The museum’s Yak-3 is a rare case among warbirds. In 1991 Yakovlev used original parts and dies to build, new, a number of Yak-3 replicas which were given the suffix “M” to distinguish them from original production models. The “M” model is largely different from original models in it’s use of the Allison engine.
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Yakovlev Yak-3M
The Yakovlev Yak-3 was robust and easy to maintain and much liked by pilots and ground crew alike. It was one of the smallest and lightest major combat fighters fielded by any combatant during World War II. Its high power-to-weight ratio gave it excellent performance, and it proved a formidable dogfighter. Several combat engagements between numerically superior German planes and Yaks led to a Luftwaffe command to “avoid combat with Yak fighters …” because as many as 15 Germans were shot down for each Yak lost.