Editing Yakovlev Yak-9 (section)

==Operational history==

===Second World War===
[[File:Истребители Як-9Д над Севастополем (6).jpg|thumb|Yak-9Ds of the 6th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment of the Air Force of the [[Black Sea Fleet]] over [[Sevastopol]], May 1944]]
The first Yak-9 entered service in October 1942 and saw combat the same year. The Yak-9 operated with a wide variety of armament for use in anti-tank, light bomber and long-range escort roles. At low altitude, in which it operated predominantly, the Yak-9 was more maneuverable than the [[Messerschmitt Bf 109|Bf 109]]. A series of improvements in performance and armament did not degrade the handling characteristics. Soviet pilots regarded the Yak-9's performance as being comparable to the Bf 109G and Fw 190A-3/A-4.<ref name="Morgan p. 52.">Morgan 1999, p. 52.</ref>
However, at the beginning of the [[Operation Barbarossa|German invasion of the Soviet Union]] Yak-9's performed poorly against the [[Luftwaffe]] because of a lack of training, although by the [[Battle of Stalingrad]] they began to perform better.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Beevor|first=Antony|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/40646157|title=Stalingrad.|date=1999|publisher=Penguin|isbn=0-14-024985-0|location=London|oclc=40646157}}</ref> After the [[Battle of Smolensk (1943)|Battle of Smolensk]], in the second half of 1943, the famed [[Free France|Free French]] [[Normandie-Niémen]] unit became a ''Groupe'' and was equipped with the Yak-9.<ref name="Morgan p. 24.">Morgan 1999, p. 24.</ref>

The first unit to use the Yak-9U, between 25 October and 25 December 1944, was 163.IAP. Pilots were ordered not to use the engine at combat speed since this reduced its life to two or three flights only. Nevertheless, in the course of 398 sorties, the unit claimed 27 [[Focke-Wulf Fw 190]]As and one Bf 109G-2, for the loss of two Yaks in dogfights, one to flak and four in accidents. The Yak-9U contributed greatly toward the Soviets gaining air superiority, and the Germans learned to avoid the Yaks “without antenna mast”.<ref name="Leonard p. 125.">Leonard 2005, p. 125.</ref>
[[File:Истребители Як-9Т на аэродроме Порт-Артура.jpg|thumb|A row of parked Yak-9Ts after the [[Soviet invasion of Manchuria]], [[Port Arthur, China]], September 1945 ]]
A large formation of the Yak-9DD version was transferred to [[Bari]] (the capital of [[Apulia]], in [[Kingdom of Italy|Italy]]) to help [[Yugoslav Partisans|Yugoslav partisans]] in the [[Balkans]].<ref name="Gunston p. 256.">Gunston 1984, p. 256.</ref>

One of the top-scoring Yak-9 pilots was First Lieutenant [[A.I. Vybornov]]. Flying a type-T (equipped with a 37mm [[NS-37]] cannon in the nose) he achieved 19 air victories, plus nine shared and was awarded the Gold Star Medal of the [[Hero of the Soviet Union]] in June 1945.<ref name="Morgan p. 33.">Morgan 1999, p. 33.</ref> At the end of the war, on 22 March 1945, Lieutenant L.I. Sivko from 812th IAP achieved an air victory against a [[Messerschmitt Me 262]] jet fighter, but he was killed soon afterward by another Me 262, probably piloted by [[Franz Schall]], a top-scoring Me 262 pilot.<ref name="Morgan p. 53.">Morgan 1999, p. 53.</ref>

Fighter units with this aircraft suffered lower losses than average. Of 2,550 Yak-9s manufactured up the end of 1943, only 383 were lost in combat.<ref>Bergstrom 2008, p. 32.</ref>

===Post-war era===
At the [[Cold War (1947–1953)|beginning of the Cold War]], Yak-9 fighters began buzzing [[United States|American]], [[United Kingdom|British]], and [[France|French]] flights in the [[West Berlin Air Corridor|air corridors]] to [[West Berlin]]. During the [[Berlin Blockade]], Yak-9 fighters interfered with the [[United States Air Force|U.S. Air Force]]-[[Royal Air Force]] airlift.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Schrader|first=Helena|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/495598280|title=The blockade breakers : the Berlin Airlift|date=2010|publisher=History|isbn=978-0-7524-5600-3|location=Stroud|oclc=495598280}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Taylor|first=Fred|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/76481596|title=The Berlin Wall : a world divided, 1961-1989|date=2006|publisher=HarperCollins|isbn=978-0-06-078613-7|edition=1|location=New York|oclc=76481596}}</ref> During 1949, the [[Soviet Union]] provided surplus Yak-9P (VK-107) aircraft to some [[satellite state]]s in the [[Eastern Bloc|Soviet bloc]] to help them rebuild their air forces following the West Berlin blockade. A section of the aircraft's operating manual was accidentally omitted from the translation from Russian into some languages: before starting the Yak-9, it was necessary to hand-crank a small cockpit-mounted oil pump 25 times to provide initial lubrication to the [[Klimov]] V12 engine, unlike World War II German and Western fighters equipped with forced closed-cycle lubrication systems. Skipping this unusual but vital step resulted in frequent [[engine seizure]]s during the takeoff roll and initial climb, causing several fatalities during 1950.{{Citation needed|date=April 2010}}