The Yak 1

[LuseKofte]

https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/t1/1922225_601265599951302_2040233732_n.jpg
https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/t1/1962627_601265606617968_888897626_n.jpg
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/t1/1016432_601265583284637_1207499556_n.jpg

What a beautiful creation

[Foul Ole Ron]

Will be nice to have this one added. Not up to the 109F-4 level but a damn sight better than the brutal Lagg-3. Should at least be fairly competitive in MP online. Little light on the armament side though the same could be said of the F-4 I suppose.

[LuseKofte]

The russians believed in light weight ac, in some planes it worked very well like the mid to late types. Many German pilots referred to the YAK to be their worst opponents. The french pilots liked it very much

[Kwiatek]

The french pilots liked it very much

Until few of them was killed during high speed dives (above 650 km/h) due to airframe destruction. These happend with Yak-3 planes.

[RAF74_Buzzsaw]

While the Soviet aircraft were undoubtably maneuverable, they lacked other crucial attributes required to be really competitive.

All the Soviet Fighter aircraft were considerably slower than their Western Allied counterparts, and most were slower than the opposition 109's and 190's.

The most common Yak model in 1944, the Yak-9, had a top speed of 367 mph, that is no faster than the 1940 Spit IIA.

Even the rare and mechanically unreliable Yak-9U had a max. speed of 417 mph, far slower than the over 440 mph speeds the P-51, FW190D and 109K4 were capable of.

Soviet aircraft also performed poorly at higher altitudes... they normally were limited to low and medium alt operations... this was one of the reasons the East Front German fighters were able to maintain dominance at high alts, and continue to score heavily against the much more numerous Soviets, even when the Germans were reduced to a few hundred fighter aircraft spread over the whole front.

The Soviet VVS Airforce performed extremely poorly during WWII, they admitted to losses of over 60,000 aircraft, and probably lost quite a bit more. Of course they claimed to have shot down some 80,000 German aircraft, but the German loss figures show the Soviets downed approx. 20,000.

Much of the reason for their loss rate was their tactics focused on low level ground attack missions, while at the same time, their fighter forces were incapable of achieving air superiority over all altitude ranges. This allowed the Germans to operate pretty much anywhere over the front, approaching their intercepts at high altitude, and then descending to make their attacks whenever they chose.

[Wulf]

It seems there's little in the way of consensus about aircraft loses in WW 2. In their work; Luftwaffe Fighter Aircraft in Profile Claes Sundin and Christer Bergstrom suggest the following totals:

On the Western Front - the LW shot down 14,000 a/c for the loss of 13,000 (1939-45). The worst year for the LW was 1944 when they shot down 5000 a/c for the loss of 8,000 of their own

On the Eastern Front - the LW shot down 32,000 a/c for the loss of 4000 (1941-45). Again, 1944 is given as the LW's worst year when they destroyed 7,000 for the loss of 1,100 of their own.

[9./JG52 Ziegler]

How does it fly Luse or Ron? Have you guys had a go? I thought it might be quite a bit better opposition for the F4. :thumbsup:

[Foul Ole Ron]

Not delivered yet - don't think it will be for a little while either as the Stuka is the next one to arrive if I remember right. Should be a good bit better than the Lagg alright though.

[9./JG52 Ziegler]

Not delivered yet - don't think it will be for a little while either as the Stuka is the next one to arrive if I remember right. Should be a good bit better than the Lagg alright though.

Yep, I thought maybe you or Luse were testers. Your right that the stuka is next in line and I'm really hoping MP is coming this wekend or next along with it!:thumbsup:

[LuseKofte]

In Russia the fight was done at lower altitude than in west, one of the reasons the 110 was not successful in that theatre. So In lower altitude it will compete but not in higher.
But to me I like the underdog

[Gromit]

Biggest problem is the weaponry, very limited ammo for it's usually 1 cannon and 1 machine gun!

[Foul Ole Ron]

Yep one 20mm cannon and one 50cal mg. The 109F-4 wasn't much better though with one 20mm and two 7.92mm mgs.

[Gromit]

I seem to recall the yak only carried 40? rounds for the cannon though?

[1lokos]

Yak-1 1942 M-105PA ShVAK [130] + 2 ShKAS [2*750] (7,65mm?).

Sokol1

[LuseKofte]

I do not know the historical vlues, can always google it. I just know from IL2 that the Yak get empty very fast both cannons and mg.
I guess the lightness was a priority.
But lately on certain Documentaries they praised the Russuan guns, others say they easily jammed. I think I need to read up on the subject

[Chuck_Owl]

I don't know why, but I feel like I will fly many, many hours in the Yak. With the La-5, it will probably be the only russian fighter capable of going toe-to-toe against the Bf-109. The very low ammunition count is a bummer though...

[Gromit]

It could be the reasoning behind the OTT damage modelling, I recall the totally imbalanced sides whenever we had an early Russian map on 1946, it's a game after all and needs some kind of balance otherwise it's unplayable for one team or the other.

[Foul Ole Ron]

Well with the Yak-1 the Russians won't be hopelessly outmatched unlike the unlucky Lagg-3 pilots. The La-5 will also be available which should be a decent match for the 109. It'll have decent hitting power as well with it's 2x20mm cannon. It's not very early war period and they're not going to be modelling the inconsistent build quality of Russian planes, poor perspex, etc. so with the Yak and La-5 there should be enough balance to keep things ok for online mp I think.

I'm not sure what the deal is with the OTT damage modelling - I think it might just need some tweaking to dial it back a little. I can't tell if it's just too easy to land multiple hits that lead to catastrophic structural damage or if the amount of hits required to cause catastrophic damage is just too low. Needs some tweaking whatever the root cause. They also definitely need to dial back the oil / coolant leaks - looks like even a tiny amount of mg fire in the general direction of the body of the plane is enough to cause this sort of damage. Would make online mp be all about landing any sort of hit initially if this was final. Anyway at this stage of the project the DM is almost certainly a WIP. We'll see what happens over the next while I guess.

[LuseKofte]

I think there will be pilots taking the challenge of flying the LAGG, I for one are a big fan of it.
I know it sound crazy, but the sluggish behavior at low speed and all its backsides give me a sense of reality, a true feeling of flight.
With a dedicated squadron with some tactical practice I think you can do a lot of damage. The 109 pilots will not run away from a fight and may go in for a surprise

[Foul Ole Ron]

If you fight in the same way a 109 driver fights i.e. BnZ energy fighting you probably could do ok in the Lagg. I find it works pretty well in the Hurricane in CloD which is what I fly most times. But if you come up against a competent 109 driver who doesn't let you give yourself some significant initial advantages you're pretty much screwed in a 1v1. At least in the Hurricane you can out-turn your opponent and frustrate him but I wouldn't trust the Lagg to even do that - it gets pretty wobbly on the edge while the 109 breezes through turns a lot more easily with those LE slats. Definitely going to need wingmen to stay alive in the Lagg. I like a challenge as much as the next person but I think I'll be sticking to the Yak in BOS - that's outclassed by the 109 as well but it's not too bad overall.

[Chuck_Owl]

More Yak-1 screenies, taken by yours truly.


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https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/t1/1891098_10152288211914759_528176970_n.jpg
https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/t1/1939955_10152288211994759_1274852974_n.jpg
https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/t1/1146479_10152288201749759_2103981587_n.jpg

[LuseKofte]

Nice, are you one of the testers?
thx for sharing, mate :)

[Arthursmedley]

Lusekofte; you can find the Yak appearing as an a.i. only fighter in the '109 Stalingrad escort mission right now.