Yakovlev Yak-1

The Yak-1 was amongst the first few members of a large family of successful aircraft during World War 2 manufactured by the Soviet Union. In spite of often being overshadowed by its counterparts in the West (that included the Supermarine Spitfire, North American P-51 Mustang, Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the Focke-Wulf Fw 190), Yakovlev fighters were amongst the best aircrafts produced in World War 2. They in fact become the most produced fighter aircraft of World War 2 when production of the Yak-1, Yak-3, Yak-7 and Yak-9 is combined where all were essentially modified variants of the initial Yak-1. Initially, its design was denoted as Ya-26.

It possessed a modern design with a mixed structure of a welded steel tube fuselage covered with a secondary light alloy structure. At first glance, the design of the exterior of the Yak-1 “Krasavyets” (which means “Little Beauty” in Russian) proved to be very effective because of a basic slender fuselage design, mid-set canopy and a low-cut vertical tail surface. This second structure had been covered with a sheet metal of light alloys over the front part, and plywood was laid over the rear part. The tail unit was made up of a light alloy structure which was then covered with fabric. The wing had a plywood-covered wooden unit made out of one piece. It appeared dihedral, tapered in thickness and chord. Power was derived from a single Klimov-brand engine developing some 1,100 horsepower or more depending on the model. The cockpit was located above the wing, with a rear-sliding section, and the landing gear was a wide track, inward retracting pneumatic system.

The Yak-1 was a high standard performer that quickly became a favorite for her pilots. Its initial production’s pace was a bit slow but because of the German invasion of 1941, the Soviet Government put the project into high priority. Eventually more aircrafts were produced in a number of variants. It is still celebrated as one of the best Soviet piston-engine designs of the war. Total production of the Yak-1 alone exceeded some 8,700 models.

Specifications