Yak: A Real "Beauty"

n.d. San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive. http://www.flickr.com/photos/sdasmarchives/6312755899 Web. Date of Access: 21 October 2013.

A cantilevered-wing monoplane with retractable landing gear, the Yak-1 Krasavyets, or “Beauty” was the first fighter designed by the legendary Russian designer Alexander Yakolev.

Its first flight took place in January 1940.

The Yak-1 had a sleek modern appearance that belied an older-styled construction from alloy and wood, replacing Russia’s premium frontline fighter, the Polikarpov I-16, which had become outclassed by later models of the Messerschmitt BF 109.

Built to function as a fighter-bomber, it packed an armament of a hard-hitting 20mm cannon firing through its propeller hub along with two cowling-mounted 7.62mm machine guns, and a capability of loading 440 pounds of bombs and rockets. A twelve-cylinder 1,100-horsepower engine hauled the Yak-1 through the skies at a stunning maximum speed of 373 MPH.

Rude, crude and ill-equipped by the standards of the other WWII powers, The Yak “family” of fighters was prolific, making up 58% of all Russian fighters constructed in the Second World War. (Green, P. 160) Its descendants, the Yak-3, Yak-9, and Yak-9U formed a mainstay of Russian fighter wings due to their ease of maintenance in field conditions and their high maneuverability and good performance at low and medium altitudes, where they escorted Pe-2 and IL-2 Assault Fighters, protecting them from enemy fighters.

The Yak-3’s would attack enemy fighter airfields and screen the assault fighters on their runs, making for a devastating combo when paired with the IL-2 “Sturmovik.” This type of action can be recreated within World of Warplanes.    

Monday 04 April, 2011, CG Experience. http://www.cgexperience.com/referenceimages/military/aircraft/wwii/russia/Yak-9U, Web. Date of Access 09 Aug. 2013.

When assembly finally ceased in 1947, 3900 Yak-9U’s had been built, and the Yak-3 airframe was equipped with a turbojet, designated the Yak-15, and became Russia’s first operational jet fighter.

From the era of roaring piston engines to the advent of the Jet Age, Alexander Yakolev’s planes were versatile, swift and deadly.

n.d. A.S. Yakovlev Design Bureau Museum. ND http://www.yak.ru/PIC/FIRM/MUSEUM/yak-15.jpg, Web. Date of Access  09 Aug. 2013.

Sources:

Image 1 - http://www.davidtomlinsonphotos.co.uk/duxford/yak1.jpg

Image 2 - http://www.cgexperience.com/images/Yak-9U%20(2).jpg

Image 3 - http://www.yak.ru/PIC/FIRM/MUSEUM/yak-15.jpg

Jackson, Robert. 101 great fighters. New York: Rosen Pub., 2010. Print. P. 43

Green, William, and Gordon Swanborough. An illustrated anatomy of the World's fighters: the inside story of 100 classics in the evolution of fighter aircraft. London: Salamander Books, 1981. Print. P. 160-162