UT-3 | |
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Role | Twin-engined trainer |
National origin | USSR |
Manufacturer | OKB Yakovlev |
Designer | A.S. Yakovlev |
Primary user | VVS |
Number built | ~21 |
Variants | Yakovlev Ya-19 |
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 6Q-01 220 hp (160 kW) six-cylinder inline engines but production aircraft may have used the Voronezh MV-6 (Soviet-built Bengali 6 copy).
Testing was undertaken in 1938 and the aircraft was approved for construction as the UT-3. While the prototype had been fitted with 2x 7.62 mm (0.300 in) ShKAS machine guns and racks for four FAB 50 bombs, 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 use multi-engine combat aircraft, modified for dual control, in place of dedicated training types.
Despite a seemingly bright future, the UT-3 was only produced in limited numbers, due to slow development and the cessation of MV-6 and Kossov MG-31F engine production.
Data from OKB Yakovlev,[1] Yakovlev aircraft since 1924[2]
General characteristics
Performance