The Soviet Fighter Yakovlev Yak-3
Top Drawings No. 106
Author: Anirudh Rao
Kagero Books
ISBN: 978-83-66673-03-8
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright 2020
MSRP: $24.95
ISBN: 978-83-66673-03-8
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright 2020
MSRP: $24.95
HISTORY:
The Yakovlev Yak-3 (Russian: Яковлев Як-3) was a single-engine, single-seat World War II Soviet fighter. Robust and easy to maintain, it was much liked by both pilots and ground crew. One of the smallest and lightest combat fighters fielded by any combatant during the war, its high power-to-weight ratio gave it excellent performance and it proved to be a formidable dogfighter.
Marcel Albert, a World War II French ace who flew the Yak-3 in the USSR with the Normandie-Niémen Group, considered it a superior aircraft to the P-51D Mustang and Supermarine Spitfire. It was also flown by Polish Air Forces (of the Polish People's Army formed in USSR) and the Yugoslav Air Force, after the war.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Role: Fighter
National origin: Soviet Union
Design group: A.S. Yakovlev Design Bureau
Built by: Plant No.292 (Saratov), Plant No.31 (Tbilisi)
First flight: 28 February 1943 (Yak-1M)
Introduction to service: June 1944
Retired: 1952 (Soviet Air Forces)
Primary users: Soviet Air Forces, French Air Force (Normandie-Niemen), Polish Air Force, Yugoslav Air Force
Produced: March 1944 – August 1946
Number built: 4,848
Developed from: Yakovlev Yak-1
Variants: Yakovlev Yak-11, Yakovlev Yak-15
THE BOOK:
Kagero is based in Lublin, Poland.
This book is soft-cover of 20 pages in 8 ¼” X 11 ¾”.
Book is multilingual in both Polish and English text.
The cover art has a dark-green background with a white line drawing of the top of a Yak-3.
On top of that is two side color side profiles of the Yak-3 that are repeated inside the book. (more about them later).
The first page is the history of the Yak-3.
This is followed by 17 pages of line-drawings in 1/72nd, 1/48th and 1/24” scales.
Shown are line-drawings of the sides, tops, bottoms, landing gear, cockpit interior, dash board and fuselage bulkheads.
There are 4 pages of 1/32nd scale color profiles of the Yak-3.
The first color side profile is in a wave pattern camouflage of dark-green and gray, with a gray bottom. It has a white no, 24 fuselage number and Soviet red stars, outlined in white on the tops of the wings, sides of the fuselage and sides of the rudder,
It was flown by S/Lt Roland de la Poype, Antonovo Air Field, near Glzycko (East Prussia), Shortly after the aircraft had been delivered to Normandy-Niemen in October 1944.
The second color side profile is in the same camouflage, with a red, white and blue spinner. It has a long white arrow down its fuselage with a large white 27 and the Soviet Air Force red star on it. It has a red, white and blue vertical flash on the rudder sides and a small white cross with two arms.
It is as it looked at Le Bourget, June 1945.
This is the one shown again at the bottom of the front cover.
Next is a 4-view color profiles of a Yak-3 in the same camouflage as the first 2 Yak-3’s. It carries the white fuselage code 03 and Soviet Air Force red stars, outlined in white on the sides of the fuselage and rudder and un-outlined stars on the wing bottoms.
This aircraft made a forced landing near Grodzisk Mazowiecki in 1945.
This is the one shown at the top of the cover art.
It is sporting new paint-work applied in Elblag, prior to the unit’s return to France in June 1945.
Next is a side-view of a Yak-3 that carries the same camouflage and tail marking as the second Yak-3 above. It also has a white arrow down its fuselage sides with a white no. 7 on it.
The last Yak-3 is identical to the one above, except for a white no. 8 on the arrow down its fuselage sides.
Caption about it reads the same as the one above.
The back cover of the book shows 2 more color side profiles in 1/32nd scale.
The top one is in the same scheme as the last 2 profiles, except for a Soviet red star outlined in white on the rudder, instead of the cross with 2 arms. It carries the fuselage no. 6 over the white arrow.
It was with the Independent Fighter Regiment , Normandy-Niemen, Flown by Capt. Marcel Albert, who scored 22 victories flying this aircraft.
The one shown below is in overall dark-green over gray under side. It has a white no. 4 on its fuselage sides, the red, white and blue vertical fin flash and the small white 2-armed cross on the rudder.
Shown as it appeared a La Bouget in 1944.
There are 2 loose sheets of line drawings, that are folded in half to fit in the book.
They are in 16” x 11 1/2” format.
The face side of the first sheet shows an line-drawing the top, dash board and canopy of a Yak-3 in 1/32nd scale. The reverse side has a line-drawing of the side and front
The face side of the second sheet shows line-drawings of the inner framework of the fuselage as a 2-view in 1/32nd scale.
This is one neat book on the Yak-3. It will be of great interest to modelers planning on building a Yak-3 and also to aviation historians.
