Yak 52
 

I AM CONSIDERING PURCHASING A YAK 52, BUT BELIEVE THE RULES OF THE CAA HAVE RECENTLY CHANGED FOR AIRCRAFTS PREVIOUSLY ON THE RUSSIAN/LITHUANIAN REGISTERS EFFECTIVELY GROUNDING THEM - DOES THIS AFFECT AIRCRAFT REGISTERED HERE IN THE UK ALREADY ? WHAT DOCUMENTATION IS NECESSARY TO GET A UK C OF A / PERMIT TO FLY ? - ANY EXPLANATION OF THE SYSTEM WOULD BE A GREAT HELP TO ME

Any LY or RA registered Yak was "grounded" from May 21st except that if the owner applied for a permit to fly ie on the G reg, then an exemption was issued for 3 months (likely to be extended) allowing the aircraft exemption from Articles 3 and 8 of the ANO. Any such exempted aircraft can continue to be operated on its LY or RA register effectively until it has its permit issued and it is converted to G reg.

Any Yak already on the G reg is not affected by this grounding since it has its permit already.

No need to be wary of G reg aircraft then nor indeed RA or LY aircraft provided you are aware of the costs of transter to G reg. one could for example buy a RA or LY reg aircraft and reach agreement abot the costs of transferring to the G reg...eg retention from purchase price... (just trying to be helpful).

Hope you enjoy your 52. Do yourself a favour - if you are not that familiar with the type, take a few hours with Gennady at Skytrace. http://www.skytrace.co.uk/

The European Yak Club web site has some more information on the current groundings.
The address is:

http://www.yakclub.net/bazar/main.php

You can also get information from Mark Jefferies at Yak UK:

http://www.yakuk.co.uk/

They are offering a fixed price package of 1130 GBP for the basic work plus all the form filling. Any additional work/defects is extra. There is a CAA fee on top (454GBP). At present they are processing about two aircraft a week. Our's is in the queue!

It's not a huge problem, just a case of forking out cash to satisfy the bureaucrats. Like all flying really!

Russian aircraft in the UK
 

Page 10 of the July issue of 'Pilot' explains all.

According to the article this whole thing came about 'as a result of an airspace infringement by the pilot of a Russian registered aircraft.'

I bet he is popular with Yak owners?!

Does anybody out there have the gen on this?


Is he being prosecuted or just the usual wrist slap?

From information I've heard from sources I'm not going to name but do trust, this has nothing to do with operating practices in the UK, and everything to do with technical information passed to the CAA by civil authorities in the former Soviet Union.

G

Genghis - can't agree with you more. Every RA / LY reg Yak that I know of was well maintained, often primarily by Russian engineers that were originally employed in Russia / USSR to work for DOSAAF on those aeroplanes & know them inside out and/or by one of the two main Yak dealers, who also know the aeroplanes inside out.

So anyone who suggests that the grounding process was a safety issue is talking out of their nether regions. Indeed I do not think that anyone in the CAA would claim that there was a safety issue involved.

Fact is, that once owners have spent a not inconsiderable sum in transferring their aeroplanes onto the G reg, maintenance will be undertaken in most cases by the same people / organisation as prior to that transfer...

I understood that as a result of CAA enquiries brought about by a Yak pilot's airspace infringement, the Russian authorities gave the CAA information about Yak certification which left them no choice but to take the action they did. I don't think the CAA considered it a safety issue.

But I note from the magazines that certain Yak dealers seem to to be implying that it 'will be a good thing' since it will put Yak maintenance 'on a level playing field' - whatever that means.

SSD

The less said to owners of RA / LY reg Yaks about "level playing fields" the better since some owners might be a little bitter about this whole affair, well, the money aspect particularly.

SSD, your aeroplane affected by all this? Mine is...:( :( :(

SC - the one I used to fly was 'G' reg so that's OK. Unfortunately I don't fly a Yak at present - just the Chippy. Maybe I should change my username if I don't buy into another Yak group soon ;~)

SSD