Yakovlev UT-3

The Yakovlev UT-3, initially known as the AIR-17 and then Ya-17, was a twin-engine low-wing monoplane aircraft designed by Alexander Sergeyevich Yakovlev for the Soviet Air Force (VVS).

The UT-3 was to serve as a training aircraft for pilots of multi-engine aircraft and for training air gunners, bomb aimers, navigators and radio operators. The airframe was constructed largely of wood and fabric-covered mild steel tubing. The prototype was powered by imported French Renault Bengali 220 bhp 6-cylinder inline engines but production aircraft may have used the Soviet-build MV-6 Renault copy.

Testing was undertaken in 1938 and the aircraft was approved for construction as the UT-3. While the prototype had been fitted with armament&mdash;2 7.62 mm ShKAS machine guns and racks for 4 FAB50 bombs&mdash;the production model was unarmed and more austere. Production was ordered in 1940 at two factories, No. 135 in Leningrad and No. 272 in Kazan. Only around thirty aircraft were built before orders were cancelled as the VVS high command decided to used multi-engine combat aircraft, modified for dual control, in place of dedicated training types.

A derivative, the Ya-19, was developed as a four-seat light transport by Oleg Antonov. In 1940 Aeroflot requested that the Ya-19 should be produced for use on shorthaul routes, but the increasing pace of rearmament in the Soviet Union meant that only a single prototype was ever built.

Users

 * VVS
 * VVS