Yakovlev Yak 3 White 100

The Yak-3 represented the culmination of Alexandr Sergeevich Yakovlev's development of lightweight fighter types during the Second World War. As such, it was designed as a short range, agile interceptor to gain control of local airspace during the great Soviet offensive operations of the last two years of the war. The Yak-3 entered service in 1944 and had such an impressive rate of roll, turn and climb that German pilots were instructed not to engage these fighters below 5000 m. Overall, 4848 Yak-3s were produced.

The paint scheme of "White-100" is based on a Yak-3 that was part of 402 IAP (regiment). The 402 IAP was formed in 1941 and was staffed largely with very experienced test pilots drawn from the Scientific Testing Institute of the Air Force (VVS). During the summer of 1944 the 402 IAP received brand new Yak-3 aircraft and went into action in the Vistula-Oder and East Pommerania regions in the autumn. The 402 was at the VVS spearhead of operations in the battle over Berlin, and fought very hard and with distinction in this campaign.

The 402 IAP finished the War as one of the most successful regiments in the VVS. In all, they completed 13,511 sorties in four years. The officially recognized score for the regiment was 810 enemy aircraft in aerial battles, and countless aircraft, vehicles and equipment on the ground. The total loss to the 402 was 81 pilots and six ground crew. Seventeen Heroes of the Soviet Union were decorated within the 402, including some of the greatest Yak pilots such as Pavlushkin (35+7), Egorovich (22+2), Pivovarov (21+9), Rubakhin (20+1) and Gavrilin (19+7).

Yak-3M G-CGXG was assembled at Strela in Orenburg (700 miles south-east of Moscow on the Russian-Kazakh border) in the early 1990s. It was the result of a co-operation between the Yakovlev Design Bureau, Strela and Flight Magic, Santa Monica, California. Its design is based as closely as possible on the wartime Yak-3, but utilises an all-metal structure. Strela was formed from the original Zavod (Factory) 47 in Leningrad (hence the 047 in the serial number). This factory was evacuated to Chkalov in 1941, a suburb of Orenburg. In 1958 the factory's designation was changed to Strela. Strela manufactured strategic missiles until 1998, and now make a host of other products. G-CGXG is powered by an Allison V-1710 engine as there is currently no single working Klimov engine available. Both the Klimov and the Allison V-1710 are liquid cooled piston V-12 engines with very similar dimensions and power

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