The Yakovlev AIR-11, also known as Yakovlev LT-1, was a 3-seat low-wing touring cabin monoplane designed by A.S. Yakovlev in the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

, circa 1936.

Design and development

Reportedly inspired by the Percival Gull, Yakovlev designed and built a similar aircraft using his tried and tested structural formulae of wooden wings, fabric covered steel tube fuselage with fabric covered D1 ( Duralumin) tail section and control surfaces. The fixed tail-wheel undercarriage was spatted and fitted with trousers, with a spring steel tail-skid, or, alternatively, on skis. Pilot and first passenger sat side by side under an upward-folding hood with the second passenger in a seat to the rear.

Operational history

First flown in late 1936, the AIR-11 took part in sporting air races held on 24 July 1937 winning second place in the two-seat section. After

Sergei Ilyushin Sergey Vladimirovich Ilyushin (russian: Серге́й Владимирович Илью́шин; – 9 February 1977) was a Soviet aircraft designer who founded the Ilyushin aircraft design bureau. He designed the Il-2 Shturmovik, which made ...

expressed his interest in the aircraft Yakovlev presented the aircraft to him, for commuting from

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

Voronezh Voronezh ( rus, links=no, Воро́неж, p=vɐˈronʲɪʂ}) is a city and the administrative centre of Voronezh Oblast in southwestern Russia straddling the Voronezh River, located from where it flows into the Don River. The city sits on ...

. The aircraft crashed some time later, at the hands of Ilyushin, after a mechanic neglected to fill the oil tank, causing the engine to fail in flight.

Specifications

References

{{Yakovlev aircraft 1930s Soviet civil aircraft AIR-11 Single-engined tractor aircraft Low-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1936