Russian equipment question...

[Rami]

To all,

I hope all of you had a pleasant holiday!

I have a question about the Yakovlev Yak-3. When did it debut in battle?

I have conflicting sources that give its debut at the battles of Kursk, while others push it back to mid-1944. Is there any way to get a firmer date, rather than a spread of about a year?

Any info would be appreciated!

Thanks in advance,

[miamieagle]

Most consistent Information I have place it in the Summer of 1944.:ernae:

[Jagdflieger]

Rami,

According to my "Encyclopedia of Aircraft of WWII," testing didn't start until March of 1944 and production ended at the end of the war.

[Rami]

I thought so myself, but I wanted to make sure. Both the Finland campaigns and Leningrad have been adjusted to use the Yakovlev Yak-9, rather than the Yak-3. It reflects a more period-appropriate aircraft usage.

Thanks, guys!

[dsawan]

Check wiki here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yak-3

[Rami]

Check wiki here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yak-3

Dsawan,

Thanks, but I try to avoid Wikipedia as a document source. Using a source my 13 month-old can edit makes me question its validity.

[miamieagle]

Rami no source no matter how Formal or legal it may seem is totaly releable or truth full. It usualy takes several sources and some comonsense to be able to get some what of the truth of a matter!
:wavey:

[thicko]

This page seem to be the best source, for VV-S aircraft. For the Yak-3, it depends on which engine was installed.
http://mig3.sovietwarplanes.com/yak3/yak3vk107/yak3vk107.html
Cheers Thicko

[Rami]

Yeah...the VK-105PF version had a top speed of about 405-ish.

[Pips]

This is probably way to late to be of any use, but what the heck. :)

The Yak-3, in various guises, had a very long development period going back to I-30 which first flew on 12 April, 1941. For a number of reasons it was sidelined and development effort was concentrated on the Yak-1.

It reared it's head again in the form of it's direct predecessor, the Yak-1M prototype, which was completed in the middle of February 1943. It spent most of 1943 under development, with a number of variations tried regarding engine plant, weaponary, wing modifications, fuel tank capacity and location etc. State trials by the NII VVS were conducted early October 1943, the results being so successful that on 28 October it was ordered into series production under the designation Yak-3.

First production Yak-3's were rolled out of Plant No.292 on 1st March, 1944. Yak-3 combat service tests were conducted by the 91st Fighter regiment, 2nd Air Army, in June 1944 in the Lvov region; 431 missions being flown in the space of just three weeks. The largets dogfight of that period occurred on 16 June 1944, when 18 Yak-3's engaged 24 German aircraft - a mix of Bf109's and Fw190's.

Source: Soviet Combat Aircraft of the Second World War; Volume 1: Single Engined Fighters. By Yefim Gordon and Dmitri Khazanov.

Cheers. :)