Yak-1/ 1B / 7B / 7B late (cut-down fuselage) / 9T skins by Emel, October 2009. 


Yak's of the 812 IAP.

The journey with the Yak continues. This newest addition to the Yak-legacy is more of a themed pack featuring several Yak models, all from the famous 812 IAP. In fact, it includes almost every variant of the early to mid-war series Yak's, from Yak-1 to Yak-9T. Players are advised to pay attention when placing the BMP files to ensure the files will be in their proper folders*. 

In order to complete this pack I had to rework practically all my Yak-templates to the new standard, which was first introduced with the 'Yak aces of the GPW' series skin packs. This arduous but necessary procedure is why it took much longer to finish this project than what I expected. There were many moments during the upgrading process of the various Yak-templates When I wanted to give up and quit. But in the end I 'm glad I didn't. 

The inspiration to this skin-cavalcade came after I read "Dragons on Bird Wings, the Combat History of the 812th Fighter Air Regiment Vol 1 by Vlad Antipov and Igor Utkin, Aviaeology 2004-2005." Besides of including some wonderful high quality colour profiles of the various Yak's, plus detailed line drawings of all the Yak-variants up to the Yak-9T, this book is a rarity for the fact that it introduces for the first time a detailed history of the combat path of a VVS aviation regiment in WW II. I strongly recommend this book to all those interested in the aviation history of the WW II.

As an 'ordinary' fighter unit 812 IAP combat results surpassed many of the other known fighter units that had already gained the famed 'Guards' status, some more than once. By the war's end 812th IAP had destroyed more than 500 enemy aircraft, including a Me-262, and as a consequence this unit is among the top ten most efficient units of the Soviet VVS. It flew almost entirely the Yak fighters and was among other things the very unit field testing the fearsome Yak-9K armed with the 45 mm cannon.

Here are the full regiment title and honors:

812th "Sevastopol" Red Banner, Order of Suvorov III Degree, Fighter Aviation Regiment.

Honorific title "Sevastopol"
Order of the Supreme Commander in Chief No. 136 of 14 May 1944.

Order of the Red Banner
"For exemplary fulfillment of the command's missions in combat with the German invaders during the forcing of the River Berezina, for capture of the town Borisov, and for the valor and courage displayed during these actions."

Order of Suvorov III Degree
Order of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 28 May 1945.

The 812th IAP was one of the standard formation regiments of the VVS that reached the 500-victory level and had to its credit, among the downed enemy aircraft, a victory over the Me-262 jet fighter. It is not clear why, but not one of the three regiments of the 256th IAD [istrebitelnaya aviatsionnaya diviziya], including the 812th IAP, received the "Guards" rank, though by their indicators they surpassed other regiments who were honored more than once. Five pilots who served in the 812th IAP were awarded the rank Hero of the Soviet Union: Ye. Ye. Ankudinov, D. V. Dzhabidze, P. T. Tarasov, A. T. Tishchenko, and I. V. Fedorov. Five pilots executed a ram during this period: F. K. Svezhentsev (8 May 1943), I. V. Fedorov (10 May 1943), N. A. Konovalov (1 October 1943), S. V. Belkin (31 July 1944), and A. I. Filippov (20 January 1945).

The stylized image of a bird's wing on the Yak cowling became the calling card of the entire 3rd IAK [istrebitelniy aviatsionnyi korpus], including the 812th IAP. This symbol, as well as the callsign of the commander of the 3rd Corps, General-Mayor Ye. Ya. Savitskiy - "Dragon", were known during the time of the basic conflicts of the Great Patriotic War (GPW) on both sides of the Front during the battles for the Kuban, Southern Ukraine, and Crimea, during the liberation of Belorussia, Lithuania, and Poland, and during the capture of Berlin. And though the callsign of the regiment's pilots was "skvorets" [Starling], just the same they were genuine "Dragons" on the air.

Quoted from 'Dragons on Bird Wings, the Combat History of the 812th Fighter Air Regiment Vol 1 by Vlad Antipov and Igor Utkin, Aviaeology 2004-2005.' page ix.

