Originally Posted by
KT550
Air Ukraine operated a Yak-42 on a Saturday LWO-MAN-LWO during Summer 1993, though there are some photos on the net from late 1992 so it may have started.
I didn't actually fly to Ukraine - the local enthusiasts group at MAN arranged a local sightseeing flight during its turn round at MAN.
If they had waited a couple of years they could have had further rides on a Russian-registered Yak-42 which got based at Manchester in the high summer of 1995, running as Sunjet holiday flights to Spain and the Mediterranean, when some tour companies had run out of capacity. This caused a huge upset across the industry because it seemed to have been done inside the regulations; British World from Southend (and doubtless their buccaneering head, Mike Keegan) had got involved on the official AOC, and unless you knew the aircraft had no sign on the outside that it might be Russian operated. Here she is, Sunjet RA-42428 arriving at Palma from Manchester. A few weeks passed, and the Civil Aviation Authority found a way to shut it down.
RA-42428 | Yakovlev Yak-42D | Polet Flight | Toni Marimon | JetPhotos
Most Soviet airliners were pretty good and robust designs of their era, but the Yak-42 never quite made it, it was a bit small for a trijet and reliability was not the best, even Aeroflot didn't really want them after initial experiences.
Now, a Yak story. In 2003 I went to the Monino aircraft museum in Moscow, where they have one of everything (literally) from the Soviet era. At the front desk I was asked if I wanted an English-language guidebook. Well yes, There was an element of glances and shuffling, someone went away, please wait, and 5 minutes later they returned with a distinctly elderly gentleman, only one in the place who spoke any meaningful English, with a such a guidebook under his arm. It became apparent he was the author, and had likely self-published it to eke out his meagre Soviet-era pension, and just sat there in a side office all day hoping to sell some. He produced a classic fountain pen and did a huge florid dedication to me across the opening two pages. Then a short conversation.
"Are you pilot".
"Yes".
"Ah, what do you fly".
"Cessna 152 and Piper PA-28. Are you a pilot too ?"
"Ah yes".
"What do you fly ?"
"I was the chief test pilot for 15 years at the Yak factory in Saratov".
Nothing more to be said really ...