Yakovlev Yak-9
Russian single-seat fighter

Yakovlev Yak-9
Type: Russian long-range fighter plane of WW2. Some fighter-bombers, tank busters and escort fighters.
History: The Yakovlev fighters were the most widely used Russian combat aircraft of WW2 and in Korea, and the most famous of these was the Yakovlev Yak-9.
Also the most numerous Yakovlev type, the Yak-9 was developed into a succession of variants that remained in production until the 1950s. The Yak-9P, the last and best of these, was used by the North Koreans in the Korean War.

The Yak-9 would become the ultimate Russian fighter and was destined to be produced in larger numbers thhan any other Yakovlev aircraft, and took part on every major battle after its introduction during the autumn of 1942.

The first Yak-9 was derived from the Yak-7B, which went into service in 1942. Seeking to give the basic Yak-7 more range, Yakovlev partially re­designed the wings to make room for larger fuel tanks. The cockpit was moved back slightly, and the position of the radiator on the belly was changed. Powered by the same engine as the Yak-7, the new type went into service in August 1942.
It became the most-produced Russian aircraft apart from the Il-2 Stormovik. The Yak-9 was able to outfly the Bf 109G, which it met over Stalingrad in late November 1942.

Improvements continued to be made: the Yak-9M had another machine gun, while the Yak-9B could carry up to 1,325 pounds (600 kg) of bombs.
Two other important versions were developed, the Yak-9T and the Yak-9D. The Yak-9T had a 37 mm Nudelmann-Suranov cannon with which to attack tanks.

Sticking tailwheel doors were by no means peculiar to the Yak-9D, which with 143 Imp gal of fuel was used as an escort fighter for USAAF heavy bombers shutteling to Russia. In entered service in summer 1943.

The Yak-9D had lower-calibre offensive armament - a 20 mm cannon and a 12.7 mm machine gun - but more fuel capacity and greater range. These aircraft were used chiefly to provide escort for American bomber of B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator formations when, for instance, they raided the Romanian oilfields.

The last version developed during the war was the Yak-9U. It provided the basis for the lastest version, the post-war Yak-9P. The Yak-9U had many more aerodynamic refinements than its predecessors, and the basic airframe was all but re­designed, with an all-metal structure and skin. This variant was powered by a 1,650hp Klimov M-107A engine, which increased maximum speed from the 374mph at 6,560 ft of the Yak-9D to 435 mph at 17,875 ft.

Several versions of the Yak-9 equipped foreign units fighting in Russia, including the Polish 1st Warsaw Fighter Regiment and the French Groupe de Chasse Normandie-Niemen, whose pilots preferred the Russian fighter to the American Bell P-39 Airacobra and the British Hawker Hurricane.
The fighter was very popular with its crews, being particularly manoeuvrable at low altitude and thus more than a match for its more powerful adversaries. But the major virtues of this excellent fighter were the fundamental qualities of safety and basic simplicity.

Users: Russia, Poland, Frankreich (wartime), later North Korea, China and most Soviet satellite nations in eastern Europe.

3d model Yakovlev Yak-9

This 3d model is a current element of the WW2 game WW2 Total. The data for production, movement and combat of the Axis and Allies units are here !

Yak-9 at Dobrovka near Smolensk in May of 1944. The aircrafts belongs to the French volunteer regiment Normandie-Niemen.