Brian And Zac's Yak-11

[K5054NZ]

News, Classic Wings issue 50
A YAK FOR BRIAN AND ZAC!
What's believed to be the last Yak-11 extant in Egypt has been recovered by Zac Yates and Brian Perri from an airbase on the outskirts of Cairo. Known at the time of the great Capel recovery of 41 aircraft in the 1980s but left behind due to legal reasons, the aircraft is not quite complete but what is there is in extremely good condition.
The aircraft was due to arrive at Omaka Aerodrome, New Zealand as we went to press, and the enthusiastic crew at ZeeBee Aviation are understood to be very keen to get "stuck in" with this latest project. A pair of low-time ASh-21 radials have been secured in the Czech Republic for the aircraft and a new set of prop blades are on the way from Avia. The aircraft, to be registered ZK-YXI, is hoped to fly once more by the end of next year. In the meantime Zac and Brian have been in the United States receiving instruction in the finer points of flying the Yak, with an eye to mastering the attractive little trainer in time to fly theirs when she's completed.



News, Classic Wings issue 62
RETURN OF THE ELEVENTH YAK!
December 12 was a historic day for the warbird movement in New Zealand as the first Yakovlev Yak-11 to fly in the Southern Hemisphere took to the skies. ZK-YXI, owned by ZeeBee Aviation at Omaka Aerodrome, made her 25min post-restoration flight at the hands of Zac Yates who, with his business partner Brian Perri, recovered the aircraft from Egypt early last year.



Zac said the aircraft handled beautifully, and felt "perfect in every way". Several local pilots are apparently extremely keen to try the aircraft out for themselves, an opportunity not too far away as test flying nears completion. In fact, in the fortnight since her first flight YXI had logged nearly 12 hours flying time with her owners!
Painted in a very attractive Egyptian Air Force desert scheme, the aircraft is slated to make her long-awaited airshow debut at the Classic Fighters Marlborough event this coming Easter.



Register Reflections, Classic Wings issue 62
ZK-YXI   LET C-11, s/n 171023, 10.12.08, ZeeBee Aviation, Aerodrome Road, Blenheim, NZ



Courtesy of RotorheadTX, this was the AEROTEAM 1:72 kit. What fun Eastern European kits are - apart from the nasty-fitting canopy, this was a ball to build! I needed a bit of a break from P-40s, so this and the pair of Butcher Birds proved to be good therapy.

[Shasper]

For that gap, try running some white glue w/a Q-tip in the crack, then throw some filler ontop of that using the same methud. It may not look seamless but it will blend better.


Sweet bird, too bad it's not in 1/1!

Shas B)

[cthulhu77]

Neat little plane, Zac !  Shasper is right, you can get rid of that gap easily...but you may want to try the amazing cthonic mixture of using baby/talc powder mixed 50/50 with white glue...cleans up with water, and can be lightly sanded, and dries to a nice light gray.

 Loving these new builds...keep 'em coming !

[ysi_maniac]

I like this model and subject!
       

[Brian da Basher]

Nice Yak, Zac! I really like the paintjob and how it contrasts with the metal exhaust plate. She looks great in those Egyptian markings!

I should probably let you drive, huh?

Brian da Basher

P.S. I've found white school glue like Elmer's™ is great fro attaching canopies and filling in canopy gaps as it dries clear and is compatible with most acrylic paints.

[B777LR]

Cool!  B)  Is it whiff or not? I seem to remember seeing a picture of these before...  

[Chap]

Zac, she looks great in Egyptian markings. Great work yet again!

~Steve

[Rafael]

Sure is a good job, Zac.!!
Beautiful subject.

Rafa

[K5054NZ]

*embarassed smilie* Thanks guys for all the very nice words.

Re the ideas about seam filling, thankyou one and all! You wouldn't believe I spent about 15min getting that darned canopy to fit....even now it's barely hanging on! I'll definitely look at doing something with that area before I send the review off to Scott.

B777LR - The story about 41 Yaks and LET C-11s being recovered from Egypt in the 1980s is true, but all the info I was able to find said that they operated this gorgeous little plane in allover grey.   NOT a fan of grey, as you all know, so I took some whiff liberty by creating this scheme. And putting a couple of the decals in the "wrong" place. (Hehehe.....what's the Soviet version of model experten?) And I decided this could be an aircraft Alain and Raymond Capel left behind during their recovery as it was incomplete, so thus it was ripe for the taking by another determined warbirder. Not sure if such an aircraft exists so voila! Instant whiff! ^_^

Shas - "Sweet bird, too bad it's not in 1/1!" -- only a matter of time, my friend!

And Brian, if you like, but once my Focke-Wulf 190s are finished I'll probably be flitting about in them. Would you prefer the Dora or Anton?  B)

Cheers,
Zac


PS - Is this the first Yak-11 on Whiff? If so then yay for me!!!  

[RotorheadTX]

Good job there Speed Racer; glad I could help you out with that one.  

I'm with the others in recommending Elmers/"white" glue/PVA to patch up the gaps around the canopy (must admit that I hadn't heard of mixing it with talcum powder though - learn something new every day.) Another possibility for filling the gaps at the wing root is typing correction fluid (Liquid Paper or Tippex brands.) Not that many people actually type anything these days.....  :dum:

[B777LR]

Uhm, zac? I remember where i saw it now, and found that book...it was a UAE example...with exact same markings as this one (even the 09. markings are on the illustration)...(so it might not be egyptian?) i might be wrong though, and book was from the 1960s...

edit: it was united arab republic, so could it be egyptian afterall? what was UAR?

[RotorheadTX]

UAR was Egypt + Syria, IIRC..........

[B777LR]

UAR was Egypt + Syria, IIRC..........

Ah, that explains it all, thanks  :ar:      

:dum:  :dum:  :dum:  :f16:

 

[K5054NZ]

Wow, cheers B777LR! I had no idea! Ooops....well, I like it and that's why I'll stick with it!

BTW really like that gorgeous lil OH-13!

[John Howling Mouse]

P-rrrrrr-etty!

You boys share nice now, y'hear?