The 'Great Fighter' That Became A Great Disappointment | Yakovlev Yak-2 [Aircraft Overview #22]
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- Опубликовано: 2 окт 2024
- The development of the Yak-2 is so riddled with problems that its almost comical. It was to be Alexander Yakovlev's first attempt at designing a combat aircraft for the Soviet Union. He knew that to impress Soviet leadership it had to be fast, and so he focused the entire design with speed in mind, leaving out any specific provisions for weapons, equipment etc.
The Yak-2 was indeed fast, but it was also plagued with problems when they tried to convert the unarmed prototype into a military aircraft. The added weight upset the handling, the build quality was alarmingly poor, and its engines had a habit of wanting to break free from their mounts. In the end, the Yak-2 didn't succeed, and neither did its successor: the Yak-4. But important lessons were learned, often painfully, and Yakovlev would start down the route to building some very notable single-seat fighters.
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Producing these videos is a hobby of mine. I have a passion for history, and personally own a large collection of books, journals and other texts, and endeavor to do as much research as possible. However if there are any mistakes, please don't hesitate to reach out and correct anything :)
Sources:
www.amazon.com...
www.amazon.com...
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You're knocking it out of the park at the moment. Risky prediction: Keep this up for a couple of years and you will be the Drachinifel of the air...
Or burnt out. Pace yourself fella!
I'd like that... I'd like that a lot. Great thing to listen, while driving to work.
I could see him getting to Drach level but by then he's got to do it as a full time job!
He's better I think. Hit on the russia&enterwar years like the Boeing monoplane ext
Except way less boring and with a much more structured approach.
Trying to build a race plane on Stalin's dime - how crazy was Yakolev to take that risk?
But he got away with it.
He was very Crazy , ah sure would't have tried it.
How could Stalin rely on Yakovlev as much as he did, to the point of Yakovlev certainly manipultating him?
It's how the system worked. Young and aggressive candidates fought tooth and nail for a place near the boss. Once the fight was over, and all the competition subdued or dead, the winner had almost unlimited influence on Stalin. Most were smart enough to survive, and "minor" failures like the Yak-2 did not do much harm.
I think war thunder adds perfectly to the presentation, maybe you could do this with future projects?
I am enormously enjoying this channel - I feel that this is a community where we are well informed and where the chat is also vibrant and thought provoking!
It is a brilliant channel, and the discussion in the comments is usually very cordial, interesting and well informed.
If he had kept out the rear gun and focused on the recon version first, he might have had a Russian Mosquito!
I feel exactly the same way about this channel. However, I fear losing interest if the channel decides to go down the path of mass-produced, money-making videos.
Mark Felton's channel is perhaps the best example. It started as a small, focussed channel, only to later develop into money-making videos filled with unnecessary, repetitive, boring information, in order to squeeze as much money as possible from each upload, thus completely destroying the enjoyment which the channel previously offered.
I really, really, really hope that does not happen to this great channel...
Stumbled across your channel quite by accident, however I've almost watched every one of your videos. Really enjoying the videos and the interesting repartee and dry sense of humor afforded. Do please keep up the good work and I look forward to more!
You’re quickly becoming the forgotten weapons of the air!! Keep it up! This is such great content, and you cover things that no one else does
One could also say this is the Drachinifel of the skies.
A 400 mph, twin-engined schnellbomber in 1939? The Hurricanes and Spitfires of the time could barely push 340, most US fighters struggled to hit 320. Had the Yak-2 been successful, it probably would've cemented itself as the Soviet Mosquito.
I agree, similar to Mosquito in some ways, but with more metal and even a bit earlier.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Havilland_Mosquito
In some ways it shows how good the Mosquito was designed.
Imagine this powered by Merlins! We know that pathfinder and reconnaissance versions of the Mossie just didn't need defensive armament. Seems to me the Russians had thee makings of something special here.
