The sky blue and white plane is a 1991 Soviet built Yak 52 developed for combat training. 

“The Russians still use them for fighter training,” Aero Hunter operations manager and pilot Glenn Graham said.

“It’s the nicest one I’ve seen in the country.” 

Renowned acrobatic pilot Paul Bennet has added the nimble craft to a fleet of war birds having recently taken over the aerobatic joy flight business at Newcastle Aero Club.

Mr Graham moved from Victoria to Rutherford to pilot the planes and the business having flown head-to-head with Mr Bennet in numerous competitions during the past five years.

The joy flights give people a military aerobatic experience at an introductory level. 

Passengers are subjected to a few tight turns at 2Gs increasing to 3Gs and up to 4Gs, along with some combat manoeuvres.

A little larger than a Cessna the Yak 52 is more than twice as powerful featuring a 360 horsepower radial engine.

For the enthusiast it has a climb rate of 2000 feet a minute and a roll rate of 180 degrees a second. 

In a word ... fast.

It was also built to withstand 7Gs, which subjects the pilot to seven times their own weight under the earth’s gravitational pull.

“I find it handles a lot like a fighter jet,” Mr Graham said.

“It really gets up and boogies.” 

Similar planes cost between $100,000 and $150,000.

Other planes in the Bennet collection include a World War II Australian-built Wirraway and a US torpedo bombing TBM Grumman Avenger.