Somehow it happened on our website that the designer Yakovlev is not very fond of. For many reasons, some of which are not groundless.
In general, we will talk in detail about the serpentarium that existed in those years under the name "Society of Soviet Aircraft Designers" later. It, society, deserves it.
But speaking of Yakovlev, let's be frankly impartial. Strange as it may seem, there were people behind Alexander Sergeevich. Yakovlev did not create fighters alone, did not bring them to mind on his own. So, while discussing the difficult fate of the first "Yak", let's not forget about it.
Historical background
Finally, I'll start with what it would be worth starting with in the article about LaGG-3. That is, with a story about what, in fact, the Red Army Air Force wanted to get in terms of a new fighter. Correcting the defect.
The tactical and technical requirements (TTT), approved as part of the development project on June 23, 1939, were as follows:
The first prototype (with the M-106 engine):
- maximum speed at an altitude of 6000 m - 620 km / h
- landing speed - 120 km / h
- flight range (at a speed equal to 0.9 max.) - 600 km
- flight range in reloading version - 1000 km
- ceiling - 11-12 km
- time to climb 10,000 m - 9-11 min
- armament: one BS machine gun of 12, 7-mm caliber and two synchronous machine guns ShKAS 7, 62-mm.
The second prototype with an M-106 engine and a TK-2 turbocharger was supposed to have characteristics similar to the first prototype, with the exception of the following:
- maximum speed at an altitude of 8000-10000 m - 650 km / h
- armament: two synchronous machine guns ShKAS caliber 7, 62 mm.
Very similar to what Polikarpov did, and was completed by Mikoyan and Gurevich, isn't it? Especially in the first option.
But, as I already said, the M-106 did not go under any sauce, just as I had to forget about the TK-2 turbocharger. And then the race of our designers began, who would turn out the most abruptly. Considering that everyone had to twist, then the output was a bunch of fighters with different engines, different performance characteristics, and different destinies.
Yakovlev Design Bureau
Yes, the small (I would say tiny) Yakovlev Design Bureau, swinging at the fighter, surprised everyone. Indeed, before that, the OKB produced sports aircraft, aircrafts and training aircraft. Albeit with some success.
In general, back in 1936, Yakovlev made attempts to build a fighter, but who then could compete with Polikarpov? But as usual, there were no motors for Yakovlev's planes.
Still, the project was born within the walls of the design bureau and received the name I-26.
The parents were the leading designer of the design bureau K. V. Sinelshchikov and the chief designer of plant No. 115 K. A. Vigant.
The educational and sports specialization of the KB had a good impact on the project. Clean aerodynamic shapes, rational layout, mid-position of the cockpit (which means a good view forward, especially during takeoff and run) are all quite important.
But for the first time the project "hung". The reason for this was the M-106 engine. Here we must pay tribute to everyone, starting with Yakovlev: the transition to the M-105P motor with the MP-20 ShVAK motor-gun was immediately carried out. On December 30, the I-26-1 left the plant and was transported to the Central airfield of Moscow, and on January 13, 1940, the first flight was performed.
During this flight, Yu. I. Piontkovsky, the leading test pilot of factory tests, noted the good controllability of the aircraft, but at the same time, he was alarmed by the rapid rise in oil temperature, which forced him, without delaying the flight, to land.
And so it began … It turned out that the car was not fully understood, which could not reach the set parameters in any way. Moreover, fifteen times during the tests, Piontkovsky was forced to rescue an experienced fighter by an emergency landing.
On the plane, the oil pipeline system was repeatedly altered, oil coolers of various designs were installed, the engine was changed three times due to overheating of the bearings. Everything was useless, the engine continued to overheat. As a result, on April 27, 1940, on the 43rd flight, what had been brewing for a long time happened: the prototype crashed, the test pilot Yu. I. Piontkovsky died.
But that is not all. The fact that the I-26 did not achieve its flight characteristics is only half. In general, in comparison with its competitors (I-180, I-200, I-301), the I-26 was quite good in terms of flight characteristics, but in terms of combat …
As a fighter, the I-26 has not yet taken place at all.
The list of shortcomings was enormous. The equipment necessary for the fighter was not installed: communications, a generator, night lighting and night landing gear.
