On March 6, the regional passenger aircraft Yak-42 turned 50 years old.

On March 6, the regional passenger aircraft Yak-42 turned 50 years old. On that day in 1975, its first prototype took to the skies.

General designer Alexander Yakovlev believed that the new airliner should be a scaled-up version of the Yak-40, capable of operating from the same airfields, including unpaved runways. Therefore, he considered it reasonable to use a straight wing, which resulted in a lower flight speed. At the same time, the Ministry of Aviation Industry insisted on increasing speed and using a swept wing. As a result, the project was developed in two versions, and even different flight prototypes were built: the first with a straight wing, while the second and third had swept wings. After testing, it was decided to put the aircraft with a swept wing into serial production.

The serial production of the Yak-42 lasted until 2004. Including prototype aircraft, a total of 183 units were built in three main variants. The aircraft was equipped with three D-36 turbofan engines, each with a thrust of 6,500 kgf. These engines were developed by the Zaporizhzhia Machine-Building Design Bureau “Progress” named after O.H. Ivchenko. Engines of this family can still be produced by the “Motor Sich” company, also located in Zaporizhzhia.

The serial Yak-42D had a length of 36.4 meters, a wingspan of 34.9 meters, a maximum takeoff weight of 57 tons, a cruising speed of 750 km/h, a passenger capacity of 120, and a flight range of 2,790 km.

In addition to the USSR and some post-Soviet countries, the Yak-42 was also operated in Iran, China, Pakistan, and Cuba. As of 2024, only a few units remain in operational condition.

On the territory of Ukraine, the first to operate the Yak-42 before 1991 were the aviators of the Donetsk Aviation Enterprise. In independent Ukraine, at least seven airlines, including “Aerosvit,” “DonbasAero,” “Krym,” and “Pivdenni Avialinii,” used this aircraft.

The O.K. Antonov State Aviation Museum offers tours of the KAI training hangar, where, among other exhibits, the third experimental Yak-42 (factory number 01001) is displayed. It was manufactured at the Smolensk Aviation Plant in 1976 and used for testing. The aircraft was decommissioned in 1979 and transferred as a training model to the Kyiv Institute of Civil Aviation Engineers (now KAI).