Exclusivity for Romania: Noel Jones – a YAK 52 pilot and aerobatic trainer speaks about his carrier and his unique airplane!

• The man

Noel Jones  is a 46 years old flyer, with  multi engine rated commercial pilot licence. He has over 3000 hours in over 60 different aircraft. 

 Noel is also a Gold Seal Flight Instructor who specializes in teaching Basic to Advance aerobatics, as well as upset recovery, and spin training.  He is also an experienced aerobatic pilot who flies competition aerobatics and flies the Yak 52 in the Intermediate category. Noel also has a seven year old daughter and loves to talk to kids about aviation and his happy place is „flying a vertical with his modified Yak 52.”

As a premier, Pilot Magazin Romania spoked with an foreign aerobatic pilot about his carrier and his one of the few aerobatic Yak 52 from USA and one of the most powerful and lightest in the world!

• Pilot Magazin: What are you doing when you don’t fly the YAK?

Noel Jones: . I am a very fortunate business owner involved mainly in manufacturing which allows me the freedom to do what I really enjoy doing which is flight instruction. Since I don’t have to teach to earn a living, I have specialized in teaching in areas of flight instruction that doesn’t compete with the other flight instructors. I stay busy teaching tail wheel transitions, upset recovery for both the everyday pilot and aerobatic pilots, spin training, and basic to advance aerobatics. I guess you could say I specialize in teaching pilot proficiency.

• Pilot Magazin: How started your passion for aviation and flight?

Noel Jones: Growing up I always enjoyed aviation, but I never thought I would learn to fly. Flying was what someone else did. I grew up on a farm near an Air Force training base. The daily flights over head provided a great escape for me as I cultivated the fields day in and day out. It was my wife that got me to take my first flight lesson after we got our first start up company going. That lesson woke me up!

• Pilot Magazin: How did you decided to do aerobatics?

Noel Jones: I was never really concerned with flying aerobatics at first but I was very interested in upset recovery techniques, and teaching upset recovery. In the area I live, we have a large volume of flight instruction and a large volume of home built aircraft. Those two combined provided a high demand of spin training and upset recovery. I developed a good working relationship with our local Flight Standards District Office (FAA) and became the go to person for flight testing and training.

Another local business person Bob Harris who was involved with the IAC International Aerobatic Club got me to attend an Aerobatic Contest in 2004. I was blown away with what I witnessed and loved the people involved and joined right away. I wanted to learn to fly with that level of precision. The one maneuver I saw that i wanted to master was a rolling circle which is a 360 degree turn with 4 rolls incorporated without changing altitude. I was in love!

• Pilot Magazin: In what plane did you learned to fly aerobatics?

Noel Jones: I learned to fly aerobatics in a number of planes, from a T-6, Vans RV-8, Pitts S2B, Citabria, and I would spin any aircraft that was permitted to spin. I owned a Citabria that I did a lot of upset recovery training in because it reacts very close to a Cessna.

• Pilot Magazin: Why did  you chosed a Yak to do what are you doing now?

Noel Jones: The gentleman who introduced me to competition aerobatics had the Yak 52 that I now fly. He was buying an Extra 300 mid-wing and wanted to do something special with his Yak-52. I absolutely loved the Yak-52 with its radial engine and flying characteristics. We started with a Yak-52 with a 400 H.P. radial engine, while removing over 200 pounds of empty weight, moved some weight around to improve CG, add a smoke system, add a sighting device and we came up with Bad Yak, one of the lightest most powerful Yak-52 in the world.

 We spent a couple of years proving the Yak in Competition Aerobatics and then took into the Air Show ring. The crowds seem to love the Yak and its graceful display.

• Pilot Magazin: What it’s the most challenging aerobatic manouver for you?

Noel Jones: I really don’t think of any manuever as difficult, its more where a figure is placed that makes it difficult. I don’t like doing heavy positive G loading after a sustained negative G manuever. But I can say I love to fly the verticals and Bad Yak flies a beautiful vertical! When I think of my happy place, its flying the vertical in Bad Yak!

• Pilot Magazin: Did you have any incidents as an aerobatic flyer?

Noel Jones: I have never had an incident noteworthy flying aerobatics, but I have had several getting to and back from a show or contest. Weather in the North West can be challenging. We once landed in Lethbridge Canada in a thunderstorm with 68 knot winds and 1/2 mile visability. We were stuck there for 3 days.

• Pilot Magazin: What are your future plans?

Noel Jones: Even though I am still involved with competition aerobatics, I am more of an organizer than a competitor, I want to switch focus for the airshow side of aerobatics to the compitition aerobatics. I am a better pilot training for competition than I am for training for an airshow.

• Pilot Magazin: Do you have any message for the romanian flyers and Pilotmagazin?

Noel Jones: All I can say is stay proficient and keep it fun. If you are not having fun, you are not comfortable with what you are doing. If there is an element of your flying that makes you feel uneasy, find someone who has experience and challenge those aereas until you actually enjoy it.

• The machine

In the mid 1970’s Russia was in need of replacing its aging fleet of military trainers.  Proposals were sent out to the various aircraft designer bureaus to come up with a rugged and versatile training aircraft.  The Yakovlev Design bureau came up with what is now known as the Yak 52.  The Yak 52 first went into production in 1979 and was built under the USSR licensing agreement until 1991, during that time more than 1800 Yak 52’s were made.

The Yak 52 fulfilled many roles as a training aircraft, from training the USSR National Aerobatic Team; to providing a stable instrument platform; to providing an easy transition to military jets.

The cockpit of the Yak 52 has many attributes of the Russian Mig 17 and Mig 21, such as identical engine monitoring instrumentation, throttle quadrant and control stick.  Similarities did not end with the cockpit.  The Yak 52 was designed with a low aspect ratio and high wing loading to give a glide and approach profile similar to the Mig jets. 

The Yak 52 has served as a trainer for Air Forces of the Soviet Union, Armenia, Georgia, Hungary, Lithuania, Romania and Vietnam.

Bad Yak is a highly modified Russian built Yak 52, which was designed to be an advance military trainer. The power plant of Bad Yak has been replaced with a M14PF 640 cubic inch, supercharged 9 cylinder radial engine producing over 400 horse power!  The empty weight of Bad Yak has also been reduced by over 240 pounds making Bad Yak one of the lightest most powerful Yak 52′s in the world. There is nothing like the thundering sound of a Radial Engine flying overhead!

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