Actually the Yak9U has been available from some fields - A4 and A5 at least IIRC - haven't remembered to add it to the MOTD (or Arena Message)...
As for last weekend, there were a lot of newbies flying in there (at least on Sat evening / afternoon for some of you), did anyone try using the ch.1 to tell them what is expected in the arena? (As to what the expectations are seems to differ from person to person, but no vulching and no ganging seem to be a part of it).
The most important part is that if you aren't enjoying it, take an hour or two off and give it a try, or try it again tomorrow or the next week.