As far as I can see, it will be highly similar to the 109G-10 to the K4. It's not really needed for special events, and quite honestly will be lost in the crowd in the MA.
Similar?
Not really needed for events? Why?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakovlev_Yak-3Operational history
Lighter and smaller than Yak-9 but powered by the same engine, the Yak-3 was a forgiving, easy-to-handle aircraft loved by both rookie and veteran pilots and ground crew as well. It was robust, easy to maintain, and a highly successful dog-fighter.[1] It was used mostly as a tactical fighter, flying low over battlefields and engaging in dogfights below 13,000 ft.[4]
The new aircraft began to reach front line units during summer 1944. Yak-3 service tests were conducted by 91st IAP of the 2nd Air Army, commanded by Lt Colonel Kovalyov, in June–July 1944. The regiment had the task of gaining air superiority. During 431 missions, 20 Luftwaffe fighters and three Ju 87s were shot down while Soviet losses amounted to two Yak-3s shot down.[5] A large dogfight developed on 16 June 1944, when 18 Yak-3s clashed with 24 German aircraft. Soviet Yak-3 fighters shot down 15 German aircraft for the loss of one Yak destroyed and one damaged. The following day, Luftwaffe activity over that section of the front had virtually ceased.[5] On 17 July 1944, eight Yaks attacked a formation of 60 German aircraft, including escorting fighters. In the ensuing dogfight, the Luftwaffe lost three Junkers Ju 87s and four Bf 109Gs, for no losses to the Yaks.[6] Consequently, the Luftwaffe issued an order to "avoid combat below five thousand metres with Yakovlev fighters lacking an oil cooler intake beneath the nose!"[7] Luftwaffe fighters in combat with the Yak-3 tried to use surprise tactics, attacking from above.[8]
Unresolved wartime problems with the Yak-3 included plywood surfaces coming unstuck when the aircraft pulled out of a high-speed dive.[1] Other drawbacks of the aircraft were short range and poor engine reliability. The pneumatic system for actuating landing gear, flaps and brakes, typical for all Yakovlev fighters of the time, was problematic. Though less reliable than hydraulic or electrical alternatives, the pneumatic system was preferred owing to significant weight savings.
In 1944, the Normandie-Niemen Group re-equipped with the Yak-3, scoring with it the last 99 of their 273 air victories against the Luftwaffe. [8]
^ a b c d Glancey 2006, p. 180.
^ a b Glancey 2006, p. 179.
^ a b Gordon 2008, p. 188.
^ Morgan 1999, p. 52.
^ Green, William (1957). Famous Fighters of the Second World War 2. Macdonald. p. 103.
^ a b Gunston 1980, p. 203.
Normandie-Niemen
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normandie-NiemenThe Normandie-Niemen Regiment (Russian: Нормандия-Неман) is a fighter squadron, later regiment (of three squadrons) of the French Air Force. It served on the Eastern Front of the European Theatre of World War II with the 1st Air Army. The regiment is notable for being one of only two air combat units from an Allied western European country to participate on the Eastern Front during World War II, the other being the British No. 151 Wing RAF,[1] and the only one to fight together with the Soviets until the end of the war in Europe.
The unit originated in mid-1943 during World War II. Initially the groupe comprised a group of French fighter pilots sent to aid Soviet forces on the Eastern Front at the suggestion of Charles de Gaulle, leader of the Free French Forces, who felt it important that French servicemen serve on all fronts in the war.
The unit was the GC3 (Groupe de Chasse 3 or 3rd Fighter Group) in the Free French Air Force, first commanded by Jean Tulasne. It fought in three campaigns on behalf of the Soviet Union between 22 March 1943, and 9 May 1945, during which time it destroyed 273 enemy aircraft and received numerous orders, citations and decorations from both France and the Soviet Union, including the French Légion d’Honneur and the Soviet Order of the Red Banner. Joseph Stalin awarded the unit the name Niemen for its participation in the Battle of the Niemen River (1944).
Yakovlev Yak-3: Main fighter aircraft of Normandie-Niemen used between end of July 1944 and May 1945.
