The ’Great Fighter’ That Became A Great Disappointment | Yakovlev Yak-2 [Aircraft Overview #22]

The development of the Yak-2 is so riddled with problems that its almost comical. It was to be Alexander Yakovlev’s first attempt at designing a combat aircraft for the Soviet Union. He knew that to impress Soviet leadership it had to be fast, and so he focused the entire design with speed in mind, leaving out any specific provisions for weapons, equipment etc. The Yak-2 was indeed fast, but it was also plagued with problems when they tried to convert the unarmed prototype into a military aircraft. The added weight upset the handling, the build quality was alarmingly poor, and its engines had a habit of wanting to break free from their mounts. In the end, the Yak-2 didn’t succeed, and neither did its successor: the Yak-4. But important lessons were learned, often painfully, and Yakovlev would start down the route to building some very notable single-seat fighters. *** Producing these videos is a hobby of mine. I have a passion for history, and personally own a large collection of