instead of road it was in air

[@hakan737]

It was really informative documentary about YAK40. I agreed with you about it is really "unique" plane in aviation history. Thanks for your sharing.

[@Tengri30]

You know what I really love about your videos? The fact that you actually do research work from authentic sources. You give actual facts, positive sides and also talk about problems with certain airliners. You give a good conclusion on an aircraft. I watched the videos of your, let's say "competition", Mustard. Although he tries to be neutral on soviet aircraft he eventually goes over to bash an entire generation of smart people who dedicated their lives to aviation. Mostly with: *Oh No ThEy CoPiEd EvErYtHinG, ThEy StOl3 tHe dEsIgN* with some of his sources being basically myths and legends. Especially his video about the Tu-144 is: 1% Facts 49% Praising the Concorde 50% Bashing the USSR and the OKB Tupolev I mean, you could do the same but you don't. You give us history, facts, positive and negative aspects. You make your jokes and your accent make your video even more "spicy". I don't mean to disrespect Mustard but I prefer your videos over his because your perfectly authentic.

[@TRPGpilot]

Completely agree with everything you said. I now need to go check out who this 'mustard' person is, though I have been subbed to Skyships almost from the start. lol.

[@Tengri30]

@@TRPGpilot You need to watch his Tu-144 video. Most of the time Mustard bashes the USSR and it's developments, making jokes about loud engines and so on. He also gives facts about the 144. But Mustard is a British guy (I think) - so it's pretty normal that he doesn't like the 144.

[@TRPGpilot]

@@Tengri30 Checking him out, yes sounds like an English accent.

[@scotty6346]

I love Sky's content! 👌

[@ikman4006]

wow, that’s a nice plane.

[@aztec0112]

I remembered when they were introduced in AWST back in the 60's Just a kid, I thought they were pretty cool! Thanks for the history lesson....and the TOUR!!!!

[@danieldavila6281]

I flew a yak40 from Moscow to Sardinia. Super smooth with a first class configuration. Not bad!!!

[@evansnyder8461]

I love how the gauges look identical to their military counterparts because they all come form the same places and manufacture. Because if it works why change it.

[@David-tu9zd]

I agree with so many of the comments about this beautiful bird. The sleek design, three engines, it really makes me think of a smaller 727!

[@user-uz2fj8oz1h]

привет скай я в первый раз зашёл на твой английски канал и хотел тебя поблагодарить за то что ты доносишь информацию в легкой форме до большей аудитории . С уважением к твоему творчеству

[@greggravitas5849]

Actually, an attractively designed aircraft, its shortcoming being the inefficient powerplant. Great video, truly enjoyed watching and loved reading the comments. Thanks to you and to all who posted.

[@shobhachandra1975]

Very well put out documentary

[@BlackMoth1971]

I have traveled on IL-62 in the 80s, scary enough. I would not willingly board the YAK. Thanks for the entertaining videos and analysis. You are also mentioning the Albatros. I had a private tour of the Aero plant in my hometown just last year. Exciting.

[@xmeda]

In fact most accidents in eastern block aircraft were caused by personnel, not by technical problems. These aircraft can continue with several issues and land safely. And they usually managed to perform huge amount of flyhours. Western airlines on the other side have more accidents caused by technical issues because western planes are not so robustly overbuilt and cost-saving measures are placed above reliability and longevity.

[@sanches2]

my first flight as a passenger was on a Balkan airlines Yak40 my father bought tickets as a gift for me, so I can fly with a plane because i loved planes and so did he :) Nowadays after hundreds of flights all over the world i still get excited when i'm about to fly and i remember my dad

[@Giorgiamelonitiamo]

great video sky, I love that Yak, pretty cool soviet airliner

[@nuhaidnaushad7278]

Thank you very much

[@francescdalmaufont6295]

Great video and excellent footage! Lovely little aircraft built when fuel consumption was not really an issue.

[@JelmersAviation]

Really awesome video!

[@monibstar]

I saw Noel Phillips take a flight on a YAK-40 nice :)

[@albertusdrostable]

I think it is a stunningly beautiful machine! I was not done watching yet....

[@tanzanos]

Somehow all rear engined planes look sexy. My favourite is the VC 10, however the Yak 40 is no less beautiful.

[@doctoresotericodeltarot]

the yak 40 great design and now updated with only 2 engines and with composite materials and new avionic is still an icon plane as we are accustomed to the aerodynamic engineering from Russia regards from colombia

[@RasheedKhan-he6xx]

I really like the simplicity. And it looks good still.

[@melvyncox3361]

A cool aircraft for sure,and very efficient in many ways.Shame about the fuel consumption though.Hope the redesign has a future,and the few that are left keep flying. Great documentary there Sky❤😎👍!

[@GIGABACHI]

1:50 O.G Tupolev. I'll never forget his face.

[@albert4153]

0:40. Mikoyan, Yakovlev, Ilyushin, Beriev, Antonov.

[@boykochervenov4005]

I flew on it few times! Really cool machine!

[@737Garrus]

A good plane: It looks great, like a small 727, and it flies well and is very forgiving of small mistakes, basically easy to fly, it's a great plane.

[@tariqsyed445]

Very interesting !

[@putusancaya9985]

Despite the problems, The Yak-40 Is One beutiful airliner, Like there's that charm that old airliners have that newer ones don't

[@devilliers123]

Despite its drawbacks it does remain a plausible solution and which is not without beauty..... I feel it was all about timing something which in the aviation industry is critical....plus economics working for rather than against..... It's a beautiful creature which deserves its place in the Aviation Industry.... I wish there would remain one with my name on it. I said that also about the An-2. Beauty not the beast....

[@randym4121]

Just simply a gorgeous airplane!

[@byrondot]

I love this bird! Nice video!

[@martin-uz5ki]

Love this chanel

[@georgemartin4963]

I always thought the Yak-40 was a very handsome aircraft.

[@rockoneal7621]

I had the pleasure? of flying a Yak 40 on a bitter cold morning in Siberia on my first business trip to the old USSR in December after Yeltsin climbed on the tanks. As passengers we were taken by bus to a cold plane in the darkness of the artic morning. The mechanics opened the plane,.. we boarded. As one of the first foreign business men traveling to a former military city previously not on the maps, I sat in the front row between a small elderly woman with an equally small yipping doggie sitting on her lap on a towel. The other passengers filling the plane to the max included a young Russian man across the aisle from me with a growling pit bull at his feet. A mechanic proceeded to go into the cockpit to warm the instruments so they would function for the pilots. After many long teeth chattering minutes the pilots appeared and brought the engines to life. As a seasoned Western commercial jet traveler, the takeoff roll seemed painfully slow and lumbering. Was the plane overloaded? Would it fly? Yes, finally a slow climb out was completed. The rest of the trip was fairly uneventful, except for the pitbull's growling lunge at the doggie with me in the middle!! Thankfully the young Russian man had the leash as short as possible. Other than a few moments of smells from the pitbull's innards, the flight was enjoyable. I was thankful to feel the main gear touch down at our Siberian destination!! :))

[@gbixby3453]

Very interesting aircraft I never heard about before. Something that would only work in the Soviet system, however still very cool. I love hearing about aircraft like this, unique ones that were products of their time and place. Some of the aircraft that came out of Edwards Air Force Base during the early years of the cold war are like that...they would have only been built during that time and in that place. Really love your channel and your even handed look at different aircraft... especially the way you make each one the protagonist of its video regardless of who it was built by or for. Next time you do a video about military aircraft, I would love to hear about the Tu-95 and the B-52... being two old cold warriors still flying.

[@BoKB5]

Love the yak 40,strangely beautiful