The A. S. Yakovlev Design Bureau, named for Aleksandr Sergeyevich Yakovlev, has gained a reputation as probably the most prolific and most versatile in the Soviet Union, producing virtually every type of aircraft from small gliders to massive helicopters. Since the first "Yak" flew in the 1920s the company has produced more than 70,000, more than any other Russian company. Yak gained particular distinction with its Yak-38, the second operational jet (after the Hawker Harrier) capable of taking off and landing vertically, and its Yak-141, the world's only supersonic V/STOL aircraft. The firm's designs are produced by Moskovskii Mashinostroitelnyy Zavod "Skorost" Imieni A. S. Yakovleva (Moscow Machine-Building Factory "Speed" Named after A.S. Yakovlev), an alliance of engine and aircraft manufacturers in the Commonwealth of Independent States. As the CIS aircraft industry struggles in a challenging environment, Yakovlev has earned a reputation as one of the most progressive design bureaus, entering into numerous cooperative agreements with CIS and Western aerospace firms.
Aleksandr Sergeyevich Yakovlev's first experience with an aircraft was at age six, when his grandmother took him to Khodynka Field to see an observation balloon. He recounted the disappointing experience in Notes of an Aircraft Designer: there were no balloons, and the French airplane that was there failed to get off the ground. Unimpressed, Yakovlev dreamt instead of following in the footsteps of his uncle, a railway designer.
At this time, Russian aviation itself was barely getting off the ground, although Igor Sikorsky's engineers had built the largest airplane in the world at the time, the four-engined Ilya Muromets. This set the precedent for a long line of Soviet behemoths. According to Yakovlev, the Tsarist government and investors preferred to assemble planes in Russia using foreign parts and foreign designs, another strategy that would see much use.
Before graduating from gymnasium in 1923, Yakovlev built his first glider out of pine, paper, nails, and glue. It flew 50 feet on its first flight. After diligently serving as fund raisers for the Society of Friends of the Air Fleet, he and some friends obtained a scrapped airplane (a captured Nieuport) for the purposes of reversing engineering--another common theme in Soviet aircraft design.
Unable to enter the Zhukovsky Air Force Academy, Yakovlev worked as an unskilled laborer, first unloading potatoes and then, in 1924, with help from Ilyushin, in an Air Force Academy training workshop. After two years he began working on the airfield crew and soon afterward was promoted to junior mechanic. While he had reached his goal, his job was strenuous. Towing, fueling, starting, and de-icing the planes all had to be done by hand; sometimes several mechanics had to run alongside the plane to hold its tail aloft on take-off.
In his spare time, Yakovlev worked to build his first powered aircraft with funds from the All-Union Voluntary Society for Support of the Air Force (Osoaviakhim). He was also assisted by his fellow enthusiasts and mechanics from the Moscow Central Airfield where he worked. The biplane's first flight was on May 12, 1927, the happiest day of Yakovlev's life. Not only was the design successful, it later set two world records for sports airplanes: non-stop flight distance (1420 km) and longest time aloft (15.5 hours). On the success of this design, Yakovlev was finally accepted into the Air Force Academy, where he continued designing and building.
After graduating in 1931, Yakovlev was assigned to work on the I-5 fighter, to be the fastest airplane of its day. Yakovlev persuaded the technical commission that the design would be faster as a monoplane. The completed plane flew ten kph faster than its goal speed of 320 kph, but a design error forced the plane to make a precarious crash landing during official testing. Yakovlev was forbidden to design any more aircraft.
In pleading his case, Ya
