Yakovlev Yak-27

what is it?

The Yakovlev Yak-27 (NATO reporting name "Flashlight-C") is a family of Soviet supersonic aircraft developed in 1958 from the Yak-121 prototype. The most built variant was the tactical reconnaissance Yak-27R (NATO reporting name originally "Flashlight-D" then "Mangrove").

🔎How to recognise it: 2 jet engines · mid wing · 11.8 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 1,285 km/htop speed
• range 2,380 kmwithout refuelling
• size 13.6 tmax take-off weight
• built 180made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 70 years ago, in 1956.
• 🏎️Top speed is 9.9× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 💥Faster than sound: up to Mach 1.0 (sea-level speed of sound ≈ 1,235 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 11.8 m: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🐘Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 2 African elephants (~6 t each).
• 🌍Range of 2,380 km: 13× Amsterdam to Brussels.
• 🏔️Can fly 1.9× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).

jet: Gas turbine pushing air out the back (turbofan or turbojet): fast and high-flying.

spec sheet

first flight

1956

introduced

1957

retired

1970

status

retired

number built

180

role

reconnaissance aircraft

origin

🇷🇺 Soviet Union

makers

Yakovlev, Saratov Aviation Plant

engines

2× Tumansky RD-9F / Tumansky RD-9

crew

2

length

18.6 m

wingspan

11.8 m

height

4.1 m

max take-off weight

13.6 t

top speed

1,285 km/h

range

2,380 km

ceiling

16,550 m

wings

mid wing

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.