There were also problems with weapons. The force on the trigger switches of the machine guns reached 27 kg, the spent cartridges fell anywhere, so that the shooting of weapons had to be stopped.
So they did not cope with the oil system, which is why the plane could not work for a long time at rated speed, which in turn caused a shortage of speed of 15-17 km / h.
According to I. G. Rabkin, a test engineer at the RKKA Air Force Research Institute at that time, takeoff was carried out in two steps: first, taxiing to the start, then cooling the engine for 10-15 minutes, then starting and taking off again at full speed.
Later, during the war, this was repeated with the aircraft that received the VK-107.
But the plane showed a good speed (592 km / h) at an altitude of 5000 m, and the I-26 climbed to this height in 6 minutes. The airplane was credited with ease of control, that is, the testers considered that a pilot with average training would not experience control difficulties.
And so it happened, by the way. The disadvantages were insufficient longitudinal stability, it was sacrificed for the sake of maneuverability, lack of ventilation in the cabin, deficiencies in the chassis, oil system, weapons.
In general, the experts came to the conclusion that the plane did not pass the test. That, however, did not close his way to the sky, and together with the same "winners" of the competition I-200 and I-301, I-26 was sent for revision.
Soviet pre-war "tricks"
An interesting point. The serial production of the I-26 was started BEFORE the commission's requirements were amended. Yes, it was about a military series of 25 vehicles for testing by army pilots, but nevertheless.
In general, making such a seemingly strange decision, the Government clearly took risks. The plane could not pass the tests, the Yakovlev design bureau could not eliminate the shortcomings. In this case, the losses would have been very great, but … I think the risk was fully justified.
Even at that time, the USSR could afford to build a batch of unsuccessful machines. But in case of success, a rather significant gain in time was obtained. Considering that the country actually began to prepare for war, this was more than justified.
But here's a little trick for you: precisely in order to reduce the degree of risk, three models were recognized as winners in the 1939 fighter competition: I-26, I-200 and I-301, which also began to be built in series!
And the situation turned out that the Air Force received THREE aircraft instead of one. Well, then the arrangement of everyone and everything in their places began.
Strange, but we can say that such an obvious middle peasant I-26 (Yak-1) achieved very significant results in this race.
Yes, the I-26 does not have such a high maximum speed and climb rate as the I-200 (MiG). It did not have the same weapons as the I-301 (LaGG). And all he came out like that … not serious or something. Well, as a car from a sports design bureau should have been.
Nevertheless, the service life of the machine, and especially the number of aircraft produced, speaks quite the opposite. That everything was very serious.
Yak-1
In 1940, the I-26 officially became the Yak-1. We will also start calling it that.
But renaming the car did not improve the performance characteristics at all. Many components were still lacking, and improvements and improvements were constantly required.
It was especially problematic with weapons. Cannons and machine guns stubbornly refused to go to assembly plants. Plant No. 2 of the People's Commissariat of Arms, refused to release ShVAK cannons, no matter how wild it may sound in those days. A similar situation has developed with the ShKAS synchronous machine guns, the production of which the plant No. 66 also could not start for a very long time.
And then the work began. Not even like this: Work. The oil system has changed dramatically seven times. Pneumatic system - four times. The engine hoods are doubled. Replaced the AK-30 air compressor with a more powerful AK-50. The landing gear was improved, a new hatch was added in the fuselage for approaching the radiator of the engine cooling system.
In total, from February 1 to October 1, 1940, 306 changes were made to the I-26 design, and 3950 to the drawings.
You can fiercely criticize Yakovlev, but these figures indicate that the Yak-1 went into production not with the help of a blat, but due to the fact that the machine was licked by microns by all the design bureaus.
And in total, from the moment the working drawings were received for assembly, that is, from June 9, 1940 to January 1, 1941, 7460 changes were made to the drawings.
Impressive? Me - yes. It's a pity that there are no such figures left for LaGG and MiG. It would be interesting to compare. But even so, here the work of the entire Yakovlev design bureau is evident, which really fought for the plane. What is worthy of respect.
And serial production began. True, they really began to test the plane in real battles. But the leapfrog began, caused by the relocation of factories inland. And it was not just leapfrog, sometimes it was a real madhouse.
