Yakovlev Yak-1 (Krasavyets)

Often overshadowed by its contemporaries in the West (to include the Supermarine Spitfire, North American P-51 Mustang, Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the Focke-Wulf Fw 190) the early production Yakovlev fighter aircraft were some of the best fielded in the war. When production of the Yak-1, Yak-3, Yak-7 and Yak-9 is combined (all were essentially modified variants of the initial Yak-1) these early Yakovlev creations become the most produced fighter aircraft of World War 2. Enough cannot be said about the Soviet response to the German incursion of 1941 as a nation was pushed to the brink of defeat with only a thin line of ill-equipped soldiers and airmen to stem the tide. Yakovlev set about to produce what would become one of the three fighter designs that would bring the Soviet Air Force into the realm of respectability, these three often referred to as the first true "modern" aircraft designs (the other two besides the Yak-1 being the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3 and the Lavochkin LaGG-3).

The Yak-1 was first born in the mind of Alexander Yakovlev, designed to a Soviet requirement of 1938 requesting a fighter of mostly wood construction for ease of maintenance and more importantly - production. The initial design was known as the Ya-26 Krasavec and flew in 1939. Upon acceptance of his most excellent design attempt, the system was redesignated as the I-26 and ordered into production. Once production had begun, the aircraft was further redesignated to the more common Yak-1. The acceptance of the Yak-1 would spawn several other successful Yakovlev designs and place the bureau in the elite class of aircraft design and production for decades to follow. In any case, the Yak-1 finally put the Soviet Air Force at least on par with German designs of the time and opened the door to better designs and tactics thanks to ever expanding capabilities by design.

At first glance, the outwardly design of the Yak-1 “Krasavyets” (meaning “Little Beauty”) proves to be very utilitarian with a basic slender fuselage design, mid-set canopy and a low-cut vertical tail surface. Though the initial Yak-1 would feature an integrated design cockpit, the Yak-1b quickly followed suit with an unobstructed bubble-type design. Construction consisted of a combination of plywood and fabric materials that made the Yak-1 both easy to produce in large numbers and generally easier to maintain as a result. Power was derived from a single Klimov-brand engine developing some 1,100 horsepower or more depending on the model. Either way, the Yak-1 was a highly capable performer that quickly endeared herself to her pilots. Initial production totals in 1940 were slow to mount though the German invasion of 1941 put the project into top gear of what would become one of the more celebrated Soviet piston-engine designs of the war.

The Yak-3 appeared as a lighter version of the Yak-1 in an effort to increase performance. The Yak-7 followed thereafter and design eventually culminated with the fabulous Yak-9 "Frank", itself a further development of the Yak-1 trainer. This particular model would spawn a plethora of battlefield-necessitated designs including a dedicated tank buster, fighter-bomber and long-range fighter. In all, the Yakovlev designs would prove to be some of the more instrumental and best performing of the entire war. Total production of the Yak-1 alone exceeded some 8,700 examples.

In an interesting side note regarding war time use of the Yak-1, the aircraft was known to serve with an all-female Soviet air unit (the 586 IAP) that would produce two of the world’s only female air aces - Lydia Litvyak and Katya Budanova - collecting 12 and 11 air victories respectively.

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