Yak, Underestimated?

[ARSNishi]

Yak - 3

then you will know.....

I do miss the mighty Yak 3!!

[Krusty]

Grab a spit16, worst turning spit except the 14.

I'm sorry that's just misleading. It's one of the most manuverable planes in the game with a very tight turn radius. It turns tighter than a spit9, a spit14, a seafire, all by a significant amount. It is matched by the Spit8 in turn radius. There's no downplaying the uberness of the spit16. It will out turn most planes, be they 109Gs or yak9s


That said, back to the topic [edit: aimed at original post]:

1) Yes, it is underestimaged

2) No, it is not uber and does not turn with spits as well as you describe

3) Using flaps in a yak is a no-no and will get you killed more than it will help.

[JOACH1M]

I'm sorry that's just misleading. It's one of the most manuverable planes in the game with a very tight turn radius. It turns tighter than a spit9, a spit14, a seafire, all by a significant amount. It is matched by the Spit8 in turn radius. There's no downplaying the uberness of the spit16. It will out turn most planes, be they 109Gs or yak9s


That said, back to the topic [edit: aimed at original post]:

1) Yes, it is underestimaged

2) No, it is not uber and does not turn with spits as well as you describe

3) Using flaps in a yak is a no-no and will get you killed more than it will help.

I'm sorry It does not out turn a spit9

[Debrody]

Krusty, its true, i forgot the seafire but the spit16 wont outturn the 9, at most outroll it. I wasnt misleading, and if you have further problems, send a pm and ill be up to discuss. Its just not the place to do it.

[Krusty]

Actually it will out turn the spit9. The 16 has considerably higher horsepower, allowing it to pull higher AoA in turns or some technical reason. Basically its got more power and a similar airframe, it will turn tighter. This has been shown in testing too.

Spits5/16/9/14:
http://www.gonzoville.com/ahcharts/index.php?p1=spit5&p2=spit16&p3=spit9&p4=spit14

Nothing really to debate, just saying the Spit16 is uber in this game, it will out turn most things. Not a good comparison to make.

Now, going back to the original post, it is possible he meant other types of spits, but seeing how they handle at low speeds vs the Yak, and seeing that with full flaps (as he described flying the yak) even the spit9 will out turn it any day of the week, I think he's just confusing out turning with break turning or having vastly superior E-states, or something.

Yaks vs Spits9/16:
http://www.gonzoville.com/ahcharts/index.php?p1=spit9&p2=spit16&p3=yak9t&p4=yak9u

[grizz441]

Yaks short ammo clip is its main hindrance in the MA and I don't think it is underated at all in that regard.  As for just a 1v1 fight, it definitely is underrated.

[Krusty]

IMO what is underrated is not the lethality, but the performance capabilities. You can see it doesn't turn too much worse than a spitfire (no mean feat!), and its climb rate and acceleration are good. It's a superb diver, can pull some Gs, it can latch onto a target and stay there.

And it's fast. Much faster than I think most folks realize. This is where it is mostly underestimated.

It starts out a bit slower on the deck, but going up just a few thousand feed above sea level and now it's right up there with P-51Ds and 190D9s.

http://www.gonzoville.com/ahcharts/index.php?p1=190d9&p2=p51d&p3=yak9t&p4=yak9u

That is the main thing I think folks don't know when they try to run away from one. They keep thinking "I can make it, it's just a yak!" and then instead of making a turn back towards the enemy while you still have room to manuver, the yak closes in on your tail and you now cannot shake the plane that turns not-much-worse-than-a-spit. So it's the inaction due to not realizing how fast it is that leads to them flying straight and letting it close the gap, at least IMO and from what I've seen.

EDIT: The speed issue is bigger also because the Yak9U has constant power, whereas the others have 5 or 10 minutes then have to cool down. At that point the yak is actually faster than the P-51D and 190D9, because it has no WEP to cool down.

[Yeager]

Seems like Ive seen at least ten of these "yak underestimated?" threads over the last 10 years.

I have been here too long

[Krusty]

I recall some of the past ones, as well. Seems a number of craft get these in certain rhythms... 

[SWkiljoy]

So fly like a G6!!

[BoilerDown]

There's at least two threads about the Yak-9U in the Help and Training forum that have had a lot of discussion in recent weeks.  IMO, if it wasn't for the Spit 16s, La7s, and K4s, and most importantly the short ammo clips, the Yak would see a lot more usage.  It is underrated, but its not underrated to the point of being unfair.  People don't fly it because there are faster aircraft or more turny aircraft at around the same ENY, let alone many of the 5 ENYs which have very noticeable advantages over the Yak.

As for the flaps, I've tried using them in luffberries "for the lols", but it doesn't really work.  At the speed you drop down to to deploy the flaps, its very sluggish.  I'm all for trying new things even if you lose, that's how you learn things that make you better, so try it out, but it doesn't really work in my experience.  At no point can you use them to your advantage like you can in the American rides.

[Gixer]

The short ammo clip isn't a problem with the Yak, just fly the Yak T 

But then just about every other plane in the set has some sort of advantage over you and the uber rides seem like tie fighters.

Problem for the Yak is the terrible cockpit graphics and that the plane hasn't been updated to AH2.  But still the Yak T was the only plane I enjoyed for a few years until the overall Air Quake mentality of the MA just became too much.


<S>...-Gixer

[Bear76]

I'm sorry that's just misleading. It's one of the most manuverable planes in the game with a very tight turn radius. It turns tighter than a spit9, a spit14, a seafire, all by a significant amount. It is matched by the Spit8 in turn radius. There's no downplaying the uberness of the spit16. It will out turn most planes, be they 109Gs or yak9s


That said, back to the topic [edit: aimed at original post]:

1) Yes, it is underestimaged

2) No, it is not uber and does not turn with spits as well as you describe

3) Using flaps in a yak is a no-no and will get you killed more than it will help.

I just had this flash back to the scene in the movie "The Ten Commandments" where God carved the Commandments in stone for Moses.

[EagleDNY]

If you really want to have fun in a Yak, come in 10K above a bunch of 262s and dive in.  The Yak is perfectly controllable at extreme speeds and you can give the 262 jocks a nasty surprise.

[321BAR]

So fly like a G6!!

Yukkles... never quote a bad song again please...