Yak-1, A.S.Yakovlev

220k b/w Yak-1 on the mass production line, from 'Notes of an aircraft designer' by A.Yakovlev;

T he Yak-1 was the first of a line of small, nimble fighters, (front-line nick-maned The Little Ones), very easy to build and maintain, and with fine performance and handling at low altitude. They were lightly armed and had weaker performance at higher altitude (they were not built for high altitude indeed). The Yak-series was the most important Soviet fighter of early stages of the Great Patriotic War (WWII at the East Front), before Yak-9 and La-5 came into service.

60k b/w Yak-1 (or Yak-9?) assembly, from 'Notes of an aircraft designer' by A.Yakovlev;

Yak-1 was flown by female ace Lilya litvyak, nicknamed "The White Rose of Stalingrad" and Valeria Khomyakova, the first female pilot in history to down enemy aircraft.
8721 Yak-1's built.

Two 16k shots of my 1/72 plastic Yak-1 in winter 1941 color scheme

Predecessors	Modifications
I-26	I-30 - all metal version, no production; Yak-1M - re-engined Yak-1 with improved rear view; Yak-3 - lightweight (empty weight 2105kg only!) development;	UTI-26/Yak-7U - two-seat trainer version; Yak-9 - another branch of Yak's, including light bomber and long-range fighter; Yak-1M - improved version, 1943