The Yakovlev Yak-52 is a Soviet primary two seat trainer aircraft. It first flew in 1976 and is still being produced in Romania by Aerostar. They gained manufacturing rights under an agreement with COMECON socialist trade organisation which no longer exists. The Yak-52 was designed originally as an aerobatic trainer for students in the Soviet DOSAAF training organisation. The highest accolade for military trained pilots was to win the "excellence in the DOSAAF" badge. Not only have they trained military pilots but DOSAAF have also trained many civilian pilots as well.

Like most Soviet military aircraft the Yak-52 was designed to operate in rugged environments with minimal maintenance. In extremely cold climate conditions skis can replace the wheels on the undercarriage. Another of its key features, and a radical departure from most western aircraft, is its extensive pneumatic system. Engine starting, landing gear, flaps, braking and steering are all pneumatically actuated. Spherical storage bottles for air, replenished by an engine driven compressor, are situated behind the rear cockpit and contents displayed on the instrument panels. The operating pressure is between 10 and 50 bars. It has an emergency air system for lowering the undercarriage and applying the brakes if the normal supply is exhausted or the compressor fails. Additionally both main and reserve bottles can be charged from a port on the ground with compressed air, usually from a SCUBA diving bottle. The steering and braking arrangement takes some adjustment for pilots accustomed to hydraulics, because the plane uses differential braking controlled by rudder pedals and a hand operated lever on the control stick. You can see the brake lever in the picture on the right.