Episode 20: Andrew Temby & his Yak52TW

At the 2011 Mission Aviation Discovery Day at Coldstream airfield (YCEM), we took some time to chat with Andrew Temby about his Yak52TW.

The aircraft was made in Romania in 2004, first flew in 2006 and arrived in Australia with 19 hours on the clock in 2007. It’s got a lot of grunt and loves to spend a lot of time upside down which Andrew certainly takes advantage of.

Andrew talks to us about the sequence he flew in his demonstration at the airfield along with the impact of low cloud and a 30 knot cross wind. The crowd certainly appreciated his efforts although with the noise of the radial & the focus on his work, it’s hard for him to know that :)

Obviously inheriting the aviation bug from his Dad, a B24 pilot during WWII, Andrew started flying at 18 and got into aerobatics to conquer his fear of the unknown around stalls & spins. Learning basic aerobatics improved his knowledge & feel for flying aircraft and soon lead to expansion into more complex manoeuvres.

With a natural drive towards perfection, Andrew was able to win a few state & national aerobatics competitions although these days he’s mostly flying at airshows as he doesn’t have the time required to practice as frequently as competitions demand.