How to use the YAK-1
 

OK so last night I unlocked this littl piece oif history.. i love how it manuevers and flies. However with only 1 Machine gun and 1 cannon it seems to fall way short on shoot down power.. What are some of the ways I can use this plane? How should it be used? I found it rather useless against a bombing run online last night LOL...

Also I struggle with deciding between the YAK 1 and the Spitfire MK II... What do you guys think is the better plane ? Seems to me that the YAK is a better interceptor/ annoyance in the air and the spitfire is better at boom and zoom...

The Yak's cannon is very good at close ranges for instantly turning your target into a fireball. Once you get used to high degree deflection/snap shots that is. Also, it's relative small size make it harder to spot, and hit, by enemy aircraft. I prefer the Yak-3 but they're both pretty slow so you always have to be aware of your energy.

In reality, the Yak-1b was short on firepower, but the pilots didn't mind this little flaw because it gave them excellent roll rate and speed, compared to the heavier armed 109s and later in the years, 190s.

As for how to fly the plane, you must always keep your speed up. Try to get your enemy into a turning fight, because you'll without a doubt be able to outturn the victim, and soon enough, you'll be close enough to just fill your sights with the enemy fighter. As for being used, keep it low altitude, and if your enemy's lower in altitude than yourself, dive on him with 80% throttle, and then pull out of the dive and he should be yours with a quick burst or two in the engine. For all the Yak's and Russian planes, closeness is the key to victory and a new victim. That's how the Russian's built the Yak's, La's, Polikarpov's, and other fighters of the time. They don't have much range for guns, but were used to get in close, and fire. (Kinda like how Japanese planes were too.) They used the closeness because if they had an enemy on their own tail, it was likely if they missed the Russian plane, to hit their friend. But the Russian guns also did a lot more damage up close, and their rounds were more likely to hit in the first place.

And for dealing with bombers, Yak's of any sort should not be used really, unless it's the Yak-9T. (Personally I don't care for this, and think they should have just used a Yak-9 or Yak-9D model. The "T" stands for tank, and that's why it's got such a large 37mm cannon in the nose which makes the plane quiet wobbly when fired for too long. Since it's frame is so light.)

For close dogfighting and high speed fights. The Yak-1 is my choice, because it's roll rate and actually, in reality had a better rate of climb than the Spitfire MK II... because it was so light and fast. For intercepting bombers, though, I'd go with the Spitfire, but fighters, I'd choose the Yak-1 because of it's size advantage, and pretty much all around ability to get in close and just burst enemies from the sky!

(And whoever saw this, and was going to say, "I feel Soviet Ace coming," or something like that... too late. :P :cool:

on the YAk ........ the above is you're man lol :)



spits are pretty decent great turn rate and fire power ............ the Mk9 is mainly the weapon of choice on the psn (realistic) it also has a "decent" punishment level!!! the Mk16 dosent pull out of the dive as well as the 2 and 9

thats what ive personally found with the spits any ways!!!

I cannot say how historically accurate the combat tactics are in IL1946, but I am currently flying the YAK 1 in the final stages of the war from the Russian perspective and noticed that the squadron frequently fly at low altitude (approx. 5000 ft) with cover provided by high altitude LA's or another group of Yaks. The German FW's -BF's, etc, use their better climb rate to escape horizontal turning fights and are bounced by the group above. Rockets are used by the squadron when engaging Bombers including JU87's (and quite effectively).

Yeah, '46 is pretty accurate with it's combat tactics and formations. In reality, Soviet tactics were like that. Have the weaker plane down low to be "jumped" and have either La's or Yak's fly cover. When the Yak-3 came out, it actually replaced most of the La's on the Eastern Front as a top cover plane. The La's were reverted to attacking bombers mostly since they had the fire power to do so. But by the end of the war, the Soviet Union already had air supremacy, so most of the planes weren't attached with rockets unless obviously used against ground targets.

But '46 also uses experimental tactics, that weren't put to so much use, or were just ideas that were leaked out from some where.

Thank you for the info.. I will def practice with it.. I was flying the I 16 last night and loved it. Only thing is the engine would sometimes randomly cut off !?

That's because it's got a float carburetor instead of fuel injection. The Yak-1, Hawker Hurricane, and Yak-9 should all cut out when you attempt to roll or dive without rolling (just pointing the stick forward from level flight). But it seems the I-16 and I-153 are the only two planes in BoP that are effected like this.

It's because you're cutting the fuel from getting to the engine, so the engine cuts out. And it also happens if you're using WEP too often or for too long. So when flying the I-16, always roll into a dive and don't use WEP so often. It'll burn your engine out and just kill it for good. (They didn't make it possible to restart the engine in a dive like in '46.)

OK, Thanks.. I'll have to remember this..