At the end of 1942, the Free French "Normandie-Niemen" squadron is transferred to Russia, to keep on fighting against the Luftwaffe, beside the Soviet Air Force. Three years later, this fighter unit had become one of the most successful in military aviation history. In 1945, a decree by Stalin gave the pilots the legal right to return home with their arms –meaning, they each actually got to keep their Yak-3.

The Yakovlev Yak-3 was a single-engine, single-seat World War II Soviet front line fighter aircraft. Robust and easy to maintain, it was much liked by pilots and ground crew alike. It was one of the smallest and lightest major combat fighters fielded by any combatant during the war. Its high power-to-weight ratio gave it excellent performance, and it proved a formidable dogfighter. Marcel Albert, one of the French aces who flew the Yak-3 in USSR with the Normandie-Niemen squadron, considered it a superior aircraft when compared to its opponents.

It’s a simple plane, so it has simple controls; VTOL for flaps, trim for trim. AG1 for lights, AG2 unlocks the tail wheel steering… that’s all there’s to it.

Happy hunting!