Yak-1B

Yak-1B

Yak-1

Yak-7B

Yak-1B

Yak-1

Yak-7B

USSR

II Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
3.3	3.0	3.3

Class:

Fighter

Research:4 600

Purchase:16 000

Show in game

This page is about the Russian fighter Yak-1B. For the German version, see Yak-1B (Germany). For the earlier version, see Yak-1.

Description

The Yak-1B is a rank II Russian fighter with a battle rating of 3.3 (AB/SB) and 3.0 (RB). It has been in the game since the start of the Open Beta Test prior to Update 1.27.

The Yak-1B is equipped with standard armament for most Yakovlev aircraft: one machine gun and one ShVAK cannon; with 200 and 120 rounds each, nothing out of the ordinary. Good against aircraft, but against anything more significant the burst-mass is lacking for quick take-downs.

The improved Yak-1 features, like most mid war water-cooled fighters, a 1,210 hp engine. It remains sub par to the German equivalent. However, at the time this plane was fielded most enemy vehicles were of heavier weight, further increasing the Yak series excellent manoeuvrability. Unfortunately, in-game the aircraft is tiered with earlier vehicles, this shifts the performance spectrum of the Yak-1B towards engine power.

General info

Flight performance

Describe how the aircraft behaves in the air. Speed, manoeuvrability, acceleration and allowable loads - these are the most important characteristics of the vehicle.

Characteristics
Stock
Max Speed (km/h at 4,000 m)		Max altitude (meters)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (meters/second)		Take-off run (meters)
AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
575	559	10500	19.3	19.8	13.5	13.5	368
Upgraded
Max Speed (km/h at 4,000 m)		Max altitude (meters)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (meters/second)		Take-off run (meters)
AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
608	592	10500	18.0	18.5	18.6	16	368

Details

Features
Combat flaps	Take-off flaps	Landing flaps	Air brakes	Arrestor gear
X	X	✓	X	X

Limits
Wing-break speed (km/h)	Gear limit (km/h)	Combat flaps (km/h)	Max Static G
			+	-
		410	~11	~7

Optimal velocities
Ailerons (km/h)	Rudder (km/h)	Elevators (km/h)	Radiator (km/h)
< 380	< 420	< 490	> 340

Compressor (RB/SB)
Setting 1
Optimal altitude	100% Engine power	WEP Engine power
700 m	1,260 hp	N/A
Setting 2
Optimal altitude	100% Engine power	WEP Engine power
2,900 m	1,175 hp	N/A

Survivability and armour

• 64 mm Bulletproof glass in cockpit front and rear.
• 8 mm Steel plate behind the pilot.

Armaments

Offensive armament

The Yak-1B is armed with:

• 1 x 20 mm ShVAK cannon, nose-mounted (120 rpg)
• 1 x 12.7 mm Berezin UB machine gun, nose-mounted (200 rpg)

Suspended armament

The Yak-1B can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

• Without load
• 2 x 50 kg FAB-50 bombs (100 kg total)

Usage in battles

Arcade Battles

The Yak-1B is simply an upgraded Yak-1, the main features being much-improved cockpit visibility (useful if you like to fly "in-cockpit"), slightly better durability, and a slightly more resilient engine that, unfortunately, still overheats quickly. However, the beauty of the Yakovlev line of fighters lies in two things:

• Their biggest problem is engine overheating, but this is easily fixed by simply flying between 80%-90% throttle.
• The Yak's performance is not hindered in the slightest by flying at this engine power.

Due to the above two facts, in AB: fly at 90% power. The Yaks can dogfight just fine at 90%, and will rarely overheat. Even though in Arcade battles all planes get WEP, the WEP on this plane adds almost nothing to its performance while rapidly overheating the engine, thus using WEP is practically unnecessary. If you find yourself in a situation where your aircraft needs more power, throttle up from 90% to 100% power, however, remember to throttle back down to 90% once you can.

Wait for the dogfight to start, then fly in behind a distracted enemy. Shoot in bursts unless tailing a bomber, in which case you will not last very long against their rear gunners unless you are incredibly accurate with the cannon. If your engine begins to overheat, start flying back to your airfield. Otherwise, your engine will give out after the temperature gauge turns red.

To sum up, this is merely a better version of the Yak-1, with similar tactics and strategy. Just remember that Soviet fighter aircraft in general count heavily on it's pilot's accuracy having, in this case, only one good gun!

Realistic Battles

Take off at 100% throttle, then go to 90% after getting above the trees. Upon reaching around 500 m, go to 80-85% throttle. Stay low at all costs! If you climb above 1000 m, four things will happen:

1. You will have run your engine out trying to climb, so your engine has less time before it overheats than usual. (You also don't climb as fast as most other planes, in fact, there are better Soviet aircraft for climbing, such as the MiG-3 and the La-5).
2. You will be highly visible.
3. You will have reduced manoeuvrability.
4. You will easily rip your wings upon trying to dive (The Yak's wings, is made of wood, disappear at about 600 kph).

If you stay below 1000 m, then you will have more advantages than the enemy, such as:

1. Better camouflage... harder to spot.
2. There is almost no chance of ripping wings.
3. You are already at optimal altitude and speed for manoeuvring.
4. Enemies easily overshoot you or rip wings attempting to dive on you.
5. You can trick enemies into flying into the ground (make sure you don't do so yourself!).

Right before entering a dogfight, bring your throttle to 90%. Flying at this reduced throttle setting in Realistic Battles is enough to fight at below 1,000 m (some experienced Yak pilots will even dogfight at 80% throttle!). Immediately after battling it out, bring the throttle back down to 80% (if you don't already have it there). Only in extreme cases use 100% power; however, maintaining that speed tends to overheat the engine quickly.

