Editing Yakovlev Yak-1 (section)

==Operational history==
[[File:Истребители Як-1Б 14-го ГИАП на полевом аэродроме перед боевым вылетом.jpg|thumb|Yak-1Bs of the 14th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, Leningrad Front, before a combat sortie, 1943. ]]
At the time of Operation Barbarossa on 22 June 1941, 425 Yak-1s had been built, although many were en route or still incomplete. 92 machines were fully operational in the Western Military Districts but most were lost in the first days.<ref name= "Drabkin p. 146.">Drabkin 2007, p. 146.</ref>  The Yak-1 was built as an escort fighter for [[Il-2]] tactical bombers and combats took place below {{convert|4000|m|ft|abbr=on}}, where the Yak-1 performed the best. The Yak-1 proved to have a significant advantage over its Soviet competitors. A full circle turn took just 17 seconds in the Yak-1M. The MiG-3, which had the best high-altitude performance, did poorly at low and medium altitudes and its light armament made it unsuitable for ground attack. The LaGG-3 experienced a significant degradation in performance (as much as {{convert|100|km/h|mph|abbr=on}} on some aircraft) compared to its prototypes due to the manufacturer's inexperience with its special wooden construction, which suffered from warping and rotting when exposed to the elements. The Yak-1's plywood covering also suffered from the weather, but the steel frame kept the aircraft largely intact.

Early aircraft suffered from fuel leaks, spot-welded fuel tanks failing from vibration. The [[Aircraft canopy|canopy]] could not be opened under certain conditions in earlier models and some pilots had the sliding portion of the canopy removed. The first 1,000 Yak-1s had no radios; wireless equipment became common by spring 1942 and obligatory by August 1942 but Soviet radios were notoriously unreliable and short-ranged, so they were frequently removed to save weight.<ref name= "Drabkin p. 146.">Drabkin 2007, p. 146.</ref> The M-105 could not tolerate negative G forces which starved it of fuel and suffered from breakdowns of magnetos, speed governors and emitted oil from the reduction shaft.<ref name="Gordon 2008, p. 143">Gordon 2008, p. 143.</ref>

The Yak-1 was better than the Bf 109E but inferior to the Bf 109F – its main opponent – in rate of climb at all altitudes, although it could complete a circle at the same speed (20–21 seconds at {{convert|1000|m|ft|abbr=on}}).<ref name= "Williams and Gustin  p. 113.">Williams and Gustin  2003, p. 113.</ref><ref name="Gordon 2008, p. 139">Gordon 2008, p. 139.</ref> The Bf 109, with its automatic wing slats, had a lower stall speed and was more stable in sharp turns and vertical aerobatic figures.<ref name= "Drabkin p. 146.">Drabkin 2007, p. 146.</ref>  A simulated combat between a Yak (with M-105PF engine) and a Bf 109F revealed that the Messerschmitt had only marginally superior maneuverability at {{convert|1000|m|ft|abbr=on}}, though the German fighter could gain substantial advantage over the Yak-1 within four or five nose-to-tail turns. At {{convert|3000|m|ft|abbr=on}}, the capabilities of the two fighters were nearly equal, as combat was essentially reduced to head-on attacks. At altitudes over {{convert|5000|m|ft|abbr=on}}, the Yak was more manoeuvrable. The engine's nominal speed at low altitudes was lowered to 2,550 rpm, and the superiority of the Bf 109F at these altitudes was reduced.<ref name="Gordon 2008, p. 143"/>