I sincerely wish to thank Casemate Publishing, the North American distributor of Kagero books, All Kagero titles can be viewed on Casemate’s web-address at:
The Yakovlev Yak-3 (Russian: Яковлев Як-3) was a single-engine, single-seat World War II Soviet fighter. Robust and easy to maintain, it was much liked by both pilots and ground crew. One of the smallest and lightest combat fighters fielded by any combatant during the war, its high power-to-weight ratio gave it excellent performance and it proved to be a formidable dogfighter.
Marcel Albert, a World War II French ace who flew the Yak-3 in the USSR with the Normandie-Niémen Group, considered it a superior aircraft to the P-51D Mustang and Supermarine Spitfire. It was also flown by Polish Air Forces (of the Polish People's Army formed in USSR) and the Yugoslav Air Force, after the war.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Role: Fighter
National origin: Soviet Union
Design group: A.S. Yakovlev Design Bureau
Built by: Plant No.292 (Saratov), Plant No.31 (Tbilisi)
First flight: 28 February 1943 (Yak-1M)
Introduction to service: June 1944
Retired: 1952 (Soviet Air Forces)
Primary users: Soviet Air Forces, French Air Force (Normandie-Niemen), Polish Air Force, Yugoslav Air Force
Produced: March 1944 – August 1946
Number built: 4,848
Developed from: Yakovlev Yak-1
Variants: Yakovlev Yak-11, Yakovlev Yak-15
THE BOOK:
Kagero is based in Lublin, Poland.
This book is soft-cover of 20 pages in 8 ¼” X 11 ¾”.
Book is multilingual in both Polish and English text.
The cover art has a dark-green background with a white line drawing of the top of a Yak-3.
On top of that is two side color side profiles of the Yak-3 that are repeated inside the book. (more about them later).
The first page is the history of the Yak-3.
This is followed by 17 pages of line-drawings in 1/72nd, 1/48th and 1/24” scales.
Shown are line-drawings of the sides, tops, bottoms, landing gear, cockpit interior, dash board and fuselage bulkheads.
There are 4 pages of 1/32nd scale color profiles of the Yak-3.
The first color side profile is in a wave pattern camouflage of dark-green and gray, with a gray bottom. It has a white no, 24 fuselage number and Soviet red stars, outlined in white on the tops of the wings, sides of the fuselage and sides of the rudder,
It was flown by S/Lt Roland de la Poype, Antonovo Air Field, near Glzycko (East Prussia), Shortly after the aircraft had been delivered to Normandy-Niemen in October 1944.
The second color side profile is in the same camouflage, with a red, white and blue spinner. It has a long white arrow down its fuselage with a large white 27 and the Soviet Air Force red star on it. It has a red, white and blue vertical flash on the rudder sides and a small white cross with two arms.
It is as it looked at Le Bourget, June 1945.
This is the one shown again at the bottom of the front cover.
Next is a 4-view color profiles of a Yak-3 in the same camouflage as the first 2 Yak-3’s. It carries the white fuselage code 03 and Soviet Air Force red stars, outlined in white on the sides of the fuselage and rudder and un-outlined stars on the wing bottoms.
This aircraft made a forced landing near Grodzisk Mazowiecki in 1945.
This is the one shown at the top of the cover art.
It is sporting new paint-work applied in Elblag, prior to the unit’s return to France in June 1945.
Next is a side-view of a Yak-3 that carries the same camouflage and tail marking as the second Yak-3 above. It also has a white arrow down its fuselage sides with a white no. 7 on it.
The last Yak-3 is identical to the one above, except for a white no. 8 on the arrow down its fuselage sides.
Caption about it reads the same as the one above.
The back cover of the book shows 2 more color side profiles in 1/32nd scale.
The top one is in the same scheme as the last 2 profiles, except for a Soviet red star outlined in white on the rudder, instead of the cross with 2 arms. It carries the fuselage no. 6 over the white arrow.
It was with the Independent Fighter Regiment , Normandy-Niemen, Flown by Capt. Marcel Albert, who scored 22 victories flying this aircraft.
The one shown below is in overall dark-green over gray under side. It has a white no. 4 on its fuselage sides, the red, white and blue vertical fin flash and the small white 2-armed cross on the rudder.
Shown as it appeared a La Bouget in 1944.
There are 2 loose sheets of line drawings, that are folded in half to fit in the book.
They are in 16” x 11 1/2” format.
The face side of the first sheet shows an line-drawing the top, dash board and canopy of a Yak-3 in 1/32nd scale. The reverse side has a line-drawing of the side and front
The face side of the second sheet shows line-drawings of the inner framework of the fuselage as a 2-view in 1/32nd scale.
This is one neat book on the Yak-3. It will be of great interest to modelers planning on building a Yak-3 and also to aviation historians.
I sincerely wish to thank Casemate Publishing, the North American distributor of Kagero books, All Kagero titles can be viewed on Casemate’s web-address at:
Highly recommended.