Korean war aviation museum in 1/200

[Don Boose]

Another superb model.

And a history mystery. I have always liked the appearance of the Yak-3 and have seen illustrations (but no photos) of Yak-3s in DPRK service. However, recent articles in Air Power History indicate that there were no Yak-3 in the KPAAF inventory (at least at the time of the war) and that reports of Yak-3s were erroneously reported sightings of Yak-9s.

Can anyone shed any light on this?

Don

[John Bowden]

In Robert Jackson's "Air War Korea 1950 - 1953" , he reported that the NKAF had "seventy Yak-3, Yak-7B, Yak-9 and La-7 fighters."

There really isn't much external difference between the Yak-3 & 9 in the heat of the battle it wouldn't be hard to confuse them.

[Don Boose]

Jan - Please forgive this small hijack of your thread. It IS relevant to the model you are currently showing us.

John - Many thanks for your input. I, too, have Jackson's book, which I consider very reliable. Other sources refer to Yak-3s in NK service as well, which is why I was surprised to see no mention of them whatsover in Dildy's well-documented study (Air Force Historical Foundation - - Air Power History). I am happy to consider the question open because I look forward to building a Yak-3 in DPRK markings some day and hope we can find evidence for its existence so that, when I build it, I do not have to display it next to my polka-dotted Northrop Moonbat and Republic P-72 in Texas ANG colors.

Don

[John Bowden]

Jan............ whos B-29 model are you planning on doing? FGs?

[Jan Kytop]

Originally Posted by Don Boose

Jan - Please forgive this small hijack of your thread. It IS relevant to the model you are currently showing us.

John - Many thanks for your input. I, too, have Jackson's book, which I consider very reliable. Other sources refer to Yak-3s in NK service as well, which is why I was surprised to see no mention of them whatsover in Dildy's well-documented study (Air Force Historical Foundation - - Air Power History). I am happy to consider the question open because I look forward to building a Yak-3 in DPRK markings some day and hope we can find evidence for its existence so that, when I build it, I do not have to display it next to my polka-dotted Northrop Moonbat and Republic P-72 in Texas ANG colors.

Don

No problem for the hijack , Don Boose because the historical part is the most interesting part of our hobby.
And yes the use of the Yak 3 in the KPAAF is a big ?
From one of my book : USAir Force has claimed 3 victories against Yak 3 (2 , the first november of 1950 by F51 of 67th FBS and one the 26th of 1951 by F84 of 523rd FES) but as John Bowden says: There really isn't much external difference between the Yak-3 & 9 in the heat of the battle .

[Jan Kytop]

Originally Posted by John Bowden

Jan............ whos B-29 model are you planning on doing? FGs?

If I have enough time to build a B29 before the end of my contest , it is the Fiddlersgreen model I'll buid , I think . But the korean war markings are also a problem.
The other B29 models I know are 1/33 (and also in WW2 colors) and not suitable to be resized to 1/200 (to many small parts).

[Jan Kytop]

[Don Boose]

Jan - That Yak-3 is absolutely beautiful!

Back to subject of KPAAF equipment: “USAF Korean War Victories by Date,” National Museum of the United States Air Force, available at http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-051209-004.pdf (accessed 15 February 2013) is consistent with the info you posted, Jan, and John's info from Jackson. It shows two Yak-3s shot down on 1 November 1950 by Captain Alma Flake and Captain Robert Thresher of the 67th Fighter Squadron flying F-51s and one Yak-3 shot down by First Lieutenant Jacob Kratt, Jr., of the 523rd Fighter Squadron flying an F-84 on 23 January 1951.

The Dildy article I previously referred to is Douglas C. Dildy, “The Korean People’s Air Force in the Fatherland Liberation War,” Part II, Air Power History, Winter 2012: 4-13. Dildy identifies the engaged KPAAF units as the 55th Combined Aviation Division, consisting of the 56th Fighter Aviation Regiment equipped with Yak-9Ps and the 57th Assault regiment equipped with IL-10s. In a table of KPAAF losses in 1950, he identifies the aircraft shot down by Flak and Thresher on 1 November as Yak-9Ps. It's difficult to precisely identify Dildy's sources for the order of battle and aircraft type identifications, but they appear to be two Russian sources: N. L. Volkovskiy, ed., The War in Korea, trans. Stephen L. Sewell (St. Petersburg: Izdatel’stvo Poligon, 2000) and Anatoliy Demin, “In the Skies of Korea: The ‘Eagles’ of Mao Zedong Against the ‘Hawks’ of Uncle Sam,” a series of articles published in Mir Aviatsii magazine, 2004, translated by Stephen L. Sewell, 2010.

I have been unable to locate the first article by Dildy, which may shed some light on the matter. I also plan to check with my colleague, Ken Werrell, who wrote the “Airpower” chapter for my current book, and will check in my copy of Zhang Xiaoming, Red Wings Over the Yalu: China, the Soviet Union and the Air War in Korea (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2002), which is in my office and I am not.


Meanwhile, I will remain silent on this matter and simply enjoy watching Jan build these beautiful models until and unless I can find out something that seems to be persuasive one way or another.


Don

[Texman]

Impeccable builds in a most prodigious quantity. This will be another
well done one.

[gomidefilho]

Amazing Yak-3...