The Yak-1's armament would be considered too light by Western standards but was typical of Soviet aircraft, pilots preferring a few guns grouped on the centerline to improve accuracy and reduce weight. Wing guns were rarely used on Soviet fighters and when they were supplied, they were often removed (as they were from US-supplied [[Bell P-39 Airacobra]]s). Avoiding wing guns reduced weight and demonstrably improved roll rates (the same was true of the Bf 109F). The US and Britain considered heavy armament and high performance necessary, even at the cost of inferior maneuverability, while the Soviets relied on the marksmanship of their pilots coupled with agile aircraft. Even with the Yak-1's light armament, to reduce weight, modifications were made on the front line and on about thirty production aircraft: the 7.62&nbsp;mm ShKAS machine-guns were removed, retaining only the single ShVAK cannon. Nevertheless, these lighter aircraft were popular with experienced pilots, for whom the reduction in armament was acceptable and combat experience in November 1942 showed a much improved kill-to-loss ratio. In the autumn of 1942, the Yak-1B appeared, with the more powerful M-105P engine and a single 12.7&nbsp;mm UBS machine gun instead of the two ShKAS. Although this did not increase the total weight of fire much, the UBS machine-gun was much more effective than the two 7.62&nbsp;mm ShKAS. The simple VV ring sight replaced the PBP gun-sight because of the very poor quality of the latter's lenses.<ref name="Williams and Gustin  p. 113."/> The Yak-1 had a light tail, and it was easy to tip over and to hit the ground with the propeller. Often, technicians had to keep the tail down, which could lead to accidents, with aircraft taking off with technicians still on the rear fuselage.<ref name= "Drabkin p. 56.">Drabkin 2007, p. 56.</ref>

The Yak-1 was well liked by its pilots; Nikolai G. Golodnikov considered that the Yak-1B, flown by experienced pilots, could meet the Bf 109F-4 and G-2 on equal terms.<ref name= "Drabkin p. 135.">Drabkin 2007, p. 135.</ref><ref>Gordon 2008, p. 149</ref> The French [[Normandie-Niemen]] squadron selected the primitive model Yak-1M (that had a cut-down fuselage to allow all-round vision) when it was formed, in March 1943.<ref name= "Gunston p. 203.">Gunston 1980, p. 203.</ref> Twenty-four of these aircraft were sent to the all-female [[586th Fighter Aviation Regiment]], whose pilots included the world's only female [[flying ace|aces]]: [[Katya Budanova]], with 5, and [[Lydia Litvyak]] (claims range between 5 and 12, plus two shared). Litvyak flew Yak-1 "Yellow 44", with an aerial mast, at first in 296th Fighter Aviation Regiment and then with 73rd Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, until her death in combat on 1 August 1943.<ref name= "Morgan  p. 31.">Morgan 1999, p. 31.</ref> Another ace who flew the Yak-1 was [[Mikhail Baranov]], who scored all his 24 victories with it, including five in a day (four Bf 109s and a Ju 87, on 6 August 1942).<ref>Bergstrom, Dikov & Antipov (2006), pp. 61–62</ref>  The Yak-1 was also the first type operated by the {{lang|pl|[[Air Force of the Polish Army Organization at the end of the war|1 Pułk Lotnictwa Myśliwskiego "Warszawa"]]}} (1st Polish Fighter Regiment "Warsaw").

Soviet naming conventions obscure the fact that the Yak-1 and its successors – the Yak-7, Yak-9 and Yak-3 – are essentially the same design, comparable to the numerous Spitfire or Bf 109 variants. Were the Yaks considered as one type, the 37,000 built would constitute the most produced fighter in history.<ref name="Gunston p.88">Gunston 1998, p. 88.</ref><ref name="Ethell p.163">Ethell 1995, p. 163.</ref> That total would also make the Yak one of the most prolific aircraft in history, roughly equal to the best known Soviet ground attack type of World War II, the [[Ilyushin Il-2|IL-2]] ''Shturmovik''. Losses were  the highest of all fighter types in service in the USSR: from 1941 to 1945, VVS KA lost 3,336 Yak-1s: 325 in 1941, 1,301 the following year, 1,056 in 1943, 575 in 1944 and 79 in 1945.<ref name="Bergström p.132">Bergström 2008, p. 132.</ref>