Samdim Design Group Yak-42

The Yakovlev Yak-42 is a short range trijet, developed by Yakovlev Design Bureau as a replacement for Tupolev's Tu-134. It was the first Soviet airliner with modern high-bypass turbofan engines. The three ZMKB Progress D36 engines give the Yak-42 a good short field performance. Also, the Yak-42 can fly with only 2 engines and continue level flight on one. The first of three prototypes flew on March 7, 1975. The prototypes had twin-wheel main landing gear but these were changed to four-wheel bogies in the production version to improve behavior on unpaved runways. The Yak-42 entered service with Aeroflot in late 1980. Shortly after that, a number of accidents caused by vibrations in the tail section of the aircraft forced a suspension of the type's operations. After the necessary modifications were made, the Yak-42 re-entered commercial service in 1985. A total of seven Yak-42 accidents (most of them due to human error) are responsible for 526 deaths.

The Samdim Design Group is developer of various Russian aircraft for FS2004 and FSX. Their Yakovlev Yak-42 is a freeware product for FS2004. The exterior is detailed, as are the liveries. Only two liveries are included: Lviv Airlines and Aeroflot. Everything works well and all the usual animations are present. Note that the Yak-42 doesn't have thrust reversers.

The panel is complex, many systems are simulated. It might take some time to learn how to operate this aircraft, but I'm sure it's worth it for the realism freaks. Fortunately, many buttons and knobs have English roll-over text. There seems to be a problem with the rudder. The yaw effect on the ground is very limited and the rudder doesn't move on the exterior. It starts to move as soon as the aircraft is airborne and with that, the yaw effect is there as well. At first sight, it looks like a yaw damper problem, but it's not that. The included engine sounds are not bad, both external and internal.


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