Yakovlev Yak-1
| Yakovlev Yak-1 | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Type: | Fighter plane |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: | |
| First flight: |
January 13, 1940 |
| Commissioning: |
1941 |
| Production time: |
1940 to 1944 |
| Number of pieces: |
8,721 |
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The Jakowlew Jak-1 ( Russian Яковлев Як-1 ) was a single-engine fighter aircraft that was used in World War II . It was the beginning of a whole series of types from the Yakovlev design office , several thousand of which were produced and used by the Soviet Union and other countries during this period.
development
In 1939, the Soviet government issued a tender for a new fighter to replace the then outdated types I-15 , I-16 and I-153 from Nikolai Polikarpow .
Jakowlew, who had already made some experience in the construction of light, manoeuvrable aircraft, placed particular emphasis on an aerodynamically favorable surface shape in order to give the new model the highest possible speed. In October 1939, as a member of a Soviet delegation, he visited well-known German aircraft manufacturers, including the Heinkel works, and inspected the He 100 . After test pilot Stefan Suprun had test flown the aircraft and commented positively on its flight characteristics, the delegation had six (according to other sources ten) of the aircraft bought. Although the He 100 was classified as unsuitable as a military aircraft after intensive testing, it is possible that the designer was influenced by its design.
The prototype known as I-26 (Russian for I strebitel = fighter) took off on January 13, 1940 on its first flight. The subsequent flight tests were overshadowed by a fatal accident when Julian I. Piontkowski , who had tested all Yakovlev aircraft types, crashed on April 27, 1940 with the I-26. Since a failure of the design could be excluded as the cause in the subsequent investigation, state testing of the model continued until November 1940. Mass production began a month later under the official name Jak-1 .
When the Soviet Union was invaded in June 1941 , the machines produced up to then served together with the newly released MiG-3 in the defense of Moscow . Without interrupting ongoing production, improvements were made to the Jak-1 after the first experience at the front. From October 1942, the unofficially named Jak-1B received a lowered back of the fuselage at the suggestion of pilots because of better all-round visibility, the wing tips were made somewhat more pointed, a more powerful engine was installed and the two 7.62 mm machine guns were replaced by a single 12, 7 mm MG replaced.
The most powerful version, however, was the weight - reduced Jak-1M with a lowered fuselage back, retractable tail wheel and a more powerful WK-105PF engine with an automatically controlled propeller WISch-105SW, the development of which was carried out in parallel with Jak-1 production from October 1940 and series production at the end of 1942 started.
Production in Saratov . Plant No. 292 ended in 1944 after the 8,721th machine with the changeover to the Jak-3 , which was developed from the Yak-1M. In addition to the USSR, the Jak-1 flew in Poland (until 1946) and Yugoslavia. The 1st PLM (Pułk Lotnictwa Myśliwskiego, Fighter Regiment ) Warszawa , which was set up in July 1943 and consisted of Polish members, as well as the French Normandy- Nyemen squadron, both of which fought on the side of the Red Army against the Germans, also used this type.
technical description
The Jak-1 was a tubular steel construction with a rectangular cross-section in a low- wing design. The wings had two main spars made of wood and were planked with plywood. The normal tail was self-supporting. The two main wheels of the rear wheel landing gear could be retracted into the wings.
Preserved copies
In October 1990, the wreck of a Yak-1 of the 42nd series was discovered in a lake about 30 km east of Demyansk . The aircraft with the serial number 1342 was completed in October 1941 at the Saratow plant No. 292. It belonged to the 485th IAP (Fighter Pilot Regiment) and was flown by Mikhail Kudrjaschow, who made an emergency landing on the frozen lake in December 1942 with bullet damage, where it finally sank when the snowmelt. The Jak-1 is currently being restored in England. It is planned to equip the machine with an original M-105PF engine and to make it flyable again. It would be the only preserved early Jak-1 with a raised fuselage back and original engine.
Another Yak-1 was recovered from a lake near Murmansk in 2012 . It is exhibited in the Vadim Sadorozhnij technical museum .
The only originally preserved Jak-1 also comes from the Saratow factory and is located in the city's “Victory Park”, which was laid out in 1975. It was delivered on December 14, 1942. After deployments at Stalingrad and Sevastopol, among others, it was exhibited in a Saratov museum in 1944. In 1991 it was handed over to the Siegespark.
Military users
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- Lotnictwo Wojska Polskiego (Soviet-controlled Polish Air Force )
Technical specifications
| Parameter | Jak-1 | Jak-1B |
|---|---|---|
| Years of construction | 1940-1942 | 1942-1944 |
| span | 10.00 m | |
| length | 8.47 m | |
| height | 2.64 m | |
| Wing area | 17.15 m² | |
| Preparation mass | 2,445 kg | 2,394 kg |
| Takeoff mass | 2,950 kg | 2,883 kg |
| Top speed | 550 km / h at an altitude of 4,500 m | 590 km / h at an altitude of 3,500 m |
| Rise time | approx. 7 min at an altitude of 5,000 m | approx. 6 min at an altitude of 5,000 m |
| Summit height | 9,500 m | 10,000 m |
| Range | 760 km | 700 km |
| Armament | a 20-mm-MK SchWAK two 7.62-mm-MG SchKAS two 100-kg bombs external or four 82-mm missiles RS-82 |
a 20-mm-MK SchWAK one 12.7-mm-MG UBS two 100-kg bombs external or four 82-mm missiles RS-82 |
| Engine | a 12-cylinder V-engine Klimow WK-105P | a 12-cylinder V-engine Klimow WK-105PF |
| power | 1,050 hp (772 kW) | 1,240 PS (912 kW) (take-off power) |
See also
literature
- Olaf Groehler : History of the Air War 1910 to 1980 , Military Publishing House of the German Democratic Republic, Berlin 1981.
Web links
Remarks
- ↑ According to Olaf Groehler: History of the Air War 1910 to 1980 , Military Publishing House of the German Democratic Republic, Berlin 1981, p. 307, the first flight of the I-26 took place in March 1939.
Individual evidence
- ^ Wilfried Copenhagen : Soviet fighter planes . Transpress, Berlin 1985, p. 160 .
- ^ Andrei Alexandrow, Gennadi Petrow: The German aircraft in Russian and Soviet services 1914-1951. tape 1 . Tussa, Illertissen, ISBN 3-927132-43-8 , pp. 134 and 145 .
- ^ Cajus Becker: Attack Height 4000. Gerhard Stalling Verlag, 1964, 1972 edition, p. 144.
- ^ Dmitri Sobolew: German traces in Soviet aviation history . Mittler, Hamburg 2000, ISBN 3-8132-0675-0 , p. 111 .
- ↑ Mark Sheppard: Restoration of an early Yak-1 is progressing. With hammer and sickle. In: Flugzeug Classic No. 11/2012, pp. 66–70.
- ↑ Mark Sheppard: Fighter plane lifted at the Arctic Circle. Yak on ice. In: Flugzeug Classic No. 8/2013, pp. 46–51.
- ↑ Patrick Hoeveler: Victory Park Collection in Saratov. Bomber in the park. In: Classic Aviation No. 3/2013, p. 74.