Yak-40 Aircraft Jet

Okay, okay, this is admittedly a bit of a spoof portraying this jet aircraft as a bush plane, but if you’re a Gulfstream type and just a wee bit weary of flying your plane into the bush, the Yak-40 is as close as anything comes to a corporate jet aircraft bush plane. The Yak-40 is a tri-jet design reminiscent of the Boeing 727 and was designed specifically for STOL operations. Jet STOL operations, that is. Don't expect to see Yak-40s landing on river sandbars along with Super Cubs and Huskies. It features a straight wing (with taper) and although it will beat the pants off a Super Cub speed wise, the Yak-40 is slow compared to most aircraft jets.

The maximum speed of the Yak-40 jet aircraft is 340 mph and this plane can haul about 30 people (more if you cram them in, alá collectivist style). One of the Yak-40’s nicknames in Russian is истребитель керосина, which even when written in English, is a mouthful (the first word is pronounced, roughly, “ist-ribby-tell,” the second word is “kero-sin-ah”). It means literally, destroyer of kerosene, but a more proper translation would be jet fuel hog, as the Yak-40 jet aircraft is none too bashful about burning jet fuel. Noise restrictions limit its use in the West. Finally, and as some indication of this plane’s lust for fuel, in the former Soviet Union, this plane is known for its ability to leave black exhaust streaks on runways.

We threw this plane in for fun, no offense to serious bush pilots or Yak-40 jet aficionados. For what it does, the Yak-40 is not a bad plane at all. Watch this Yak 40 land in the Czech Republic.

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