Yak-9T...under-rated?

[Simba]

"Just out of curiosity, what was the Yak 9Ts primary roll in the war?"

Ground-attack fighter.

 

[AWwrgwy]

"Just out of curiosity, what was the Yak 9Ts primary roll in the war?"

Ground-attack fighter.

 

I'll bite.

No, it was an interceptor.


wrongway

[Gixer]

AKAK is correct, as a fighter vs fighter in the LW the Yak-9T is mediocre at best, over 10k alt it's very mediocre.

As for killing GV's that's never been my interest I simply can't see the reason for wasting good ammo on a tank and there are plenty of better aircraft for gv killing if that's your thing.  I rarely even bother with buffs.

What I can comment on is the planes performance/abilities vs cons in the LW most of which are the usual late war uber rides.

Basically the Yak-9T unlike the Yak-9U which usually has parity or some performance advantage over any other ride which makes it quite deadly. The Yak-9T has little or no performance advantage. Cons are either faster with much higher performance and climb rates and those that are equal speed or slower turn harder and maintain E much better.

Also someone mentioned fuel range, that's true it is very short by the time you reach 10k if you were to bother you'd already used up 1/4 or a tank at full power, hence most flights only climb to the 7k range. To extend the range you can reduce MAP to 31" but then your traveling a little over 250mph and acceleration to 300mph is slow unless you want to sacrifice alt.

Having said all this, I think the Yak-9T is fantastic and the most enjoyable (for me) ride of the entire planeset probably why I've stuck with it as sole ride for couple years now. 

It sucks at base defence or large furballs, simply because the uber rides with hispanos are going to get all the kills much faster then you. Unless your having a very good day with gunnery and able to nail a few first pass. Often though you need time to saddle up and look for snap shots in Scissors. Plus furballs over or around bases friendly or enemy aren't my cup of tea anyway.

Basically the Yak makes for a great lone wolf interceptor style of play which I enjoy.. And to sucker people in for extremely close up ACM and snap shots. Yak-9T is good at this for the obvious reason, the massive 37mm single shot KO on almost anything. Though the 37mm can be the most frustrating and difficult thing to hit another fighter with. But at times when you have the timing right and can nail most shots it is extremely rewarding to get right.

I've never seen the Yak-9T as a long range sniper, simply that wastes ammo and I think a lot of the stories on this BBS about kills at 1.5k on an extending Pony are pure BS. Simply because if you load a target in TA and fire a round the group at over 1000 isn't very tight compared to the size of an aircraft at this range, so to hit at 1k or over you either have to be extremely lucky or empty half the ammo load which isn't smart with only 32rnds to start with.

Anyway I could yap on for a while in the Yak-9Ts fun against other fighters, and really that's why I fly the plane, because it's the most fun and challenging for me and that it gives others something different and interesting to come up against then the usual lineup of LW uber rides.

If anyone wishes to discuss the Yak, please message me as I don't frequent the BBS much anymore.


MBailey thank you sir, and for your comments. Always a pleasure and that fight was one of the best, great fun! 


<S>...-Gixer

[SmokinLoon]

Hurricane D has AP rounds, not HE (as the Yak indeed does)
And you are wrong on the "poor ballistics" of the Yak's 37mm gun: It's actually having the best ballistics of all guns in the AH planeset.

But other than that, the Yak-T is indeed a mediocre plane. Not particularly fast, not particularly maneuverable, not a very good turner, average acceleration and climb rate. Big gun with good ballistics but puny ammo loadout.

If the Yak-T ain't mediocre, please name one that is

Um... are you sure on the 40mm being AP rounds?  I was under the impression that the 40mm came from a naval gun using HE ammo.  The damage the 40mm does to an OBJ is very near the damage done by a 37mm HE.  Just making sure...

[Lusche]

Um... are you sure on the 40mm being AP rounds? 

Yes. And that's why the Hurri D can kill every tank, but has sometimes trouble at killing M3's

[Krusty]

Hurr2D is actually utter crap for kiling tanks... I've landed well over a dozen direct hits to the upper deck and turret (near vertical dive runs) of a panzer with no effect before. More often than not I land with no kills and no ammo left. Any kills I get are usually the result of stealing them from GVs that do the real damage.