The Yak-2/4 had the same problem that all twin engine, twin seat fighter designs of the time had. Twin engines and two men doubled the weight and price without doubling the performance. The larger weight actually reduced the turn and climb performance that was important in dog fights. The second man on board quickly proved to be not very helpful. For a gunner in a violently manouvering fighter it is almost impossible to successfully aim a flexibly mounted gun at another violently manouvering fighter.
The only twin engine fighter that was really competetive against single engine, single seat fighters was the P-38 Lightning. It was as single seater, saving weight and drag. And it pushed the limits pretty hard. It totally relied on the exceptional high altitude performance it got from its turbo chargers. The whole aircraft was build around its engine and turbo arrangement, to minimize the drag and weight of the installation. The range required for long range missions was made possible by using two huge drop tanks, even though that solution gave it quite a high wing loading at take off.
The idea of a twin seat heavy fighter goes back all the way to the Bristol F.2 Fighter of WW1. It was highly successful and stayed competetive well into the 1920s. In a time when drag limited the speed anyway and turning performance was everything it was quite easy to get fighter performance out of a big aircraft. It only required more engine power and well designed control surfaces. Actually the F.2 was so successful that everybody believed the concept of a twin seat heavy fighter will work forever. This misconception waisted a huge lot of money and opportunities in the 1930s and 40s.
The Yak-2/4 were certainly beauties to see sitting on the field & are still beautiful on my model shelf! ;)
I've read biography of A.Yakovlev and Stalin is one of the main character in his book. Stalin was not like that when it comes to designers and engineers, he was discussing with them and Yakovlev was one of his fav designer. Yakovlev started from making gliders and then sport aircrafts, so his goals always were o make fast and nimble aircraft and he successfully done it with Yak-1/3/7/9 series. Yakovlev was also one of the 1st designer who created VTOL military plane. As he describes Stalin was always very curious about military stuff and asking questions like: why do British use small cal. miniguns instead of heavier cannons and which is better...
About the size of a Beech 18. Construction similar to the Cessna “Bamboo Bomber “. The rudders look small, would have made single engine flight very interesting! Thanks for the video!
So not every genius gets it right on the first attempt.
Really liked this one!
Well done! I knew the two aircraft were "not good" but had no idea why. What a mess! Besides the War Thunder reproduction, Mars Models in Ukraine makes excellent 1/48 scale model kits of both aircraft.
The Yac-2 is so cool looking to me! It's very reminiscent to the English mosquito for me too that I love so much. I'm into Nitro rc aircraft and I want to build a Yac-2 like I have successfully built and flown in mosquito form. Love this channel
Am I the only one getting a "proto-Beaufighter" vibe from this thing?
@@Hartley_Hare
G'day,
My thunkin's, prezactically...
This appears to be a
Naughty Girl's
Mosquito...;
No
Knickers...(!).
Such is life,
Have a good one...
Stay safe.
;-p
Ciao !
@@Hartley_Hare you read my mind
@@Hartley_Hare the unmodified/melested fuselage looks like a mozea to me
Games or simulators' footage is beneficial, as it gives a 3D view of the aircraft in question. Do not be shy to use gaming footage, as long as the model is accurate.
However, please... please do not change your scripts format. You have a wonderful, quickly growing channel. If you start changing your format in order to please the RUclips's algorithm, quality will fall, accordingly.
I have witnessed way too many great channels losing themselves by over-selling themselves... quality suffering massively as a result.
Please, continue to produce your great work just as you are presently doing.
Thank you ever so much for your wonderful, focussed, professional videos.
I'd say Yakovlev's greatest achievement was not getting murdered by the regime - unlike so many others.
Love the videos, can you please do one on the petlyakov pe-8? Thanks
Stress mark is on "a", like in "Yak" - Ya'kovlev
A smal suggestion: you can make a video about I-220 - it's story can raise some eyebrows
War thunder's i-29 is actually much closer to Yakovlev's initial blueprints as you show them and most of the photos featured in the video.
