This month’s Pages of History features ace pilot Pavel Golovachev. Having become famous for his aerial ramming over East Prussia, Golovachev left his trusty La-7 in a museum and in the last months of the war switched to a brand-new Yak-9M. He flew it in the skies over Berlin and shot down two Fw 190s in late April 1945.
Golovachev’s Yak-9M is temporarily available for Golden Eagles!
In honor of Golovachev, the premium Yak-9M is available for 1,780 Golden Eagles.
When: From April 4th (11:00 GMT) until April 7th (11:00 GMT).
Where: USSR > Aviation > Premium vehicles.
About this aircraft
Golovachev’s Yak-9M (rank III) has a more robust wing structure, allowing it to perform better in dives. This aircraft is armed with a 20 mm ShVAK cannon and a 12.7 mm UBS machine gun.
I am far from good Air player, but I can’t help but wonder why he replaced his 4.7 plane by 3.7 one:)
Like, did they ran out of La-7 planes? Is premium Yak massively under BRed? Is there reliability/usability difference that isn’t reflected in WT mechanics? Am I stupid and should I go back to eating dirt in Ground?
Golovachev was promoted from a wingman (number 2 in a pair) to a squadron leader (in Soviet units there was a regiment consisting of 2-3 squadrons with ~10-12 planes each), but had to switch units for that. He went from 9th GIAP (flying La-7) to 900th IAP (flying Yaks)
I recommend to take a step back and try to see the whole picture.
It boils down that every USSR plane with ShVak cannons is at least 1 BR too low.
Why?
It is no secret that the USSR was unable to produce any remarkable aircraft. The Yak-3 might be the sole exception but if you look closer you see that they came very into service in September/October 44.
In wt the rather way too low BRs of USSR fighters were somehow compensated by the poor pilot skills of the average pilot and the (historically accurate) very low damage output of their 20 mm ShVak cannons.
In the recent years we saw a ballistic “update” and the introduction of “Real Shatter” which upgraded the lousiest 20 mm cannon in the game to a “one tap” killer able to snipe enemies > 1 km due to excellent ballistics and rather high damage output.
So gaijin simply “forgot” to increase the BRs of USSR fighters despite the sole excuse for their low BRs vanished - and the wt meta favours low alt fights for which USSR aircraft were optimized.
Even the reason “low ammo count” of USSR fighters is not longer valid; seeing guys with just 120 x 20 mm ShVak rounds with 5 kills without reaming is standard, not the exception.
Well, 9th GIAP was considered a regiment of highly-experienced pilots akin to 176th GIAP (free hunters, including Kozhedub), 16th GIAP (as well as the whole 9th GIAD, by 1945 under the command of Pokryshkin) or 5th GIAP.
So their missions varied, but were mostly focused on achieving air superiority or occasional free hunting. La-7 was also the preferable type for the latter mission since its radial engine proved to be quite sturdier, meaning pilots were more confident to go behind the frontline.
Now, Yaks were somewhat similar, but their use varied depending on the model and the regiment. Higher-class ones by 1944-45 flew Yak-3s (3rd IAK under Savitsky, 150th GIAP, 1st Separate IAP “Normandie-Niemen”, etc.).
900th IAP though was “average”, which honestly leads me to believe Golovachev was moved there to also share his experience as an established ace. But that’s nothing more than a theory, haven’t found any source that would mention the actual reasoning behind it. And “average” Yak units were quite often busy protecting Il-2s or in ground defense (as in short-range patrolling and interception practically). One of the records of Golovachev’s fights I found (dated 18.03.1945) was about 8 Yaks fending off 8 Me 109s from a squad of Ils around Pörschken, so I guess that should be enough of an example. In that fight Golovachev shot down 1 Me 109, by the end of the fight the score (according to the records) was 2 109s and 1 Yak-9 shot down.
Yak-9M was more like a refined version of Yak-9T fuselage (aft cockpit placement, exact armament varied) and Yak-9D wing (4 fuel tanks) to optimize the production and get rid of excessive modifications. Plus some QoL changes like finally getting automatic water radiator. So not that fancy in terms of performance, but easy to produce and pilot. And its maneuverability fit the role of close support quite well from what I’ve read.
this is true for some (especially yak-3u) but overall many were put up in brs over last few years like yak-3s
Thing with yak-9m is that yak-9 is 3.0 and has better power to weight ratios due to extra yak-9m weight despite engine improvements. It does make up for it with lower drag and the higher rip speed which is the thing pointed in the post. Judging on that i would say 3.7 seems probably fair for it with some broad analysis even ignoring facts base yak-9 might be undertiered itself.
The ShVAK circus show aside, Yak-9M performs surprisingly close to La-5FN. Sure there’s some give and take in terms of maximum speed or turning, but both are pretty close. And where Yak-9M might lack it compensates by not becoming a flying outhouse around 3-4-6km
Maybe I am not understanding, but isn’t this just a regular Yak-9 with a 0.7 BR increase? I know it has a slightly higher rip speed but does that warrant the BR change?
I know this is off topic, but what about planes like Mig-17 AS? In my opinion early jets around BR 9.0 are one of the most fun bracket in AirRB, but there doesn’t seem to be many (there are some) interesting premiums. The aforementioned Mig being something I would buy immediately.
