The Yakovlev Yak-3 (Russian language: Як-3) was a World War II Soviet fighter aircraft regarded as one of the best fighters of the war. It was one of the smallest and lightest major combat fighters fielded by any combatant during the war, and its high power-to-weight ratio gave it excellent performance. At altitudes between 2,500 m and 3,500 m it was clearly superior to British Supermarine Spitfire and to German Messerschmitt Bf 109G and Focke-Wu...
more
The Yakovlev Yak-3 (Russian language: Як-3) was a World War II Soviet fighter aircraft regarded as one of the best fighters of the war. It was one of the smallest and lightest major combat fighters fielded by any combatant during the war, and its high power-to-weight ratio gave it excellent performance. At altitudes between 2,500 m and 3,500 m it was clearly superior to British Supermarine Spitfire and to German Messerschmitt Bf 109G and Focke-Wulf Fw 190A. According to the official top-scoring World War 2 French ace (23 air victories), Marcel Albert, of the Normandie-Niemen Group - that flew both - the Yak-3 was superior even to the P-51 Mustang.
The origins of the Yak-3 went back to 1941 when the I-30 prototype was offered along with the I-26 as an alternative design to the Yak-1. The I-30, powered by a Klimov M-105P engine, was of all-metal construction, using a wing with dihedral on the outer panels. Like the early Yak-1, it had a 20 mm ShVAK cannon firing through the propeller...
less