There's some info about this model in game's wiki and on airwar ru site, but I unfortunately can't verify any of it: both sites cite no sources. Airwar page also features some of the pictures you describe as depicting Aircraft 22 - including the one where cannons are clearly visible under the cockpit (at 5:44 mark)
Another great video. I’d recommend doing the Sunderland bomber. That could be a cool video!
I´m a huge fan of this aircraft on War Thunder. It´s an excellent high altitude interceptor, fast, very agile and extremely well armed. If I found a bomber flying at high altitude, this is the perfect aircraft to deal with it at low battle ratings. Unfortunately (like you said), one thing is the plane in the game, another is the reality. I knew that it had some flaws but not on this level. Great video and keep up the good work!
It's like the XP-50 but low tier, anyone going head on will not survive FIT rounds
@malfeasanceclan The XP-50 was also riddled with issues in development lol. But honestly, War Thunder is such a dumpster fire at this point that I've lost hope in Gaijin ever listening to its playerbase. None of the flight models in the game are remotely accurate honestly. Even the Spitfires have less engine power than in real life. The Bf 109s also overheat way too often and way too quickly even though the Daimler-Benz DB601 and DB605 can change their manifold pressure on the fly (as altitude increases).
There's a reason Yakovlev was sometimes referred to as "the rat king".
I'd suppose that one reason for using wood was that it was an non-strategic materiel.
The frontal profile and the overhead profile of the wings reminds me of the mosquito. Great job as always
All twin engine military aircrafts of that era will resemble the others.
@@tumuraltan9432 In that they all have wings, a fuselage, tailplane and 2 engines I guess
@@ray.shoesmith the mosquito had 20 gallons of standing water on the wings to breed more mosquitos in combat...I think 😅
Video suggestions: the wright model J scout. I can’t find any information on RUclips about it. I only know it from images.
I once had a job packing pickles.
THAT was jarring!
lol
Hah! I love this little red rascal. Incredibly interesting aircraft, especially with that red/white paintjob.
Damn, I thought(based on picture) you going to tell a story about diesel engine powered WW2 long range bomber by Soviet-Italian designer Roberto Bartini Stal-7, later Yer-2 and Yer-4 by Vladimir Yermolaev, oh well… 😊
I'm not surprised the Yak-2 was not exactly a success. It compared poorly against the Petlyakov Pe-2, even with the Pe-2's own shortcomings.
Pe-2 stronk💪💪💪
Like most of a communist gov't dictatorship. Over promise, under deliver, then stretch the truth so one doesn't lose their head.
A quick tip from a native slav: "Yakovlev" is pronounced ['jakəvlev] with the stress on the first "ya" and the "o" simplified to the neutral "ə".
when a me-410 and beaufighter get together
Pity Yakolev suffered from stubbornness, but the newer design really reminds me of the Japanese Gekko (Moonlight)
That ground attack version cockpit reminds me of the Me-210/410 of the luftwaffe. Which unfortunately seems to also have the same fate (being a failure that is). I think it would be good for the next video's topic!
The Me-210 was undoubtedly a (spectacular) failure. The Me-410 not so much so - it had its strengths, albeit that a daylight heavy fighter wasn't one of them once it came into contact with US escort fighters. But it was effective as a 'schnell-bomber' and night-fighter.
Now now, these aircraft did serve an important purpose during the beginning of ww2 and invasion of Russia. They proved to be great target decoys, making Germany waste ammo and fuel on these targets, rather then more important targets.
It had many problems, but I still keep him in my arsenal even at 3.3
once it loses enough energy to drop to 300km/h, it cobras like biplanes and once u kill the enemy, dual engines allow u to quickly recover in speed
I've alwyas held that there's no better incentice for a flawless design than there risk of gulag imprisonment or firing squad, especially when established and enforced by a volatile mad man's paranoia.
I think you can absolutely use game footage if the models are portrayed accurately. Aka DCS, IL-2 Warthunder etc.
