***CANCELLED*** Summer of Flight – Yakovlev Yak-3M

***This Saturday’s program has been cancelled due to the rain saturated runway and weather forecast***

One of the smallest and lightest combat fighters of the war, the Yak-3 was easy to maintain and had an impressive power-to-weight ratio. When it entered service in July 1943 it was superior to both the Fw 190 and Bf 109G at altitudes below 16,000 feet.

The Museum’s Yak-3M is one of a series of aircraft built around the time of the fall of the Soviet Union. Yakovlev, seeking foreign currency to stabilize their business, assessed a market for re-built warbirds in the west. They restarted the production lines using original parts, tooling, and no doubt some of the original workers who had constructed the Yak-3 during WWII. These aircraft carried on a serial number sequence from the last aircraft that had been built during the war years. The principal difference between the Yak-3M and its wartime counterparts was the use of an American Allison engine rather than the Russian-built Klimov engine.

Among the most successful Soviet wartime aircraft designs, 4,848 Yak-3s were built during the war. The Luftwaffe even advised its pilots against tangling with the Yak-3 at low altitudes because of the aircraft’s superior performance. The Soviet approach to fighter design had been to focus different design bureaus on specific challenges; the Yak-3 had been specifically designed to overcome the Luftwaffe at low altitudes directly over the battlefield to clear the way for Soviet ground attack aircraft like the famed Il-2 Sturmovik.

Saturdays at 1pm from May to September, the Military Aviation Museum will be showcasing historical aircraft and commemorating important wartime events through narrated flying demonstrations.

Experience the rumble from the engine up close as you hear from the pilots about what it is like to fly these incredible aircraft, learn about the battles they participated in, and about the men and women who built, flew and maintained them during the war!

Summer of Flight is included in your general museum admission and free for museum members. Each event starts at 1:00 pm unless otherwise noted.

Flights, Aircraft and Topics subject to change. Due to inclement weather, dates may be rescheduled to a later date or canceled. All flights are weather and maintenance permitting.