The Yak-55SP had been a very popular high-end aerobatic plane for CARF-Models when the company started in 2003. It had set new standards with never-before-seen features such as incidence adjusters for the wing and stab, various wing positions on the fuselage, a floating blade spar, a clamp-on split cowl ring, a diagonal carbon web in the fuselage layup, and a few absolutely stunning color schemes. Most of all, it was its impressive size of over 3.3 meters (131") wingspan, which had people talking about it.

But where there's good talk, there's also bad. At its time, the available engines were marginal, and it was difficult to power the plane through an unlimited IMAC routine with the authority everyone wanted to see. The impressive 41 cm cowl diameter and the almost 80 cm wing root called for tribute.

Well, time has changed. When our 3.3m Yak-55SP seemed just a little too big in its early years, it now appears to fit the market perfectly. A market where the ultimate aerobatic pilots are looking for that "edge" over the competition, based on that old saying that size simply matters!

Over almost 15 years of large-scale competition aerobatic plane design and production, we found that many people couldn't fully appreciate some of the new features we introduced with this airplane, especially the floating wing spar and the variable incidence. True, assembly at the field usually required a second person, and to set the incidences perfectly, you really had to know what you were doing. If not, things went all over the place and didn't make sense anymore.

Since there is only ONE perfect incidence setting anyway, and nothing can beat a 50mm carbon tube, we streamlined the design so it blended with our other successful designs, such as the Extra 330SC and the SU-31. But boy, is this Yak 55 SP so much bigger than the rest....

An awesome giant aerobatic plane, made in heaven for the increasingly popular 200-250 cc four-cylinder engines, or the big monster 4-stroke engines luring on the horizon to enter the aerobatic scene.

All composite parts feature the proven layup and functionality for servo placement, control-surface hinging, and engine, cowl, and canopy mounts. The typical Yak-55SP "broomstick" landing gear is very strong and rigid, and it has an internal composite mount, just as the rudder servo tray and the fuselage's rudder spar have become a durable, hand-laminated composite component instead of the previously CNC-milled wood-and-foam sandwich part. The cowling has evolved into a top and bottom half design, split along the center line, which extends far enough back so that even the largest 2 and 4 stroke engines can be installed and serviced.

And in terms of color schemes, we found that this historical airplane should represent both the most classic CARF scheme of all times, the "American Flag" scheme, and something absolutely new and fancy, which we call our new line of "Rat Schemes". Of course, you can order all previous color schemes as custom schemes, and we'll add new schemes to the list over time.

The CARF-Models 3.3m Yak-55SP has been resurrected and transformed into a market-leading, modern aerobatic design, but it hasn't lost its all-time flair of classy "extravaganza". If you are looking for something VERY special, something that will undoubtedly stand out from the mass of aerobatic uniformity of today's contest fields, then the CARF-Models Yak-55SP must be your next airplane. You won't regret being different...