Hardly realistic, IMO, the way the hurr2d sucks for any kind of GV attack.

[Lusche]

Hurr2D is actually utter crap for kiling tanks... I've landed well over a dozen direct hits to the upper deck and turret (near vertical dive runs) of a panzer with no effect before. More often than not I land with no kills and no ammo left. Any kills I get are usually the result of stealing them from GVs that do the real damage.

Hardly realistic, IMO, the way the hurr2d sucks for any kind of GV attack.

The Hurri D was my main tank killer before the Wirbelwind and The 37mm Il2 was introduced, because at that time it was the only tank buster that could stop Tigers without ords (The 23mm Il2 was much weaker). And now that the WW's turret speed has been adjusted, it's getting to that position again.

Panzer's are particularly easy to kill. A few hours ago a Tiger went boom. Only T34/76s are really difficult to stop. The paper turret of the T34/85 is no problem at all.

More often than not I land with no kills and no ammo left.

So did I when I took up the Hurri for the first few times. As with many things in AH, one needs some practice in it. Then you start to score kills consistently & regularly, without having to rely on something like "luck" Of course the Il2 with 37mm is still superior for many reasons, mostly ammunition supply and ROF.

[Rich46yo]

Hurr2D is actually utter crap for killing tanks... I've landed well over a dozen direct hits to the upper deck and turret (near vertical dive runs) of a panzer with no effect before. More often than not I land with no kills and no ammo left. Any kills I get are usually the result of stealing them from GVs that do the real damage.

Hardly realistic, IMO, the way the hurr2d sucks for any kind of GV attack.

Ive killed Panzers with 2 shots from the Hurri-D, "as in tank exploding". Normally it takes 4 to 6 hits. About 50% of the time I kill Panzers in one pass and the other 50% in 2 passes. Panzers are so easy to kill with the Hurri-D its almost laughable. You dont even really have to climb and attack the top armor. As attacks in the rear of the panzer will normally put them on ice.

Im not as good as lusche in the "D", who probably kills all his Panzers in one pass. But I'm getting better in it. I'm even cleanly killing T-34s in it, but, my IL-2 experience is helpful as Ive learned the weak spots in all the tanks. I cleanly killed that T-34 on the runway of the high LWO Nit base last night with a Hurri-D.

The Hurri-D will cleanly kill any tank in the game. It is a lethal little bird.

Thing is its a snipers weapon. You just cant spray with it. Your goal should be one or two well placed volleys from 100 to 300 out, right into the tanks weak top/rear armor in an angle that makes the hit as flush as possible.

Now? I take the Hurri-D up when there are a lot of enemy fighters around, or, a lot more enemy then friendly. One thing about the Hurri-D is that its still a Hurri which means its very survivable cause it turns so well, climbs OK, dives well, has good views. Its a great tank killer to avoid the runstang and run-90 pick & run crowd. Its only weak link really is its top speed.

[Rich46yo]

See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vo_-pAGN-90

Didnt come out to well but you can see 2 volleys, made up of 4 shells, that cleanly took this panzer.

And they werent even well placed shots either. A few I put thru the skirt, and only one looked placed decent. I just dont bother setting up for Panzers like I would with tougher tanks.

Honestly Krusty Im surprised you had trouble with the "D" when killing Panzers.

[save]

Now, If the -9t isn't mediocre... which ones are?

110c

<S>

[humble]

There are no mediocre planes, only mediocre pilots. The real issue is how well a good pilot can compensate for the shortcomings in his chosen ride when faced with an average pilot in a superior plane. In my view the major equalizers are toughness and killing power. While the yak is hard to hit it's also very hard to hit with. The lack of ability to consistently convert those chances you create makes it a much less deadly (IMO) choice then the D11 or other mid war ride. I'd put the 190A5, Ki-61 and D11 far ahead of the yak for perk farming...to me the 205 is to good to be on this list but if you stretch a bit then the 109F4, C205 and Brewster and FM-2 come to mind. I'd rather furball a 39D then a yakT any time...just one persons thoughts.