Yakovlev Yak-24 The Yak-24 was a tandem helicopter similar to the Vertol V-43, although less successful. Development started in October 1951, and within nine months the first prototype was ready to make its first flight. The ASh-82V engine, the gearbox and the rotor were taken over from the Mi-4 in order to standardize Soviet helicopter production. The Yak-24 was able to carry 19 fully-equipped paratroopers or 18 wounded soldiers on stretchers. Jeeps or light artillery pieces could also be transportedinside the fuselage. Later, a passenger version with 30 seats underwent trials. The first hovering took place on 3 July 1952, and state trials started on 31 December 1952 and were completed in April 1955. Afterwards, the Yak-24 was officially commissioned by the Soviet military. 35 series production Yak-24s were built by 'Severny zavod' (Zavod 272) at Leningrad on the territory of the Komendantski aerodrome. Initially, series production was to take place at Factory # 292 at Saratov, and preparations began long before the completion of state trials. However, in June 1953 it was decided to build fixed-wing aircraft at Saratov. Eventually, Factory # 272 took over the task of building the Yak-24 in 1954 and received all parts (mostly fuselage sections) already produced at Saratov. 33 Yak-24s served with the two squadrons of the 652 vp (helicopter regiment) of the Soviet Air Force at Torzhok (Kalinin/Tver region). However, military trials were stopped in 1958 because of shortcomings related to construction and production which affected flight safety. Among other things, the Yak-24 suffered from severe vibration and unsufficient stability. So when the Mi-6, which was able to carry twice the load of the Yak-24, succesfully went into series production, the fate of the Yak-24 was ultimately decided. Hours flown were rather low: For instance, in 1957 all Yak-24s of the 652 vp flew only 38 hours, in 1959 - 68 hours and in the second half of 1960 - 47 hours. In 1960, the two year warranty provided by the manufacturer expired, and it was decided that repairing and upgrading the remaining helicopters was economically not viable. The pragmatic decision was taken just to use up the remaining hours of the helicopters during training flights near the airfield. The last Yak-24s were withdrawn from use in the first half of the 1960s. After that, all of them were scrapped with one exception, the machine now displayed in Monino (which is, however, in a sorry state). 1 Yak-24 static test frame built by Factory # 115 (Yakovlev OKB) in Moscow in 1952 --- no code Yak-24 Yakovlev OKB mfd 1952 static test airframe; in Soviet Air Force c/s; ground trials started 05apr52; dbr 23jan53 during ground trials at LII on 110th test (208 h 55 min engine/gearbox time) 2 Yak-24 prototypes built by Factory # 272 (Severny zavod) at Leningrad-Komendantski aerodrome in 1952 The c/n can be explained as follows: The first two digits are unknown, the next three digits are the factory number (272), followed by the figure '3' for which the explanation is unknown, while the last two digits seem to indicate a sequence number. 01 272 3 01 "01" ? Yak-24 Yakovlev OKB f/f 03jul52 first prototype; completed 02may52; transported by railway to Moscow and h/o to LII 31may52; ferried to Chkalovski for state trials 31dec52; damaged 19feb53 while hovering at Chkalovski; repaired 01 272 3 02 "02" ? Yak-24 Yakovlev OKB f/f 22jul52 second prototype; completed 01jun52; transported by railway to Moscow and h/o to LII 28jun52; made an emergency landing 13jan53 due to in-flight fire 3 Yak-24 pre-production rotorcraft built by Factory # 272 around 1954 The c/n can be explained as follows: The first three digits are the factory number (272), the next two the batch number while the last two digits indicate the number in the batch. 272 01 01 -- Yak-24 Yakovlev OKB originally to be the first pre-production aircraft, but took over the role of the static test airframe; underwent 300 hour resource trials in 1954; may have never flown 272 02 01 not known Yak-24 Yakovlev OKB first pre-production aircraft; underwent factory trials 07aug/19sep54; made the first non-stop flight LED-MOW 25oct54; presented for state trials 20dec54 272 03 01 not known Yak-24 Yakovlev OKB made the second non-stop flight LED-MOW 14mar55; received an H-shaped stabilizer and underwent check trials with it feb56¶ 35 Yak-24 production rotorcraft built by Factory # 272 between 1956 and 1959 The c/n can be explained as follows: The first three digits are the factory number (272), the next three are the batch number (013 - first batch, 033 - third batch and so on) whilst the last digits two indicate the number in the batch. 272 013 04 not known Yak-24 Soviet Air Force converted dec57 to, see next line "85" Yak-24U Soviet Air Force version with wider fuselage and more payload; received the new c/n 0104; factory trials started 28dec57, state trials completed oct58 272 033 02 not known Yak-24 Soviet Air Force wfu 1960 because of unsatisfactory stability 272 033 05 not known Yak-24 Soviet Air Force wfu 1960 because of unsatisfactory stability 272 033 06 not known Yak-24 Soviet Air Force f/f 27oct56 had to make an autorotation landing on f/f 272 033 08 not known Yak-24 Soviet Air Force first Yak-24 with new stabilizer (H-shaped) 272 033 09 not known Yak-24 Soviet Air Force dbr 30may57 on a ferry flight from Leningrad to Torzhok 272 033 10 "79" Yak-24T Soviet Air Force mfd 1956 tube layer (with 'Nerpa' tube-laying system); started factory trials 20jul57 and underwent trials at NII VVS 21feb/31mar58; then reportedly converted to tanker (with 'Luch' tanking system), underwent unsuccessful state trials as such 24may/26jun58; used for construction of a Serpukhov-Leningrad pipeline jul59; h/o to GVF in 1961 "51" Yak-24 Soviet Air Force really the same helicopter as above ?; reportedly wfu dec58; t/t 78 hours; displayed in the Russian Air Force museum at Monino since 14mar62, seen without code 30sep01, l/n jul06 272 063 04 "62" ? Yak-24 Soviet Air Force used to shoot a panoramic movie of Leningrad may59 272 083 03 no code Yak-24K Yakovlev OKB mfd 30oct59 VIP version for 8 passengers; no markings or titles; ferried to MOW in 1960 272 083 04 no code Yak-24K Yakovlev OKB mfd feb60 VIP version for 8 passengers; no markings or titles Yak-24s with unknown construction numbers --- "22" Yak-24 Soviet Air Force photo either a prototype or a pre-production craft (V-shaped stabilizer) --- "35" Yak-24 Soviet Air Force photo used as a flying crane during restoration of the Yekaterina Palais at Pushkin (Leningrad region) jun59 --- "40" Yak-24 Soviet Air Force photo either a prototype or a pre-production craft (V-shaped stabilizer) --- not known Yak-24A Yakovlev OKB mfd 1960 passenger version with 30 seats; in Aeroflot c/s; possibly built by Yakovlev OKB at Moscow; underwent trials in 1960