Yak-9t

[1K3]

Would Jak-3 be better than late-war spitfires (spit 14 and 16) in dogfighting?

imo what makes yaks a challenging (and fun) plane to fly is its puny ammo load!

[Squire]

Ok, I had figured it was a VK-105 since it topped at @ 415mph.

A Yak-3 is still a 400mph class fighter, with a very good climb rate, and like I said, is much more representative of the VVS fighter force than a Yak-9U.

As far as how good it would be? well, like a Yak-9, but faster, and with a much better gun package for air combat.  Also it has a one piece canopy at the front, and I like its forward view better than the Yak-9s, and you don't have to try to aim that silly howitzer of the Yak-9T.

They modelled a Yak-3 in Warbirds, and it was quite a nifty ride. They also have them in IL-2.

I would expect it to be more like a Spit XVI-ish in performance,  I am generalising only, but since you asked...

Imho it was the supreme dogfighter of the VVS in WW2, better than a LA-7, LA-5FN, Yak-9 or a P-39N, and most of the other lend lease a/c they received.

[Krusty]

Originally posted by 1K3
Would Jak-3 be better than late-war spitfires (spit 14 and 16) in dogfighting?

imo what makes yaks a challenging (and fun) plane to fly is its puny ammo load!

In about 10 sorties over the past couple nights the only limitation for me has not been ammo, but fuel! I've run out of gas more than I have out of ammo.

[Sikboy]

I loved the Yak-9T when I played, it was easily my favorite plane, though because of LOFT, I usually wound up in the 9U before the night was over.

The 9T seems to retain energy really well, but it really is under-powered compared to the late war monsters. So as long as you have some air under you, you can hang with a lot of the planes out there. But (as with most planes) if you get slow and low, you're pretty much done for.

What I find most fascinating about the NS-37 is how far out you can hit with it. Unlike a lot of other elephant guns, this one seems to fly straight for a while, without dropping off. Of course, with its limited ammo you don't want to take too many low % shots, but when that LA-7 blows past me, I like to send a round or two after him.

The funniest part of flying the Yak-9T is the delayed explosion. I don't know if this is just on my Front end, but I've pinged planes, seen the hit, but they didn't pop for a second or two.  

It's just a lot of fun.

-Sik

[Krusty]

A few nights ago I was climbing up and saw b17s way higher than myself. I was the highest one and the 17s were hitting 2 airfields and a strat city at 20k with impunity. So I climbed up til I was co alt, but I was slow. So at 1.5k directly behind I had a wicked idea: I rolled film and in a short burst hit the b17 lead bomber from 1.5k out. It was hilarious, because I knew instinctively JUST how to aim to hit it. I thought, "Hrm.. might have been a fluke" so with film rolling still I did it again, another burst, another hit.

You only have 32 rounds, so I wouldn't suggest it, but it was an interesting experiment. All I did was hit the port wing 2x and smoke the inboard engine (oil not fire).

Later I got 2 bombers before getting dead eng and PW. I died 200 feet from runway (fastest PW I ever had)

[cav58d]

yeah unfortunately buffs take 2 or 3 pings =(....But yeah I love this airplane, im really having so much fun flying this baby around...I find that although its extremely maneuverable, I still tend to exploit the weakness of larger airplanes...If I have the opportunity to attack an LA7 or a Corsair, both with the same % of success I will still go after the corsair, not because its less maneuverable, but because its such a big target for my elephant gun!

One prob I have with the Yak...Sodas page says there is WEP...I press P all the time and NOTHING! lol...is my "P" broken?

cav

[Kweassa]

The Yak-9T in AH1 used to have WEP.

[OOZ662]

Yeah; all of Soda's pages that don't have an asterisk (*) were done during AH1.