-------------------------------------------

This pack includes 31 skins. 16 fully marked, 7 Generic skins, and 8 blank skins.

Slip the BMP files into their proper folders in your Il-2 Sturmovik/Paintschemes/Skins folder. The skins should work the next time you start the game. Happy flying.

*IMPORTANT! SEVERAL YAK VARIANTS ARE INCLUDED IN THIS PACK. ENSURE THE RIGHT VARIANTS GO TO THE CORRECT FOLDERS TO AVOID TEXTURE RELATED PROBLEMS IN GAME PLAY. VARIANTS INCLUDED:

YAK-1
YAK-1B
YAK-7B      (as the Yak-7UTI trainer, compatible with all Yak-7 variants in game)
YAK-7B late (place this skin into the Yak-9 folder)
YAK-9T

--------------------------------------------

The 812 IAP Yak's:


1. Yak-1B "White 32" flown by squadron commander Kapitan Ivan Batychko, 812 IAP, Spring 1943.

Batychko commanded the 1st squadron. He was killed in action the very same day he had been awarded the Order of the Red Banner. By the time of his death he had 8 victories to his credit.

2. Yak-1B captured by JG 52, Kuban, mid 1943.

Note the Yak being repainted by its new owners with the standard Luftwaffe colours of three grey's (RLM 747576), and that the original camouflage pattern has been preserved carefully, at least on the fuselage area. The original camouflage as far as can be seen from the colour profile, follows a familiar pattern featuring the ramp demarcation line on the fuselage sides which became highly popular among VVS fighter units. The upper fuselage pattern suggests a version of a striking application thought to be based upon the work of Nadia Bukhanova. The pattern can be seen on many famous photographs of the various Yak-1 fighters. Based on this assumption, it is possible the pattern on the wing upper surfaces follows the spectacular 'loops' design. However, as there is no proof that this pattern on the wings was preserved and since it cannot be verified from the profile, I have opted as a measure of increased immersion to 'replace' the loops pattern with a crude 'field-applied' Luftwaffe splinter style pattern. Also note the variation of the Savitskiy Wing emblem which has been preserved on this captured machine. What happened to this captured Yak-1B later remains a mystery, possibly it was sent back to Germany for  evaluation and testing. 

3. Yak-1B "White 39" flown by Mladshiy Leytenant Yuriy Davydov, 812 IAP, March 1944.

Davydov was a graduate of Stalingrad Military Pilot School. He was killed in action South-East of Russkiy Island of the Shivas Gulf on March 17 1944 during the Crimean operation. By the time of his death he had flown 12 combat sorties and engaged in aerial combat three times.

4. Yak-1B "White 37" flown by Leytenant Ivan Vasilyevich Fedorov, 812 IAP, South Ukraine, Spring 1943.

This Yak should have the inscription "For Georgi" written on the fuselage, but since there is no information of the exact location and how the script may have looked like, it has been excluded from this version. This Yak-1B was flown by I. V. Fedorov who became the highest scoring ace of the regiment with 37 confirmed individual aerial victories. Fedorov was later awarded the HSU.

5. Yak-7B late "White 14" flown by Mladshiy Leytenant Ivan Vasilyevich Fedorov, 812 IAP, South Ukraine, October 1943.

Fedorov put this Yak-7B late model "White 14" into good use on 23 October 1943 by downing the regiments first Henschel 129. Ten late Yak-7B's came into the regiments inventory in the beginning of October 1943. By the end of October only five remained.

6. Yak-9T "White 63" flown by Mladshiy Leytenant Ivan Vasilyevich Fedorov, 812 IAP, South Ukraine, November 1943.

Fedorov flew this Yak-9T in November 1943, although his standard mount appeared to be one of the special reconaissance Yak-9D's operated by the regiment. 

7. Yak-7UTI trainer, 812 IAP, 1942.

The first Yak's 812 IAP received were of this type as many of the early pilots lacked experience flying monoplanes with closed cockpit. 