In 1944 the groupe was expanded to become a régiment, with a fourth escadrille joining its ranks. After completing training on the more advanced Yakovlev Yak-9D fighter at Tula, the expanded regiment rejoined front line operations for its second campaign. This took place around Doubrovka (in Russia) and Gross-Kalweitchen (in East Prussia, Germany)until 27 November 1944. During this campaign Joseph Stalin ordered the regiment to style itself Normandie-Niemen in recognition of its participation in the battles to liberate the river of the same name. On 16 October, the first day of a new offensive against East Prussia, the regiment’s pilots claimed 29 enemy aircraft destroyed without loss. By the following month the regiment found itself based in German territory. By the end of the year, Pouyade was released from command of the regiment and he, along with other veteran pilots, returned to France. He was replaced by Commandant Louis Delfino. By the end of 1944 201 kills have been claimed.
14 January 1945 saw the Normandie-Niemen start its third campaign (from Dopenen to Heiligenbeil), concentrating in the East Prussian part of the German Reich, until the formal announcement of victory in the east on 9 May the day after V-E Day in Europe. The USSR expressed its gratitude to the regiment by offering 37 of the unit’s Yak-3 fighters as a gift to France. The pilots returned to a heroes' welcome in Paris on 20 June 1945.
At the end of the war, the regiment had claimed 273 enemy aircraft shot down, 37 probables, and lost 87 aircraft and 52 pilots in return. Some 5,240 sorties were flown and the unit took part in 869 dogfights. The unit also destroyed 27 trains, 22 locomotives, two E-boats, 132 trucks, and 24 staff cars. Forty-two of the squadron's pilots were killed and 30 reached ace status.[2]
Four of its pilots, Marcel Albert, Marcel Lefèvre, Jacques André and Roland de La Poype, became Heroes of the Soviet Union.
Its battle honours included such names such as Bryansk, Orel, Ielnia, Smolensk, Königsberg (later renamed Kaliningrad by the Soviets), and Pillau. It received the following decorations: from France, the Légion d'Honneur, the Croix de la Libération, the Médaille Militaire, the Croix de guerre with six palmes; from the USSR, it received the Order of the Red Banner and the Order of Alexander Nevsky, with eleven citations between the two orders.
The remaining Yak-3 fighter aircraft have now dwindled down to one which is on static display at Le Bourget's Air and Space Museum / Musée de l’air et de l’espace.
^ For a short time members of the Nos. 81 and 134 RAF squadrons of the No. 151 Wing RAF were stationed in Murmansk during September–October 1941 that conducted convoy air cover and later pilot conversion training for Red Army Air Force pilots training on Hawker Hurricane aircraft, shooting down 15 German aircraft for the loss of one Hurricane.
^ Bernole, Andre, and Glenn Barnett, "French Aces on the Eastern Front", WWII Quarterly, Fall 2011, pp. 16-25, 94.
Yak Fighters
v1.1.0 / 01 jun 02 / greg goebel / public domain
http://www.faqs.org/docs/air/avyak1.html#m3 The Yak-1M was ordered into production with minor changes as the Yak-3 in October 1943, with first rollouts in March 1944. The type was being delivered in quantity to VVS frontline units by the summer of 1944. VVS pilots were extremely enthusiastic about the type, since it was a real threat to the Luftwaffe Focke-Wulf FW-190A and Messerschmitt Bf-109G.
The Yak-3 was one of the smallest and lightest major combat fighters fielded by any combatant during the war, and its high power-to-weight ratio gave it excellent performance. It could easily out-turn its adversaries, though like many "hot" aircraft it could be a dangerous handful on takeoff and landing.
http://www.pilotfriend.com/aircraft%20performance/Yak/yak_3.htmHistory: During the final two years of the Second World War, the Yak-3 proved itself a powerful dogfighter. Tough and agile below an altitude of 13,000 feet, the Yak-3 dominated the skies over the battlefields of the Eastern Front during the closing years of the war.
The first attempt to build a fighter called the Yak-3 was shelved in 1941 due to a lack of building materials and an unreliable engine. The second attempt used the Yak-1M, already in production, to maintain the high number of planes being built. The Yak-3 had a new, smaller wing and smaller dimensions then its predecessor. Its light weight gave the Yak-3 more agility. The Yak-3 completed its trials in October 1943 and began equipping the 91st IAP in July of 1944. In August, small numbers of Yak-3s were built with an improved engine generating 1,700-hp, and the aircraft saw limited combat action in 1945. Production continued until 1946, by which time 4,848 had been built.