Very interesting and original work as usual
With Stalin my aim would have been to become invisible and remain unknown to him and his apparatchiks.
The I-29 is also in War Thunder, it even has the red and white prototype colour scheme
The War Thunder version bears a strong resemblance to the ME-210/410, which was yet another plane that failed to live up to expectations.
technically the Yak-2 that you used was the interceptor prototype, the BB-22 or I-29. the Yak-2KABB or just Yak-2 is a ground attacker, hence the glazed nose.
Safe to say this channel kicks ass.
And I detect it's not by somebody who is 30 years old living in his parents apartment pretending to be a pilot.
Like that obviously well to do german guy that does inside the cockpit or whatever.
Great work Sir thank you for the great present ation
Top class, balanced presentation with a wonderfully human and humourous content. Many thanks and keep up the good work 😁
I enjoy your videos, although I'm certainly not an aviation expert. Was wondering if perhaps you could do one on propellers. I hear you mention variable pitch, counter rotating, rear facing, etc. What sort of materials were tried and how long were they expected to hold up? And how could they know which set up was optimal?
I would go here for vids on props engines turbo/super charger water injection wing differences ejection seats you name it he prob has it. Here is one for you on props 1909-1942. enjoy ruclips.net/video/MJKDvNKWZwk/видео.html
Indeed, I second that. I also want to see an episode on propellers but I specifically want to learn more about the experimental history of multi-speed airscrew development with particular emphasis on Soviet work in this area. [NB 'Multi-Speed' (or more usually, two-speed) means changing gear in flight as you would in a cat in order to climb a hill].
@@andrerousseau5730 I would go to his latest video and ask him if he had info on them and if so would he mind doing a video on the subject he has done 1 on German props of WW2. He has done viewer requested videos before.
@@lambastepirate Already spoken to him. Not only did he have no intention of including the topic but it seems I actually knew far more than him on the topic. What's missing from my research is experimental work undertaken by the Soviets and the Japanese, if at all.
@@andrerousseau5730 Sorry he couldn't help good luck on finding the info.
Sorta looks like a cross between a Lockheed Electra and the famous British Mosquito, with a touch of Pe-2 thrown in for good measure. Sounds like a good idea but I could see how it doesnt exactly mesh together well.
Is it just me or does it look like it was the starting point for the Me-210?
Pretty, pretty please. Russian aviation journalist rushing in. Here are correct stresses for you: YÁkovlev (Yak), TOÚpolev (Tu), IL'yÚshin (IL), MikoyÁn and GurÉvich (MiG), SukhÓi (Su), AntÓnov (An), LÁvochkin (La/LaGG fighters), PetlyakÓv (Pe), PolikÁrpov (of U-2/Po-2 the Sky Crawler), KorolyÓv (“space program father”), ChertÓk (the missile man), GagÁrin (cosmonaut №1), TitÓv (cosmonaut №2), LeÓnov, (first man in open space) TereshkÓva (first woman in space), KvÓchour (test pilot), BÓgdan (test pilot). Mikhail Mil of Mi helicopters is pronounced similar to the French thousand: Mílle, but with L not swallowed.
The french singer Herbert Léonard use to write some books about the Russian and Soviet fighters and bombers. I do not know however if he mentionned that very one but it is à possibility.
The only machine ever built in Russia that turned out to be a disappointment was every machine ever built in Russia
A long time ago in War Thunder, I earned an event aircraft called the I-29. It looks visually very similar to the Yak-2 prototypes featured here. Did you discover any info about that particular plane while doing your research for this video? Great content so far, really enjoying each one.
If the I-29 looks very similar to the Yak-2 then it probably is the same plane. Just under a different designation, because the USSR changed their designation scheme in 1939 as explained in the video.
It's a B-22Bis prototype, or at least, that's what the game apparently says it is.
