A lighter, more agile development of the Yak-7, the Yak-9 became the most numerous Soviet fighter family of the war and helped wrest air superiority from the Luftwaffe's Bf 109s and Fw 190s over Kursk in 1943. Specialised variants added long-range fuel tanks for bomber escort or a 37mm cannon firing through the propeller hub for tank-busting.
Yak-9U at the Central Russian Air Force museum, MoninoAlf van Beem · Public domain · sourceKIMPO, KOREA, 1950. A DAMAGED NORTH KOREAN YAK AIRCRAFT STANDING ON THE AIRFIELD. (DONOR: R. TREBILCO)Unknown authorUnknown author · Public domain · sourceI had a chance to visit the Museum of Flight at Boeing Field in Seattle in May 2011 - it was my first visit in over 20 years. Great place to wander about; good collection of airplanes with a lot of aviation art and histoFrank Kovalchek from Anchorage, Alaska, USA · CC BY 2.0 · source
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