April 4 till 8 Robert "Redyak" de Vries held the Yak-52 Formation Training Days and invited me to witness this training. First let me tell a little bit more about Robert. Robert is co-pilot on the

Boeing 747-400 and flies for the KLM. , He has a Dutch and English authorisation for low level aerobatics and formation demos (NL-CAA Display Authorisation/4-ship+aero's/200').

After RC-model flying, gliding and an airforce training, he got his ATP licence through self education(Freeway air C-406), after 2 years Transavia(co B-737-200/300) since 1990 co pilot with the KLM on the A-310 and B 747-300(1993-2003) In October 2003 he got his B747-400 training, this cause of the fade out of the 747-300.

He now gives route/line instruction to new (young) co-pilots at KLM on the 747. Total flighthours about 12,000, of which 380 on the Yak-52. The Yak-52 is owned by Robert de Vries and Chris van den Broek.

Chris van den Broek is captain with the KLM on the MD-11, flies a demo occasionaly, after gliding he only flew with the KLM(since 1985 copilot on the DC-10, A-310, MD-11 ; captain on the F-100,B-767,MD-11). He uses the plane for recreational and formation flying.

I'll come to the Yak-52 a bit later. I haven't visited every day, saturday was my first day. Upon my arrival at Wings over Holland it was pretty clear the weather wasn't all that good. It was very foggy. Were we going to fly or not? I had to wait and see.

A nice view welcomed me, a Yak-3U was running its engine and seeing preparations being made for Stichting Hoogvliegers, a good cause foundation for ill children, giving them one day to forget their worries. See their site, which can be visited through my links page.

The following pilots were present at the training, Robert de Vries, Hans Hollink, , Willem Doorduin , Steve van Dijck , Chris v/d Broek and Erik v/d Pluym and speakers and instructors were Gennady Elfimov, Patric Tuit, Bert Tressel and Bert Huizenga. When entering the hanger I saw a nice surprise. None other then aviation and especially Yak-legend Gennady Elfimov from Skytrace was there for 5 days to give training to all the pilots, on safety, aerobatics and formation training. Since we realised that no flying could be done this day. Gennady gave a thorough training on inspecting the airplane from top the bottom and front to back. It was quite interesting to see and hear about the technical details of the Yak-52. He explained things like, how to check the engine, the wings, the gear, checking for loose nuts or bolts inside the fuselage.

After a day's rest I was back on monday and shortly after I arrived they said. Hop in, you're gonna have your first flight in a Yak-52. The pilot that was gonna fly me was Stephen van Dijck, one of the pilots who flies for the Fokker Four as well. Great guy. After explaining how to put my parachute on and how to buckle up inside the Yak-52.

Let me give a few specs on the Yak-52, the Yak-52 has a G-tolerance of +7G and -5G. It also has a radial engine, which sounds like a dream. It weighs in at about 998kg and the engine has 360HP, which means POWER, lots of it. The cruise speed is set at around 110 knots.

Seeing all that power and that little weight you can imagine what take-off is like... After Stephen started the engine the Yak started vibrating, feeling all that power in the fuselage. Ready for a formation flight.

We taxiied to the runway, lined it up, camera in hand ready to take great air to air photos. Ok, I might sound like Jeremy Clarkson from Top Gear now, but when Stephen opened that throttle, all that power, all that energy, you felt the Yak-52 move forward with tremendous speed and...did I say power?...pushed back firmly into my seat without even having taken off I loved every second of it. Once airborne the gear was raised and was surprised at how stable and great the Yak handles. I already took one or two photos as I saw another Yak pull up to the left of us. Just like I had with the formation flight with Red Sensation, it gives a great sense of being a team. But...Stephen had the feeling the engine wasn't running as it should. So he decided to land and check it out on the ground.

So this was my shortest flight ever. I was offered a second flight, but also had a problem with my ears, cause of a cold. The time I did have in the Yak was great and I really hope to fly in a Yak once again.

After the flight was done a debrief followed, which gives a great insight in how hard it is to do formation flying. A pilot's got to think about so many things, safety, throttle control and staying with his leader or wingman.

All in all I had a great 2 days and I really hope to be joining the Yak-52 training next year. Everyone was really nice and we had good laughs. A special thanks to Robert de Vries for inviting me, Thanks Robert and to Stephen van Dijck for having me aboard, be it for a short flight. I really enjoyed my flight and I understand now why so many love the Yak-52, the sound like music, the flying, like silk. A Yak-52 is Beauty AND the Beast. Beauty for it's great WW2 feel, sound and smell, Beast for it's raw power.

I know I really haven't seen and enjoyed all of the Yak, but already i'm in love with this plane and hope to have many more flights with her.

Please visit the following sites for more info on Robert de Vries and on what Gennady Elfimov does. Also be sure to go to various airshows in The Netherlands and elsewhere to see Robert fly.

www.redyak.nl
www.skytrace.co.uk

And their common site, to go live soon

www.dutchthunderyaks.nl