I like that thing in warthunder kinda
And the images from warthunder are from the yak 4 that has no rear gunner, but twin 20mill sHvak cannons and twin 7.62 sKas machine guns
Nvm, he mentioned it
7:54 Its good to point out that Vi-100 was originaly designed as High-altitude interceptor, which was quite different role than what Yak-2 was supposed to. Aircraft was later redesigned into PB-100, after VVS issued order for dive bomber.
I'm also pretty sure that Stalin ordered Petleakov ( who was working in a NKVD "Sharashka") to turn the VI into the Pe-2 in like a single month which is still ridiculous. The only exception I know is how Lavochkin had to illegally fuel his Lagg-5 prototype and the Pilotburo gave like less like a week for testing and fixing any problems on his plane (which it had a crap top but at the end of the day that La5 was valuable at evening the odds in the air in the Soviets favor).
Another excellent video.
Just to let you know you're on my coffee list. That means I take the time to make a coffee before watching. There's not many I will do that for.
As an avid coffee drinker, this is high praise. Thank you! :)
Yak-2 is a beast in War Thunder. It can turn better than some single engine fighters, and has an impressive armament.
Yeah i agree on that,not bad for a krabb,lol.
its a good fighter but the roll time and the lack of yaw turning is the biggest weakness, if you’re being chased by a yak 2, just keep turning left and right repeatedly. the yak has to roll a full 90 degrees to turn with you, and takes almost a full second to go from a left side roll, to a right side roll. which means you can quickly outmaneuver it as long as you dont try to pull up and do a loop, if you try to out-loop the yak, you get gunned down.
Reminds me of the Breda 88. That would be a great choice for a video!
I second this, scrolling through the comments to see if anyone would bring up the Ba. 88. Truely its ill-fated Italian cousin of the same time period, record-setting during test flights without armaments, absolute failure once military equipment added. Allegedly production pushed ahead nonetheless with some political favouritism involved as well.
love the vids keep them comming
The Petlyakov Pe2 was the far superior aircraft
What amazes me most in this story is that Mr. Yakovlev actually was still the same height after this calamity. Normally Stalin had no reservations on reducing bodily height on people who deceived him.
You forgot to mention their service in the Elbonian Airforce
Very nice video!!!! One correction could be made, however. The maximum speed figures present different values: 395 m/h is not equivalent to 567 km/h. One of these figures should be the correct value. Considering size and weight, and available power, most probably the lesser one. This aircraft seems to have problems with engine cooling due to the radical positioning of the water coolers: divided and enclosed in the engine nacelles, with the main gear wells just between. May make sense from aerodynamic point of view, but seems awkward for a good cooling. The somewhat similar positioning of the coolers in the P38 was a source of high drag in the design. As one of the comments stated, the Pe2 presented a better solution in this area. But you did really a nice job in this video, congratulations!!!!
I absolutely love this plane in WT sim. The visibility is amazing and it had the typical Russian Bias.
And the cannons clap hard!
@@RexsHangar They sure do!
It's hard to call WT a sim.
@@306Geni The game mode, no one thinks War Thunder is on the level of DCS or others.
Hmmm, lying to Stalin. Not the best choice for a long life span. Thanks for the video👍
Does anyone know how to make War Thunder control more like Birds of Prey/Birds of Steel? I tried it out but it controlled like I was controlling a mouse trying to control a plane…
No issue with game footage, provided the 3d models are with in reason accurate. Enjoying the channel, stands out from the other smaller aviation channels
Looks like a copy of the British Mosquito.
From the fuselage design I think that the designer had a high speed 10 passenger airliner in mind. The best way to get funding is to get the government to pay for development with military versions.
Is it like in adequate verison of an RAF Mosquito? Or P38
If they had not gotten "distracted" and focused on making it a reconnaissance aircraft I wonder how it would have compared to the Ki-46 if they had been allowed to developed it further in that role?
I do like how honest you are with the the messiness of research, how bits and pieces may not line up, and how much care one must use in choosing ones sources.
"Designed by Committee" can ruin any product. Apparently "Decided by Dictator" can do the same.
