YAKs are great fun planes, but under EU legislation they are a pain in the butt. There are only a few registers, where it does make sense to operate them. I have two friends, one with a YAK-50 and another with a -54, both are telling dramatic stories with maintenance and airworthiness paperwork. There where times when Lithuanian register was the way to go for them, then some changes to San Marino register, but whatever you do - it is a complicated matter to get permit to fly. And if something goes wrong with papers, you are dead in the water - the friends -50 is now grounded for more than three years due to paperworks issues (and from what I hear this is not uncommon for Yaks).
Last edited by ChickenHouse; 9th Oct 2014 at 08:32.