The Yak-11/C.11 fighter trainer evolved via the Yak-3UTI from the excellent wartime Yak-3U low altitude fighter. A new fuselage center section and radial engine were the -main differences. The prototype first flew in October 1945 and production began in 1946. License production in Czechoslovakia began in 1953. 3859 aircraft were built before production ended in 1956. Yak-11 /C.11 's were exported to Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, and the United Arab Republic (Egypt) . NATO gave the trainer the code name "Moose. " In 1951, a Yak-11 set a world Class C-1 record at 292.88 mph over a 500 kilometer course. The "Moose" has been called the Soviet Harvard.

The Museum's aircraft is one of 41 Yak-11/C.11's and Yak-18's recovered from Egypt by Jean Salis and returned to France. It was rebuilt in 1987 at Chino, CA, with a 1350 hp. Pratt & Whitney R-1830- 94 fourteen cylinder radial. The increased power radically increases performance. The Planes of Fame Yak is painted in the markings of a Lavochkin LA-7 fighter flown by Ivan Kozedub, the top Soviet ace. He scored 62 victories during World War II.