Frenchman Jean Salis recovered some 42 Yakovlev Yak-11 airframes from Egypt. Though a large number of these aircraft have been rebuilt as warbird fighters, some have also been adopted as air racing machines, many being re-engined with American powerplants. Oregon-based Bob Yancey took one such airframe and extensively rebuilt and modified it with the R-2800 engine from a Vought F4U-4 Corsair, a much larger and more reliable powerplant than the stock Shvetsov unit. Large areas of the previously fabric covered Yak were skinned in metal, and the wings were modified slightly. The Yak-11 is a very fast aircraft in its stock form and many believed the much-modified, re-engined Yancey airframe would be an ideal pylon racer and would take victory early on. However, despite this the aeroplane has proved disappointing in speed performance.
YanceyYak-11
Span: 8.5 m (30 ft 10 in)
Length: about 8.5 m (27 ft 10.75 in)
Powerplant: 1 x Pratt & Whitney R-2800, about 1640 kW (2,200 hp)
Max TO weight: about 2540 kg (5,600 lb)
Max speed: about 420 mph
All Aero 