Heya's,
Here is a combat report from Korea on a Multiple Yak-3/9 engagement with 2 F4U-4's. Notice the entire engagement was fought by the F4U's while carrying heavy ordinance.
The following article is from "Naval Aviation News" from sometime
during the early 50's. The author is unknown at this time.
YAK vs. CORSAIR
It was all over in 10 minutes. Two heavily loaded F4U-4's proved
more than a match for four Russian made YAK's, a name made famous
in World War II.
Things started popping when an early morning reconnaissance patrol
from the escort carrier Bataan were abruptly introduced to the
much-touted Red jobs, near Choppeki Point off the west coast of
Korea.
Of the four Marine Corsairs launched in the group, two had been
sent to escort a helicopter ordered to pick up a Corsair pilot
from another flight who had bailed out because of engine trouble.
The two remaining Corsairs continued toward their designated
targets to the northeast. The flight climbed for altitude over
Hojang-do in open formation with the flight leader about 500 yards
at 7 o'clock from his wingman. It was just a routine combat
patrol until...........
The flight leader first spotted the enemy aircraft when the first
two Yaks, either YAK-3's or YAK-9's, opened fire, sending a bullet
through his Corsair aft of the cockpit. The Corsairs were at about
2,000 feet when taken under attack by the YAK's, which came
barreling in an altitude of 5,000 to the northwest.
Flying in a loose right echelon the four enemy fighters made a
right and then a left turn, at approximately 10 o'clock, toward
the Corsairs and made a run on the flight leader. Apparently, the
Reds had not yet spotted the second Corsair.
Scratch Three. The second F4U pulled in behind the attacking
YAK's and followed their No. 3 man, with their No. 4 plane at 7
o'clock from him. Following this the second Corsair broke away
from behind the No. 3 man and dove to the left and below the No. 4
man who was firing at him. He then made a climbing 360 degree
turn and opened fire an two of the enemy aircraft with unobserved
results. Tailing in at 4 o'clock on another enemy, the Marine
flier opened fire, hitting the Red's tail, fuselage and wing. His
hits caused the starboard wing of die YAK to break off and the
plane crashed and went up in a burst of flames.
Meanwhile, the Corsair flight leader, upon being hit did a "Split
S" to pick up speed and made a climbing turn to the left. Two
enemy aircraft made firing runs from astern, but overshot and
turned wide while he pulled in behind and returned fire on the two
YAK's with unobserved results. While the flight leader was in a
climbing left turn one enemy aircraft crossed in front of him from
right to left. At that instant a YAK was seen by the flight
leader to crash into the ground and burn. This was his wingman's
kill. Meanwhile, the YAK crossing the flight leader's nose was
taken under fire and sent spinning into the ground smoking. This
second enemy aircraft crashed and burned about one-half mile west
of the spot where the first YAK was burning.
The flight leader turned to the left and headed eastward when he
observed three aircraft flying ahead of him also heading east.
The wingman was pursuing one enemy aircraft, with the second enemy
aircraft following to the left and turning right on his tail. The
flight leader called his wingman and told him to pull up as the
YAK was on his tail.
The wingman turned hard to the left and dropped his Corsair under
and astern opening fire on the YAK as it overran him. His fire
started the enemy plane smoking out of both sides of the cockpit
from around the wing roots.
The flight leader continued tailing the enemy lead plane and his
opening fire started this aircraft smoking. Attempting to evade
the fire, the YAK pilot turned to the south, and then to the west
but the pursuing fire caused the enemy plane to puff smoke. The
Red did a "Split S" and headed west. Following through, the
Corsair continued to tail in on him firing. The enemy plane began
smoking from both wings and the fuselage while fragments of the
aircraft kept falling off. Papers were seen coming from the
cockpit. Following this the pilot jettisoned his hood and then
bailed out. A few seconds later the YAK plunged into the water.
The pilot's parachute opened and he descended into the water,
apparently unhurt.
The two Corsairs then joined up and climbed to 6,000 feet,
orbiting over the downed enemy planes location. The helicopter
previously ordered to pick up the ditched Corsair pilot was asked
also to pick up the enemy pilot. The section orbited this area
for about 10 minutes and then headed south toward Changyon.
The fourth enemy aircraft was last seen climbing east into the
sun, smoking from both wing roots.
A rough engine in the wingman's Corsair and smoke in the cockpit
of the flight leader's aircraft forced the flight to return to the
Bataan. The flight landed without mishap at 0820.
Poorly Executed. All the aerial action took place between 2,000
and 3,000 feet. This unexpected attack found both of the F4U's
carrying a belly tank and a 500-pound bomb, or a napalm tank,
which were not jettisoned until the combat was nearly over. Each
aircraft also was carrying a wing load of six HVAR rockets and two
100-pound bombs which were not jettisoned until the flight headed
for the ship.
The enemy aircraft were identified as other YAK-3 or YAK-9
fighters. These low-wing Soviet built fighters and their versions
are powered by in-line engines ranging from 1,085 to 1,580
horsepower. Maximum speed for the Yak prop fighter is 360 knots
at 15,000 feet. Armament consists of one 20 mm gun, hub-mounted
and two 12.7 mm guns in the nose.
The markings on the aircraft were white circles outlined in red
with a red star in the center. These markings were located on the
fuselage aft and below the cockpit, and on the underside of left
wing. The aircraft were painted in camouflage that ran from
silver to light green.
It was the opinion of the two Corsair pilots that the attack by
the enemy, with both numerical superiority and altitude advantage,
was very poorly executed. The Reds also had an opportunity to
make the attack out of the sun, but didn't. Instead they made it
90 degrees to the sun. Furthermore, the fact that all four enemy
aircraft made the initial attack on the two Corsairs cast doubt on
the enemy tactical wisdom.
The air discipline of the enemy pilots was good as they
effectively kept together, providing mutual support. The Reds
pressed home their attack with determination and did not attempt
to leave the area until they were smoking from hits. Their
marksmanship, however, was poor on deflection shooting.
The F4U-4, even when heavily loaded, apparently is more
maneuverable than the YAK-3 or YAK-9 at speeds between 140 and 160
knots.
Moreover, the YAK fighters flown by the Communist pilots were
considered inferior in speed and rate of climb to the F4U-4.
Maximum speed used by the YAK's was about 200 to 250 knots. Most
maneuvering after the first pass was below 200 knots. Since no
effective evasive action was taken by the YAK pilots it is
believed they lacked training or experience.
