Super Nanchang

[Jack Cook]

Don't see many Nanchang photos here so here's one of Hal Morely's many awards winner.

Hal's CJ-6 (YAK-8) 360hp with all the bells and whistles.

[Enemy Ace]

Nice pic of a nice airplane jack.
the CJ is one of those planes that nobody really seems to appreciate until they get to fly one, then they run off and purchase one as soon as possible!
There are quite a few 360hp CJ's though. The real "Super Nanchang" is Rich Hess's new build 400hp beast that I used to maintain!

[yakdriver]

I owned and flew a CJ for 5 years and it is one of the nicest flying airplanes made. Simple and inexpensive to maintain and with the same performance as a T-6 on less than half the fuel burn. There are some real bargains out there right now. Don

[Jack Cook]

I've had a few rides and it was whole lotta fun!!

[Kyleb]

Overall, I prefer the looks of the Yak over the Nanchang. Beyond the aesthetics, what are the practical differences between the types? Is one preferable to the other?

And, yes, I do find it hard to believe that the Nanchang is a Yak derivative...

[MattP38]

I mentioned in another post that over the weekend five Nanchang's flew over my house. First a two ship formation, followed by an additional three, two of which threw on their smoke. Quite a site to see! I don't recall seeing any Nanchang's around this area before.

[Matt Gunsch]

I have worked on both the CJs and a Yak-52 and they are basically the same plane under the skin, Systems are about the same. the hardest part is starting the dang thing. On US planes that have carbs, there are primer nozzles installed in the cylinder head on the intake side, on every cylinder above the crankshaft. Each nozzel shoots a fine mist of fuel into each cylinder and allows for easy starting.
On the CJs and Yaks, there is a hose the squirts gas into the blower, and the owners seemed to have devoloped a special dance that goes something like this,
Climb into the cockpit and pump the primer,
climb out of the cockpit and go to the prop,
pull the prop in direction of rotation ( which is BACKWARDS to the normal world) several blades,
then rotate the prop backwards in rotation ( which is normal to the rest of the world)
then climb back into the cockpit,
turn on the air, ( so you have brakes and it is also used to start the engine)
set the brake,
get a primer full of gas (in case the darn thing tries to start on the first try)
Turn on the mags and hit the starter.

If you did the Yak dance right, it will start,
if not, You get to try it again,
If you have enough air that is.

Oh and as a note to pilots,

for your Yaks and CJ, DO NOT USE NITROGEN to refill your air system after you have drained the air trying to start it.

Hint, Nitrogen will not support combustion, so why do you think it will work to start your Yak.

[MX304]

Hint, Nitrogen will not support combustion, so why do you think it will work to start your Yak.

Okay, what am I missing here. I assumed the air was used to spin an air starter, which would in no way affect combustion no matter what gas you used to power it. How exactly is the air system configured on one of these things?

[Matt Gunsch]

Hint, Nitrogen will not support combustion, so why do you think it will work to start your Yak.

Okay, what am I missing here. I assumed the air was used to spin an air starter, which would in no way affect combustion no matter what gas you used to power it. How exactly is the air system configured on one of these things?

Air is injected directly into the cylinders to turn the engine over, there is no starter, there is a air manifold that is driven by the tach drive, as the engine turns, it allows air into the cylinders in firing order.

[RyanShort1]

Overall, I prefer the looks of the Yak over the Nanchang. Beyond the aesthetics, what are the practical differences between the types? Is one preferable to the other?

And, yes, I do find it hard to believe that the Nanchang is a Yak derivative...

I'm not sure if you're including this in the aesthetics, but the main gear retract on the Yak stick out a bit even when retracted (straight forward) and the CJ's main gear are fully enclosed (like a Piper). I've heard it said that the CJs are a bit more efficient for fuel as a result. I think that the Yaks have a more powerful engine, though. There were a nice pair of Yaks out in Houston that I saw a while back. The guys seemed a bit insulted when I asked if they were Nanchangs or Yaks.

Ryan

[Kyleb]

Overall, I prefer the looks of the Yak over the Nanchang. Beyond the aesthetics, what are the practical differences between the types? Is one preferable to the other?

And, yes, I do find it hard to believe that the Nanchang is a Yak derivative...

I'm not sure if you're including this in the aesthetics, but the main gear retract on the Yak stick out a bit even when retracted (straight forward) and the CJ's main gear are fully enclosed (like a Piper). I've heard it said that the CJs are a bit more efficient for fuel as a result. I think that the Yaks have a more powerful engine, though. There were a nice pair of Yaks out in Houston that I saw a while back. The guys seemed a bit insulted when I asked if they were Nanchangs or Yaks.

Ryan

Yeah, the Yak gear is odd, in that it retracts, but doesn't retract to an internal bay. Still, I think I prefer that to the (IMO) odd looking cowling on the Nanchang. I'm not sure why that bothers me so much...

[Matt Gunsch]

On the CJ, if you forget the gear, you land on the nose gear, prop, center flap and tail skid,

On the Yak 52, you land on the prop, and main wheels.

The cowls on the Yak 52 and CJs both open the same way, and prob are interchangable.

The Yak-52 has a flat wing for aerobatics, the CJ has a pronounced diheadral of the outwing panels, it does acro, just not as nice as the 52.
The systems are basically the same, if you can work on one, the other is not that much different.

[A2C]

There's some good deals on these CJ's, if you like them go for it!

[stearmann4]

Don't see many Nanchang photos here so here's one of Hal Morely's many awards winner.

Hal's CJ-6 (YAK-8) 360hp with all the bells and whistles.

I just flew a formation clinic 2 weeks ago at Skagit-Bayview with Hal, he's got a brand new CJ-6 now.

As a matter of fact, it's so new it's still in primer, but it's truly a "Super CJ." It's got the 400+ Vedenyev, with a new model Whirlwind prop, bubble canopy, and it's completely IFR capable, although I never got the chance to look into his cockpit.

You can see Hal's plane and photos of the clinic here;
http://www.avphoto.com/formationtraining/index.html

Mike-

[Jack Cook]

Remember that Hal's the younger and better looking of the Morley brothers