Several notes about Yak-3
It has good but not superior acceleration:
Aircraft | 150-200mph | 200-250mph | 250-300mph |
La 7 | 7.9 | 11.3 | 16.6 |
109K | 7.9 | 11.1 | 17.1 |
Spit XIV | 7.7 | 11.2 | 18.5 |
190D | 8.6 | 12.3 | 19.0 |
Yak-3 | 8.6 | 12.2 | 20.8 |
Typhoon | 10.2 | 14.0 | 20.9 |
P-51D | 10.0 | 14.1 | 22.6 |
P-38L | 9.7 | 13.9 | 25.9 |
| | | |
It has fair speed (on the deck) but far from being in the top:
La-7 ~ 380 mph
190D ~ 375
P-51D, Typhoon, 109K ~ ~370 mph
Spit-14 ~ 360 mph
Yak - 350 mph
It has very good but not outstanding climb rate:
Spit-14 ~ 4700
109K ~ 4600
La-7 ~ 4500
190D, Yak-3 ~ 4100
It has fairly good turn ratio but it would not out-turn most fighters AFAIK even Spit-14 would out-turn it.
It dives well but still Dora, and Mustang have better high speed handling.
It has poor weapon and poor range.
It is does not have very strong airframe like of Jug or F6F.
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However:
(a) it is very forgiving aircraft - it handles very well - much better than Pony, Dora of 109K, you can prevent spins easily before they begin..
(b) it is very good all round view
(c) it feels like it does not bleed energy too much even in high g turns
(d) Also it has poor ammo - it has no coverage issues allowing you to do sniper shots up to 600 yards (if the target is trying just to run)
So the combination of its fair speed, acceleration, climb and handling makes it quite amazing aircraft that feels very well.