It was difficult trying to keep Stalin happy. Certainly led to a difficult aircraft. Kudos for your video.
Love the use of warthunder clips or models in this and future videos.
Keep it up. Cone of arc using world of tanks tank models in his videos. Keep up the great work.
Have you read the soviet air force by Alexander Boyd? Could be helpful. Also worth noting that Stalin understood very well about technical matters so most of his decisions where proven right (you can check this out, Churchill remarked this), also Stalin didn't make decisions all by himself, there where several technical comittees of aproval before anything reached his hands. Of course his word carried alot of weight in the final decision, as with any nation leader. I am refering this so maybe you and others don't spoil your videos by making the tired old caricatures that have almost no relation to hystory as it was.
Code named “Boris” 🤦♂️
How a dictator's whim, with his minion engineer, pulled off a flying lemon. Meanwhile, others like Polikarpov or Tupolev, and in fact most soviet aeronautical engineers, toiled in prison-labour bureaus for having failed to arse(nal)-lick...
Can you do a video of the belyayev db-lk
Yakovlev ended up designing Russia's Best Fighter aircraft . Gladly , learned from his mistakes
Fun Fact : The Supermarine Spitfire was retro redesigned from a Racing Plane . SO was the Messerschmitt BF-109 .
Stalin's attempt at a Mosquito . Sorry . FAIL , Comrade Yakovlev .
Everybody gangsta till you realise this thing is lighter than a P-47
Speaking up about problems was a particularly common thing in the Soviet Union at that time. At least more common probably than in other countries governments.
Jeez that plan of the Yak-2 looks amazingly similar to the DH-98 Mosquito.
What makes you think that?
It looks like a knock-off of a Miles Gemini with Mosquito wings!
Great channel, i miss aerocinema , a online channel , which went under in 2020. So glad you are here.
Looks like a Beaufighter🤔
Seriously these Soviet planes are heavily biased and overated in WarThunder though. I still believe Gaijin has a grudge on the US and Germany as well.
Ок.Interduse,for example,"SAM-9"-"STRELA", by Moskalev constructor. "САМ-9" "СТРЕЛА" .Конструктор Москалев.
Yay! War Thunder footage!
Looks like a Russian ME410
So it’s not something that would necessarily keep me from watching, but I didn’t really like the war thunder footage. It does give a good view of the aircraft, but it’s something thats all too common on youtube and it takes away from the individual style of the channel.
Under the correct conditions wood is both stronger and lighter than metal and aluminium. That’s probably why.
Fighter? Didn't the Russians allocate even numbers to bombers/ground attack aircraft and odd numbers to fighters?
I really enjoyed this one. I always thought it was a cool looking aircraft despite all of its problems. Just subscribed to your channel!
Hey just an important note about the 'bis' part of the aircraft names/designations when you see them. It's pronounced like 'bee', not 'biss'. It’s a phonetic name for Russian letter “Б” that makes English “b” sound.
Just a tiny but important point - "Yakovlev" is pronounced with its stress on the first syllable - YAK-ovlev.
Slick looking machine. Front three quarter view is reminiscent of the considerably later de Havilland Hornet...
Funny how Yakovlev himself barely mentioned Yak-2 in his own book, Soviet Airplanes (basically, a history of Soviet aircraft in 1920ish - 1975-ish, with some German, US and British WW2 warplanes covered). Extremely biased, it was the only airplane book available in the 1980s Soviet Union... until some pilot memoirs started getting published (or reprinted after earlier minuscule print runs), making things much more interesting, clashing with some (most) of Yakovlev's claims.
Alexander Pokryshkin's The Sky of War was a good read... and looked very authentic (probably because it was). It seems like a bit of a heavy plod in English though - faithfully translated, but nigh unreadable (((
567 kph is 352 mph, not 395 as stated at at 5:45.
To the developer: Could you cite the historical sources where we can find evidence of your claim about Stalin, please if you are so kind.