The Yakovlev Yak-1 (originally designated I-26) was a Soviet fighter aircraft of World War II. It was the first of a line of small, nimble fighters, relatively primitive in many respects, but easy to build and maintain, and with fine performance and handling at low altitude. They were lightly armed and had low performance at higher altitude. Developed in 1940, the Yak-series was the most important Soviet fighter of early stages of the Great Patriotic War (WWII at the Eastern Front), before the Lavochkin La-5 came into service.

8,721 (or 8,734?) Yak-1s were built, but total production of all its derivatives totalled over 36,000.

Variants

• I-30 - all metal version, no production
• Yak-1b - ("b" is unofficial suffix, just like those of Yak-7B). New upper fuselage fairing, armoured front and rear glass, rear view mirror, back of pilot's head and left hand are armour protected, 2x ShKAS replaced with 1xUBS, new fire control system, new control stick, new VV-1 gunsight instead of OPV. First flown (a/c No 35-60) in June 1942. Entered serial production August 11 1942 (first 10 produced in September, replaced Yak-1 in production in November). 4,188 were built.
• Yak-1M - Redesigned Yak-1. Aft fuselage was lowered to improve pilots sight (like the Yak-3), wing root air intake on the port side deleted. More powerful engine employed. Features same 'beard' under the engine as Yak-1, Yak-7 and Yak-9. Two were built (with M-105PF and M-105PF2 engines, max speed 632/651 km/h, 5,000 m climb time 4.1/4.1 min, ceiling 10,700/10,800 m). Developed into Yak-3. 1943.

Specifications (Yak-1M)

General Characteristics

• Crew: one, pilot
• Length: 8.60 m (28 ft 2 in)
• Wingspan: 9.20 m (30 ft 2 in)
• Height: m ( ft in)
• Wing area: 14.9 m² (160 ft²)
• Empty: 2,133 kg (4,693 lb)
• Loaded: 2,655 kg (5,841 lb)
• Maximum takeoff: kg ( lb)
• Powerplant: 1x Klimov M-105 PF, 880 kW (1,180 hp)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 632 km/h (395 mph)
• Range: 585 km (365 miles)
• Service ceiling: 10,700 m (35,096 ft)
• Rate of climb: 1,220 m/min (4,000 ft/min)
• Wing loading: 178.8 kg/m² (36 lb/ft²)
• Power/Mass: 0.33 kW/kg (0.20 hp/lb)

Armament

• 1x 20 mm ShVAK cannon
• 1x 12.7 mm UB machine gun

External links

http://www.aviation.ru/Yak/#1

Related content

Related development: Yak-3 - Yak-7 - Yak-9

Comparable aircraft:

Designation sequence: Yak-1 - Yak-2 - Yak-3 - Yak-4 -