Yak 3 Opinons?

[save]

yak3 does not seem to be able to dive with a 190a/f-series, they always pull up  when I only getting warmed up at 500-ish.

[artik]

Is there some way to figure out the sustained turn radius in-game?

I did recently: http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,352944.0.html

[Zacherof]

yak3 does not seem to be able to dive with a 190a/f-series, they always pull up  when I only getting warmed up at 500-ish.

bad things happen to yaks past 550

[bozon]

  I tried some slow speed climbing in the yak last week and found that it fell off to the right as soon as speed dropped below 110 mph. I tried to keep the climb around 4000 fpm while doing this,after reading your post, but was unable to hold the nose up once speed was in the 100 mph range.

The auto-climb (auto-speed in practice) will not hold it below 100-110 mph. Flying it manually and with lots of rudder input I can hold it at 80mph. At this point it still rockets upwards at ~3500 fpm and no where near stalling speed. The limiting factor is the torque and under 80 mph it will slowly roll over to the right even with full rudder, aileron and trim deflections. This is no where near its stalling speed - this is its minimum controlling speed.

Since its specific excess power at 80 mph is ridiculous, I supposed it is possible to fly it slower by reducing throttle enough to decrease the torque but still leave plenty of power to keep it airborne and climbing. This requires some testing.

Another, more fundamental test to do is to put the engine to idle and lower RPM to the minimum (minimize prop drag). Then put the plane in auto-speed with enough alt to stabilize and mark the rate of decent when crossing some altitude. Then climb and do this again at a different speed, mapping the range from minimum sustained speed to say 180 or 200 mph. The things to look for is the curve of rate-of-decent vs. speed. A particularly interesting point is the minimum speed at which a steady decent can be maintained and the rate of decent at that point.
Then do it for another plane or two for comparison, preferably with a similar wing loading.
Prop drag may be a nuisance in interpreting the results though.

[Muzzy]

Nice work, Artik! The stats seem to imply the Yak-3 is at least competitive with late war planes in the turning department. The one thing I would request would be to check and see how it turns to the right, since its prop spins in the other direction.

[artik]

Nice work, Artik! The stats seem to imply the Yak-3 is at least competitive with late war planes in the turning department. The one thing I would request would be to check and see how it turns to the right, since its prop spins in the other direction.

For what I know, there shouldn't be significant difference in sustained turn ratio to right or left. The only difference is how it is easy to handle the aircraft.

[Muzzy]

Cool. Thanks for the info! 

[morfiend]

The auto-climb (auto-speed in practice) will not hold it below 100-110 mph. Flying it manually and with lots of rudder input I can hold it at 80mph. At this point it still rockets upwards at ~3500 fpm and no where near stalling speed. The limiting factor is the torque and under 80 mph it will slowly roll over to the right even with full rudder, aileron and trim deflections. This is no where near its stalling speed - this is its minimum controlling speed.

Since its specific excess power at 80 mph is ridiculous, I supposed it is possible to fly it slower by reducing throttle enough to decrease the torque but still leave plenty of power to keep it airborne and climbing. This requires some testing.

Another, more fundamental test to do is to put the engine to idle and lower RPM to the minimum (minimize prop drag). Then put the plane in auto-speed with enough alt to stabilize and mark the rate of decent when crossing some altitude. Then climb and do this again at a different speed, mapping the range from minimum sustained speed to say 180 or 200 mph. The things to look for is the curve of rate-of-decent vs. speed. A particularly interesting point is the minimum speed at which a steady decent can be maintained and the rate of decent at that point.
Then do it for another plane or two for comparison, preferably with a similar wing loading.
Prop drag may be a nuisance in interpreting the results though.

  I wasn't using auto anything I was flying it manually.  I only did the short test because of reading your post,I did some similar tests on the brew when it first came out.

   Now I was at 4k when I did my test so that may have had an affect on it but I just could get anything near what you said.

 Now the Yak 7 does have a strange handling characteristic in the stall but I couldn't find anything I thought was strange about the yak 3.




   

[2ADoc]

I had the opertunity to fly a Yak-3 a couple of years ago, this one had no armor, and no guns.  It also had an Alison, the only thing I can say is they are cheaper tan a 51 and alot more fun.  With a shorter wingspan and almost the same power it was a blast.  The only drawback that I had was visibility, because the cockpit is way behind the wing you are blind from short final to shutdown.  A lot of S turns while taxiing, and hot starts are a pain in the butt if you miss it the first time, also there is not a lot of fuel on board.  Other than that it was a dream to fly, dollar for dollar I would rather have the Yak than the 51.

[Widewing]

I had the opertunity to fly a Yak-3 a couple of years ago, this one had no armor, and no guns.  It also had an Alison, the only thing I can say is they are cheaper tan a 51 and alot more fun.  With a shorter wingspan and almost the same power it was a blast.  The only drawback that I had was visibility, because the cockpit is way behind the wing you are blind from short final to shutdown.  A lot of S turns while taxiing, and hot starts are a pain in the butt if you miss it the first time, also there is not a lot of fuel on board.  Other than that it was a dream to fly, dollar for dollar I would rather have the Yak than the 51.

I imagine that the later Yak-9 (9T and -9U) series vision was even worse... The cockpit was displaced aft just over a foot to fit the 37mm gun. The -9U retained that change.

[Widewing]

For what I know, there shouldn't be significant difference in sustained turn ratio to right or left. The only difference is how it is easy to handle the aircraft.

And, that is a very important difference. If you're flying and fighting right on the edge, battling torque is not a good thing. One mistake and you're likely to be in trouble. Good right, young man....

[Muzzy]

Okay, going for the easy kill...

You'd think a Yak would pull to the left...

[Ack-Ack]

I know it's 99% due to pilot skill of those I encountered but from the stand point of fighting a Yak-3, I don't find them to be any particular challenge at all.  I find fighting them to be much easier than fighting against a Spitfire VIII or an IX.

ack-ack

[bustr]

So far the deadliest pilots in the Yak3 work the vertical constantly making you follow up and down while not bleeding E in turns. At some point you either over shoot to a barrel role going vertical. Or loose them diving as they suddenly change vector and rocket away.

The ones who try to play a horizontal scissors and turning fight wind up on the deck and finally shot to pieces if they cannot gain separation to reset their alt.

A few more tours and a resident Yak3 uber ace will become obvious. At which point a new conversation about his tactics and methods will probably be started. As of yet I've heard nothing from our past 9U aces on the new Yaks. Personally I keep ramming people in the Yak3 just as I gain a firing solution. Between 225 and 325 it's deceptive just how fast it gains speed. That small speed burst runs me right up my cons kester. I can use the 9U with no problems.

[SmokinLoon]

Is anyone thinking that the Yak 9U offers a wee bit more in stability with a small enough loss in maneuverability to hardly notice?  The more I tinkered with the stall speeds, rudder kicks/tail slides, roll rates, etc, at different speeds the more I felt like the 9U was just as much of a knife fighter as the -3.

I think a better judge would be to see how the 9U and -3 measure up to the Spit16 in a chase.