The last aircraft design competition in
the Soviet Union was for a two-seat
primary trainer for DOSAAF and aero
clubs. Yakovlev of course competed.
The Yak-112 was the outright winner,
but it has subsequently been developed
as a multi-role four-seater.
Unlike so many konversiya aircraft,
the Yak-112 seems assured of commercial
success. A model was displayed
in 1990, a mock-up in 1991 and the first flight was made on 20 October
1992 (a recent Russian article gives the
date as 27 May 1993). Yakovlev claim
that by mid-1993 orders totalled 500,
including large numbers from India
and South American countries. Production
is in hand at two plants,
Smolensk and Irkutsk.
Bill Gunston & Yefim Gordon "Yakovlev Aircraft since 1924", 1997
