Kent Carlomagno - YAK-11 - "BLYAK MOOSE"
Kent G. Carlomagno's love for aviation has been since he
was a young child of five cruising in the baggage
compartment of an Ercoupe standing over the controls
between his Dad and best friend. Kent soloed at 16 and
waited until thirty-one to get his pilot's license.
After attending the Reno Air Races in 1976 and Madera
Air Show in 1983, he became obsessed with the quest of
possible ownership and flying of World War II aircraft.
His first aircraft was an X-P.Q.-13 or military designed
Ercoupe painted in the silver with red, white and blue
stars and stripes. He flew this to and in air shows from
1988-1994.
He was in a T-28 partnership from 1992-1994 from which
he was bought out of after and engine loss and bought
his first real War Bird in 1994, "a beautiful NA-50". In
1997, he bought a rare French designed P51-A replica ¾
scale, powered by a Ford engine. In 2001, he bought a
second rare aircraft, his YAK-11 "BLYAK MOOSE" and is
currently flying it. He has a contagious enthusiasm and
passion about flying these precious, one of a kind
aircraft. He currently lives in San Rafael, CA and, as a
Doctor of Chiropractic
The
Yak-11 or C-11 (C=Czech built) was manufactured between
1944-1955. They were designed as a fighter / trainer and
derived from World War II fighters such as the Yak-3 and
Yak-9 which use inline engines. The original Moose was
somewhat the equivalent of our American T-6 Texan
trainer because the original Russian engine sported 700
hp on take-off and 570 hp at cruise; however the YAK-11
had superior performance to the T-6 due to less weight
and wing design.
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