Яковлев Як-40: Советский региональный самолет

Airliner made by Yakovlev

The Yakovlev Yak 40 (Яковлев Як 40; NATO reporting name: Codling) is a regional jet designed by Yakovlev. The trijet's maiden flight was in 1966, and it was in production from 1967 to 1981. Introduced in September 1968, the Yak 40 has been exported since 1970.

By the early 1960s, Soviet international and internal trunk routes were served by Aeroflot, the state airline, using jet or turboprop powered airliners, but their local services, many of which operated from grass airfields, were served by obsolete piston engine aircraft such as the Ilyushin Il 12, Il 14 and Lisunov Li 2. Aeroflot wanted to replace these elderly airliners with a turbine powered aircraft, with the Yakovlev design bureau being assigned to design it. High speed was not required, but it would have to be able to operate safely and reliably out of poorly equipped airports with short (less than 700 m or 2,300 ft) unpaved runways in poor weather. Yakovlev studied both turboprop and jet powered designs to meet the requirement, including Vertical Take Off and Landing designs with lift jets in the fuselage or in wing mounted pods, but eventually they settled on a straight winged tri jet carrying 20 to 25 passengers. The engines were to be the new AI 25 turbofan being developed by Ivchenko at Zaporozhye in Ukraine.

The Yak 40 is a low winged cantilever monoplane with unswept wings, a large T tail and a retractable tricycle landing gear. The passenger cabin is ahead of the wing, with the short rear fuselage carrying the three turbofan engines, with two engines mounted on short pylons on the side of the fuselage and a third engine in the rear fuselage, with air fed from a dorsal air intake by an "S duct", as is an auxiliary power unit, fitted to allow engine start up without ground support on primitive airfields. The three AI 25 engines are two shaft engines rated at 14.7 kN (3,300 lbf). The engines have no jetpipes, and initially no thrust reversers. The wing is fitted with large trailing edge slotted flaps, but has no other high lift devices, relying on the aircraft's low wing loading to give the required short field take off and landing performance. The wings join at the aircraft centerline, with the main spar running from wingtip to wingtip. The wings house integral fuel tanks with a capacity of 3,800 litres (1,000 US gal; 840 imp gal). The aircraft has a large fin, which is swept back at an angle of 50 degrees to move the tailplane rearwards to compensate for the short rear fuselage. The horizontal tailplane itself is unswept. The Yak 40 was the first Soviet built airliner designed to Western airworthiness requirements.

The first of five prototypes made its maiden flight on 21 October 1966, As well as being the backbone of Aeroflot's local operations, flying to 276 domestic destinations in 1980, the Yak 40 was also an export success. In addition to this, Yak 40 became the first Russian/Soviet aircraft to get flying certificates from Italy and West Germany. It was demonstrated in 75 countries of the world, including the US, where orders for the Yak 40 were made. A total of 130 were exported to Afghanistan, Angola, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, Italy, Laos, Madagascar, Philippines, Poland, Syria, Vietnam, Yugoslavia and Zambia.

As of July 2019, a total of 22 out of 1011 Yakovlev Yak 40 aircraft remained in service with civil operators. The airworthiness of several Yak 40 of smaller Russian and Central Asian charter airlines is uncertain, as is the whereabouts of one Air Libya Tibesti aircraft after the civil war. Most aircraft in service today have been reconfigured for VIP charter services, with fewer than ten remaining in scheduled passenger service. Known operators are:

As of November 2012 no more than 17 Yak 40 remain in military service (possibly fewer, with the unclear situation in Syria). Known operators are: