Yakovlev's Piston Engined Fighters, Vol. 5

by Yefim Gordon

This volume deals with the entire family of Yakovlev piston-engined fighters from the simple but rugged Yak-1 through the Yak-7, conceived as a trainer but eventually developed into a fighter, and the prolific and versatile Yak-9, to the most capable of the line, the Yak-3 with which even the aces of the Luftwaffe were reluctant to tangle. In comparison with other contemporary aircraft such as the sophisticated all-metal Mustangs with their excellent aerodynamics and monobloc wings and multi-role Messerschmitts and Focke-Wulfs, the Yaks were less resistant to combat damage. However, they proved very amenable for the type of war that came to be waged on the Soviet front where the main efforts of aviation were devoted to the support of ground troops and aerial combat usually took place at low and medium altitudes. Series production of the Yakovlev fighters was undertaken by six factories in the Soviet Union. In all, a total of 35,737 machines covering all the different marques were built. In addition to the thousands of aircraft which served with the Soviet forces, some Yak piston fighters also served outside Russia Red Star Volume 5.

144 pages, Paperback

First published March 22, 2003

About the author

Yefim Gordon is arguably the world's leading Russian aviation researcher. Born in 1950 in Vilnius, Lithuania, he graduated from the Kaunas Polytechnical Institute in 1972 as an engineer/electronics designer. He has been a resident of Moscow since 1973, when, as a hobby, he started collecting photographs and books on the history of Soviet aviation; this has now developed into a major archive. Since the 1980s he has been a professional aviation journalist and writer, with over 50 books published on Soviet/Russian aviation in Russian, English, Polish and Czech, as well as close to 100 magazine features and photo reports. He is also an accomplished photographer, with countless photos published in the Western press; the current edition of Jane's All the World's Aircraft features more than 50 of his photographs