8. Yak-9T "White 57" flown by Mladshiy Leytenant Nikolay Konovalov, 812 IAP, October 1943.

Konovalov lost his life in air combat flying "White 57" on the afternoon of 1 October 1943. While attacking a formation of Luftwaffe bombers together with his leader Shiskin, he was himself set up by one of the escorting Bf 109's protecting the bombers. Soon afterwards his Yak rammed a He-111. Both aircraft fell in the Burchak area.
The other bombers dispersed without reaching their target.

9. Yak-9T "White 01" flown by Starshiy Leytenant Aleksey Mashenkin, 812 IAP, Crimea, May 1944.

With this Yak-9T Mashenkin scored the last confirmed air-to-air victory, a Bf 110, for the 812 IAP of the Crimean campaign in May 12 1944.

10. Yak-9T "White 48" flown by Leytenant Aleksey Mashenkin, 812 IAP, September 1943.

Another Yak-9T, an earlier version, flown by Mashenkin. With 11 individual aerial victories, Aleksey Mashenkin was the 9th ranking ace within the regiment. On 25th September 1943 he shot down an He-111. It was his sixth victory. The newest victory was not added to the victory star markings on "White 48". Soon after downing the Heinkel he was shot down by a pair of Bf 109's and was captured. He managed to escape from captivity and returned to the regiment 
on 21 February 1944.

11. Yak-1B "White 61" flown by Kapitan Timofey Novikov, 812 IAP, April 1943.

Novikov commanded the 2nd squadron. He lost his life in battle with Bf 109's on 28 April 1943. He bailed out too late at low altitude. Before this he had destroyed a He-111.

12. Yak-9T "White 39" flown by Kapitan Ivan Popov, 812 IAP, October 1943.

Popov was the third rankin ace in the regiment with 24 individual victories. During the Crimean operations in 1944 he was the commander of the 812th IAP.

13. Yak-1B "White 24" flown by Kapitan Fedor Svezhentsev, 812 IAP, Kuban, Spring 1943.

Kapitan Fedor Svezhentsev was commander of the 3rd squadron. He was the first in the regiment to receive the Order of the Patriotic War II Class and was recommended the Order of the Red Banner. He lost his life on 8 May 1943, possibly as a consequence of a midair collision with another Yak as stated by an eyewitness. HQ operational summarry claims that after ramming a German aircraft Svezhentsev bailed out and was then shot by German fighters while decending and was found dead upon landing. Svezhentsev's final score stood at 11 individual victories.  

14. Yak-9T "White 28" flown by Flight commander Fedor Tikhomirov, 812 IAP, Crimea, April 1944.

Tikhomirov perished in combat with Bf 109's on April 9 1944 flying "White 28". He was fairly new in the regiment having being around for about a year but had already become a veteran of 144 sorties and engaged the enemy 37 times. By the time of his death Tikhomirov had 8 victories to his credit.

15. Yak-1B "White 31" flown by Starshiy Leytenant Aleksandr Tishchenko, 812 IAP, early 1944.

Tishchenko like Fedorov, became an expert reconnaissance pilot and flew both Yak-1B and Yak-9D models. "White 31" appears to be his regular mount between late 1943 and early 1944 when the Crimean campaign picked up momentum. Tishchenko was the fifth ranking ace in the regiment with 18 individual and two group victories. He was also awarded the rank of HSU. 

16. Yak-1 "White 24" flown by Serzhant Vakhromeyev, 812 IAP, Stalingrad, November 1942.

Vakhromeyev was forced to bail out of "White 24" after he and three other 812 IAP pilots encountered six Bf 109's during a Shturmovik escort mission in the Stalingrad area in mid-November 1942.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mechanical parts of the template: Flap casing internals by Canon UK, cockpit & wheel well interiors by Winger 69. Many thanks.

The template was redrawn from the original Yak-1-1B-7B-9-9T void files.

You may rework these skins for your personal use, and publish them with your missions & campaigns, but not use them in any commercial way. Please do not remove credits. Thank you for downloading these skins.

emel@elisanet.fi