I will cite as an example the story that happened at the plant # 153. The plant was intended for the production of the Yak-1. But according to the GKO decree of August 14, 1941, an improved version of the Yak-1 was to be introduced on it. Without any letter yet. This aircraft differed from the serial one produced, for example, at the plant # 292, by the increased diameter of the wheels, a different engine and the presence of a radio station.
However, factory # 153 began to produce not the Yak-1, but the Yak-7 armed with two ShKAS machine guns and an MP-20 ShVAK cannon, since this machine was backed up by components. The components came from the Moscow plant №301 evacuated to Novosibirsk.
This version of the Yak-7 was officially named by the plant # 301 as "Yak-1 of the Yak-7 type".
It was only in April 1942 that this aircraft received the name Yak-7A at factory # 153. And the Yak-7A was produced only at factory # 153.
But there is one more nuance here. Somehow it so happened that before the renaming, the government and the People's Commissariat of the aviation industry called the plane … Yak-3. And so he went through all the documents, plans of the People's Commissariat, factories, according to the decisions of the State Defense Committee.
Yak-1, which is Yak-1 type Yak-7, that is, Yak-7A, but actually Yak-3.
The transformations of the Yak-7 are worthy of a separate article, just as it will be necessary to make out the fact that there were no more, no less, but four cars with the name Yak-3.
This is approximately how the production of aircraft was carried out in 1941-42. Say - horror? I agree, horror. But - the planes went to the front, they flew and fought there. The production workers and functionaries of the NKAP got sad, but … the planes were being produced. Even if it is somewhat so …
The factories were shuffled like a deck of cards, the planes were taken out of production, put in place, and transferred to other factories. In general, only the Saratov aircraft plant remained the only one that produced the Yak-1 from the first day until the end of production in 1944.
Yes, Yak-1 production was stopped only in July 1944. And a total of 192 episodes were released.
Trying to fit the moment
It should be added that 1942 was the year of the most intense work on the machine. It was then that the Yakovlev Design Bureau frantically tried to improve the aircraft in all possible ways. This year, the most serious changes were made to the design of aircraft, both quantitatively and qualitatively. There were 5098 changes, additions and upgrades in total …
It is clear that the Yak-1 is the progenitor of all further development of the Yak family of fighters. Therefore, the reasons are clear that entailed thousands of changes and upgrades in the design. This is normal, this is the evolution of the aircraft.
It is a pity that in our country it has developed in a somewhat irregular form. Not from an increase in engine power, but from a reduction in weight. More powerful motors are our pain throughout the Great Patriotic War.
There was a very strict weight requirement in the range of 2800-3000 kg. Not from scratch, it was the tensile strength of the chassis. Plus the power of the motor.
Why did I indicate 1942 as the year of dramatic changes? That's right, the Me-109F-3 and F-4 with a more powerful 1350 hp DB-601E engine appeared on the Eastern Front. and even equipped with a GM-1 engine afterburner system. We won't even stutter about the FW-190. The yak began to lose speed just catastrophically. The task was set to neutralize the advantage of the Germans. As always, at any cost.
It was not planned to get the new engine at the disposal of factories in the foreseeable future, therefore it was necessary to remove the weight literally by grams.
The ski landing gear, launchers for RO-82 rockets, the masts and antennas of the radio station, everything that influenced the speed was removed.
At plant number 292, 10 lightweight aircraft were manufactured and sent for testing: without ShKAS machine guns and ammunition for them, with unprotected gas tanks and metal tail assembly from the Yak-7. The lightweight Yak-1 was tested and received a positive assessment. The weight saving was almost 120 kg.
But in the winter of 1943, when the Me-109Gs appeared near Stalingrad, this method of improving the performance characteristics of the machine was remembered again. The initiative came from the pilots of the 16th Air Army, who offered to lighten the Yak-1 by removing the night and oxygen equipment, one of two air cylinders and both machine guns with ammunition.
The plant went even further and in September 1942, 20 Yak-1 96 series aircraft, lightened by 160 kg, were produced.
