Tue, Jul 20, 2004
World's only Yak-53 takes to the skies over California
By Tyson V. Rininger
Located in what most would consider an abandoned airport about
10 miles north of Monterey (CA), A father and son team work at
reconditioning CJ-6 Nanchang aircraft from China. Little did they
know their business would soon enter the Russian Yak market in a
very unique way. James Selby and his son James Selby, Jr. became
the new owners of the world's only Yak-53 single-seat high
performance aircraft.
In 1981, the Yak design bureau received government funding to
build a piston single-seat light attack aircraft for potential use
in Afghanistan from an existing Yak-52 airframe. For unknown
reasons, the Russian military wasn't satisfied with the aircraft so
most of the equipment was removed and plane was presented as an
aerobatic aircraft. To promote this version of the aircraft two
height-to-climb records were officially registered for 3,000 and
5,000 meters by Yak design bureau test pilots Makagonov and
Molchanyuk.
Unfortunately for the Yak-53, the Yak-50 was already in
production and the Yak-55 project had already begun the design
process. This being the case, the Yak-53 was given back to the
military since the government initially funded the aircraft's
design. It wasn't until 2001 that word of the aircraft began
circulating through various Soviet technical magazines.
The aircraft was later found that same year by accident 40km
from Moscow. Visible from the road, the Russian Glider Team
trainer, Oleg Pasechnik and Serpuhov Airclub Chief Engineer, Sergey
Makarov rescued the aircraft from a farmer's field where it sat
deteriorating. The director of the collective farm received the
Yak-53 as a gift from his friend, an air force base chief.
The aircraft was completely restored by Smolensk Aeroservice
with the new M-14P, 360hp engine and was flown once more after 20
years of rest on May 4, 2002. After it's brief flight, it was
placed into storage and later purchased by the Selby's in May of
2004 with only 16 hours of flight time. Eager to receive FAA
approval on the Russian aircraft and get her flying again, it only
took two days to reassemble the airframe components and wing
assembly. She first took to the skies over the Central California
Coast on Thursday, July 8th at 1830 hours.
Jim Selby and Jim Selby, Jr. are based out of the Marina Airport
in Marina (CA). They have reconditioned and sold close to 30 CJ-6's
with this being their first Yak. Future plans involve the full
restoration of a fairly rare 5-cylinder Yak-18 / CJ-5 of which only
about 5 are flying in the US today.
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