the Yak-9T was aYak-9 armed with a 37 mm cannon with 30 rounds instead of the 20 mm ShVAK and cockpit moved 0,4 m back to compensate for the heavier nose. Both 37mm motor cannon and 12,7mm cowling machine gun had internal cartridge shell accumulation, e.g. no ejection hatch on the wing root as on the Yak-9/-9D.

Initially poor quality control led to multiple oil and coolant leaks from cannon recoil. Recoil and limited supply of ammunition required accurate aiming and two-three round bursts.

Yak-9T was widely used against enemy shipping on the Black Sea and against tanks (the cannon could penetrate up to 30 mm armor from 500 m), but was also successful against aircraft with a single cannon hit usually sufficient to tear apart the target.

In total 2748 Yak-9T were produced.

Alexander Ivanovich Vybornov was born on September 17, 1921. He participated in the fights of GPW from June 1942 within 728 iap at the Kalinin Front. In 1944, Yak-9T built from the funds raised by the residents of the city of Kashira was given to A.I Vybornov with the inscription "For A.I. Vybornov from Kashir schoolchildren". The pilot participated in several battles on this plane. A.I. Vybornov, a Squadron leader in 728 iap, achieved 20 aerial victories by April 1, 1945. He was awarded by Gold Medal of Hero of the Soviet Union in June 27, 1945.

Yak-9T, A.I. Vybornov 728 iap, September 2, 1944, Poland:

The plane is camouflaged according to the NKAP 1943 order with blue grey AMT-11 and dark grey AMT-12 on the upper surfaces with light blue AMT-7 on the bottom surfaces.
Local repairs filled by yellowish nitro putty – little bright blotches – are visible on the tail and rear fuselage.
The profile in the full resolution should be published in the book Soviet Fighters of the Second World War by Jason Nicholas Moore.

Photo of the original:

More photos of this particular plane is at http://www.airfield.narod.ru/yak/yak-9/yak-9_color_h.html.

Disclaimer:

this work collects a lot of photos from many sources, not always identified and mentioned.
If someone has rights on the images reproduced on this site, please don't feel hurted, email to me and I shall provide to remove or to credit them.

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