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The '
Yakovlev Yak-36' (
NATO reporting name: 'Freehand') was a
Soviet technology demonstrator for a
VTOL multi-role combat aircraft.
The plane had
vectored thrust engines, similar to the
Harrier.
One engine was mounted forward of the cockpit, and one was below the cockpit. The exhaust exited through vectoring nozzles in the center of gravity which were vectorable through about 90º.
The Yak-36 made its first hover on
9 January 1963, the first transition from vertical take-off to forward flight and back to vertical landing on
16 September 1963.
The next development step was the
Yak-38 which flew for the first time in
1971 as the 'Yak-36MP'.
Specifications (Yakovlev Yak-36)

Orthographically projected diagram of the Yakovlev Yak-36.
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