Dev Blog #51
Hello, comrades!
Exactly one year ago, in the 14th Dev Blog, we showcased the exterior model of the Soviet Yak-9P piston-engined fighter, shared its history and main features, and now we can present its completed cockpit. You can clearly see how much the visualization of cockpits differs between the previous generation of technology and the new generation, because in Great Battles, there is a Yak-9 series 1 with a similar cockpit layout.
Exactly one year ago, in the 14th Dev Blog, we showcased the exterior model of the Soviet Yak-9P piston-engined fighter, shared its history and main features, and now we can present its completed cockpit. You can clearly see how much the visualization of cockpits differs between the previous generation of technology and the new generation, because in Great Battles, there is a Yak-9 series 1 with a similar cockpit layout.
The new level of cockpit graphics is not all; we should also discuss the aircraft’s equipment. The latest generation of Yakovlev piston fighters was designed for greater mass production than Lavochkin’s fighters, and it is no coincidence that the Yak-9 was the most mass-produced Soviet fighter of World War II. You can compare the equipment of the Yak-9P cockpit with that of the La-11, which we discussed in the 23rd Dev Blog — it is much simpler.
The aircraft control stick, as on many other aircraft developed in the second half of the 1940s, is represented by the R-1 model, which replicates the design of the control stick used in German fighters and is supplemented with a wheel brake control lever. An important addition to earlier models is the in-flight canopy release system, the handle for which is located at the front center of the sliding section. On the left side, the propeller engine control lever block remained virtually unchanged and includes levers for supercharging, RPM control, fuel mixture, fuel shutoff valve, supercharger speed switching, and landing flaps. Above this block, the elevator trim wheel is still fitted.
The aircraft is equipped with a PBP-1a sight, which you may be familiar with from Great Battles, as it was widely used on Soviet aircraft during World War II. Alternatively, a PKI sight with a larger field of view can be installed. An artificial horizon is fitted to the main instrument panel, and it was of German manufacture, receiving the Soviet index KEAG — possibly from a captured instruments stockpile. This wasn’t a one-off case — captured equipment was installed on production aircraft. The rest of the instruments on the main instrument panel essentially repeat the set of the early Yak-9 series, including speed, turn, boost, RPM, temperature, course, and radio compass indicators. The landing gear indicator lamps also remained in their original place, but the aircraft image mask covering them was removed.
The oxygen device, which was located on the central instrument panel of early Yak-9 modifications and occupied a significant amount of space, was relocated to the right side, and its model was also updated — it is now the KP-14. The oil cooler wheel remains on the right side, but the ART-46 automatic system now controls the water cooler. The new RSI-6M radio set is also located there, on the right.
On the left side of the front panel, buttons for electro-pneumatic reloading of the machine guns and cannons were added, replacing the manual reloading levers.
Overall, the Yak-9P remained a highly utilitarian combat aircraft with no "extras." This is largely why it was well received by the armed forces of the newly formed socialist bloc at the beginning of the Cold War, whose first hot flash was the Korean War.
