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 than its predecessor and 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 examples had been built.

Pictured here is a 1:72 scale replica of a Free French Air Force Yakovlev Yak-3 fighter that was operated by the 3rd Fighter Group (Normandie-Niemen Regiment) over the Eastern Front during 1945. Sold Out!

Dimensions:
Wingspan: 5-inches
Length: 4-3/4-inches

Release Date: July 2015

Historical Account: "Yak Attack" - The A. S. Yakovlev Design Bureau JSC is a Russian aircraft designer and manufacturer (design office prefix Yak). It was formed in 1934 under designer Alexander Sergeevich Yakovlev as OKB-115 (the design bureau has got its own production base at the facility 115), but was officially founded on May 12th, 1927, the day the AIR-1 aircraft developed within the Department of Light Aircraft of GUAP (Head Agency of Aviation Industry) under the supervision of A. S. Yakovlev completed its maiden flight.

It was merged into the Yak Aviation Company with the Smolensk Aviation Plant Joint Stock Company in March 1992, although the two companies continued to be operated separately. It later underwent privatization and became Yak Aircraft Corporation. The Russian government is planning to merge the holding company with Mikoyan, Ilyushin, Irkut, Sukhoi and Tupolev as a new company named United Aircraft Building Corporation.

The firm is the designer of the Pchela ("bee", drone reconnaissance aircraft), and is perhaps best known for its highly successful line of World War II-era piston-engine fighter aircraft.