It is recommended to avoid firing at ground targets due to the limited ammunition available for use against other planes. Remember that you do not reload in mid-air in Realistic Battle, so ammunition conservation is critical while closing the distance with the enemy before firing. Remember, fire only in short bursts to conserve ammunition and avoid jamming the guns. The great thing about the Yak's guns is that they are centre-line mounted. Guns mounted in the propeller shaft mean that you do not have to worry about convergence points, instead lead the target and snipe. The drawback is that you cannot spray the mark with a hail of bullets like most players tend to do. This plane and all the Yaks afterwards are about accuracy and skill necessary to handle this agile plane, and it's hard-hitting cannon (that all non-Soviet pilots complain about) to compensate for the lack of ammo. The machine gun is lacklustre and is only useful once your cannon ammunition has run out (you use the machine gun as protection on the way back to the airfield).

When landing, slow the aircraft to BELOW 300 km/h before lowering the landing gear! Many Yak pilots have ripped their fragile landing gear when descending too fast with them extended. The last thing all Yak pilots should know in Realistic Battles is never to climb higher than 3,000 m (at or below 1,000 m is preferred). The Yak line of fighters was not built to fight at the higher altitudes, and the game is filled with much more capable aircraft in this respect. If you like B&Z or you prefer to climb high, but don't want to use the US or German planes, then use the MiG line or the LaGG/La line of fighters, as they have much better engines. The Yak is a dog-fighter.

Tips from the Aces

• A Yak pilot can nullify all but the last "Cons" below by staying below 2000 m, and keeping the throttle at 90% for AB, and 85% for RB/SB.
• If the situation allows, using in-cockpit view can often help with accuracy due to no parallax effect... meaning (hopefully) less of your precious shots wasted.
• Flaps help with hard turns, but against most opponents, flaps will not be utilized much. Use flaps wisely, since flying at ~90% means a tiny bit less engine power to get back to speed after slowing down due to using flaps. However, don't hesitate to use flaps if the fight depends on it, it is easier to regain speed than to pay for a new plane!
• Everything learned from the Yak-1B applies to all of the later Yaks mastering this plane will repay itself in gold later.

Specific enemies worth noting

• A6M2 Zeroes: They will out turn you, so try to attack in a shallow dive rather than a turn fight. Energy fighting is also okay because Zero has poor energy retention and terrible high-speed control and handling.
• P-47Ds: They are much faster than you and are excellent at boom and zoom, so avoid them if possible. If you are caught in a fight, try to energy fight them or turn to fight them.
• Other Yakovlevs: They are slightly slower, so either keep them occupied with manoeuvres such as the scissors and barrel rolls or energy fight them.
• Spitfires: They are significantly slower but have a turning radius that would embarrass a Zero, and their Hispano cannons are significantly more deadly than you ShVAK cannon. Try to energy fight them as that can overcome your worse manoeuvrability. Boom & Zoom is also an option in arcade battles, but never try to turn-fight a Spitfire.

Manual Engine Control

MEC elements
Mixer	Pitch	Radiator			Supercharger	Turbocharger
		Oil	Water	Type
Controllable	Controllable Not auto controlled	Controllable Not auto controlled	Controllable Not auto controlled	Separate	Controllable 2 gears	Not controllable

Modules

Tier	Flight performance		Survivability	Weaponry
I	Fuselage repair	Radiator		Offensive 12 mm
II		Compressor	Airframe	New 12 mm MGs	BI-42
III	Wings repair	Engine		Offensive 20 mm
IV			Cover	New 20 mm cannons

With the Yak line of fighters, always research the engine and performance modules first! Adding power upgrades will help to lower the overheating of the engine. Afterwards, the aircraft modules can be unlocked in any order according to pilot preference. The Survivability modules are recommended next, as they improve the Yak-1b's manoeuvrability and survivability even more. The Armament modules improve only by adding ammo belt types available but also allows the usage of 100 kg of bombs.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Good speed
• Good structural strength
• Hard-hitting and accurate 20 mm ShVAK cannon
• Good rate of climb at low alt

Cons:

• No WEP in RB/SB
• Water and Oil overheats quickly
• Low dive speed limit
• Poor performance above 5,000 m altitude
• Low ammo count makes this plane reliant on trigger control by the pilot

History

Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the aircraft in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under === In-game description ===, also if applicable).

In-game description

The Yak-1 is a Soviet single-engine fighter of the WWII era. It was the first combat aircraft designed by Alexander Yakovlev's construction bureau and was produced from 1940 to 1944, with a total of 8,700 aircraft built. The Yak-1B variant was a culmination of all 1942 efforts to improve the Yak-1. Work began at TsAGI, where research into improving the water and oil radiators took place between 24th May and 10th June 1942, and work to increase the top speed was conducted between 20th and 26th July 1942. Tactical characteristics of the Yak-1 were significantly improved as a result, leading to Yakovlev's request to the Minister of Aviation to mass-produce a test batch of 20 improved aircraft for combat testing at the front.

However, the improvements looked so good on paper that a test batch was skipped, and a Defence Committee Directive dated 11th August 1942 ordered a new and improved Yak-1 into mass production. Improved armament triggers and a cockpit with improved rearward visibility were welcomed by Soviet pilots and became standard on all contemporary Soviet fighter planes.

Notable pilots

• 

  Soviet female fighter ace Litvyak was flying a Yak-1B in August 1943 when she was shot down by a group of Bf 109s
• 

  During the transition from the MiG-3 to the P-39, Pokryshkin flew a Yak-1B and scored several victories in this aircraft.

Media

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the series of the aircraft;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

• [Wikipedia] Yakovlev Yak-1