ShKAS machine guns with ammunition and installations, a pneumatic reloading system for a gun, an RSI-4 radio station with a mast and antenna, a generator, night equipment were removed from the planes, and instead of a wooden one, a lighter (by 14 kg) metal tail was installed with the Yak-7.
Due to the lightening of the car, the speed increased as expected. At 23 km / h, to 592 km / h at an altitude of 3800 m), and the climb time to 5000 m decreased by 1.1 min (to 4.7 min).
The obtained advantage in the rate of climb made it possible to catch up and hit the Messerschmitts of all modifications and leave with a climb. But the firepower, of course, dropped, because one 20mm cannon is one cannon.
Such events were everywhere and everywhere regarded solely as a temporary measure. Soviet military leaders were not fools and understood everything perfectly. And they demanded the development of new machines capable of fighting without removing equipment and weapons.
So the fate of such a radically lightweight aircraft was a foregone conclusion.
The experience of military operations showed that air battles on the Eastern Front were mainly fought at altitudes of 1, 5 - 4 km. On the Western, these heights were much higher, 5-7 km, but this is a separate conversation, quite interesting.
We are interested in the moment that during the main actions at such heights, our triad MiG-3, LaGG-3 and Yak-1, built according to the assignment (see at the beginning) for action at high altitudes, could not realize all their capabilities.
And, perhaps, only the Yak-1, having gone through hundreds and thousands of improvements and modifications, more or less normally made its way.
Worst of all, of course, the MiG-3 felt like the highest of the three fighters. In addition, at the time of the outbreak of the war, it was MiGs that entered the troops most of all. But not possessing sufficient weapons, the aircraft was not very suitable for the role of a front-line fighter and gradually these aircraft were transferred to the air defense system.
LaGG-3, which we also talked about, was originally an aircraft with a lot of advantages, but in mass production some of them got confused. Perhaps Lavochkin simply did not have Yakovlev's experience in avoiding imposed improvements. Yakovlev had just received a tremendous amount of experience in "improving" his AIR-8 and BB-22 in accordance with the requirements of the Air Force.
But the Yak-1, which was neither high-speed, nor heavily armed, nor durable, nevertheless, turned out to be no less, and even more effective than the MiG and LaGG. Requiring no changes such as engine replacement.
The best example is the Yak-1B. From my point of view, this is the highest point in the development of the Yak-1. And this is a completely different car, different from the original one. But suddenly, as if by magic, it turned out that it was possible to greatly improve the car using completely simple and affordable methods.
Changing (I won't say which one) the oil system, especially oil coolers, sealing everything: water and oil coolers, fuselage, oil system tunnels, “licking” the shapes of the suction and exhaust pipes, fitting hatches.
And when all these activities gave results, that is, an increase in speed by 23 km / h. TsAGI specialists concluded that it is possible to squeeze out to 35-38 km / h.
Raising the speed, we took up arms. The armament was changed, but qualitatively instead of quantity. Instead of two rifle-caliber ShKAS machine guns, which were no longer good for anything, since enemy aircraft were overgrown with armor, they installed one UBS synchronous heavy machine gun with 200 rounds of ammunition.
At the exit, it turned out to be a completely sane plane. When the M-105PF engine was installed on the Yak-1, which, on the one hand, seemed to be boosted, the power became 1210 hp, but it lost precisely in altitude, this gave the plane a really second life.
The result of all that has been said can be the following conclusion: the Yak-1 aircraft was not only a successful development of the Yakovlev Design Bureau, it was able, through the efforts of engineers and designers, to become a platform for creating other aircraft models.
We can also say that Yakovlev used his position as Deputy People's Commissar of the Presidential Administration, but … Here I categorically disagree with this version. In those years, such posts flew off very quickly and landed very hard. Probably not worth citing Kurchevsky as an example?
Of course, Alexander Sergeevich could help his car, but not in such a way as shamelessly pushing through with the help of personal connections. It was fraught. Yes, choose a plant closer and with a stronger team, "break through" a new engine, and so on.
But first of all, the Yak-1 was quite a combat vehicle. And this was confirmed by "news from the front." If the fighter had turned out to be complete junk, it would have quickly reached Stalin. And negative news always reached him quickly.
So the Yak-1 turned out to be quite a competitive machine at first. Until 1943, at least. No backstage dancing and other things.
