Yakovlev Yak-9T Russian fighter. Ace Ivan Stepanenko
Ark Models 48039

Dimensions: 180 (length) * 203 (wingspan)
No. of parts: 55

The Yakovlev Yak-9T heavy fighter was a modification of the serial Yak-9 with more powerful weapons. The armament of the Yak-9T consisted of the Nudelman-Suranov NS-37 37 mm caliber automatic cannon (32 shells) and the Berezin UBS 12.7 mm caliber synchronous machine gun (220 rounds). The cannon barrel protruded from the spinner of the propeller to 160 mm, so the length of the aircraft increased to 8.66 meters. The cockpit was moved back by 400 mm because of the large size of the cannon. The Yak-9T was in mass production at #153 plant from March 1943 to June 1945. A total of 2,748 aircraft were built.

Ivan Nikiforovich Stepanenko fought his first air battle on 12 June 1942. He flew about 100 sorties during the Battle of Stalingrad from autumn 1942 to early 1943 and shot down seven enemy aircraft. Having changed for the Yak-9T in June 1943, he had shot down eight hostile planes by the end of the year. By the end of the war, Ivan Stepanenko flew 414 sorties, fought 118 air battles and shot down 33 enemy aircraft personally, having become one of the most outstanding aces flying Yakovlev planes. On 18 August 1945, I. N. Stepanenko was awarded his second Golden Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union for his courage. He continued to serve in the Russian Air Force after the war and retired in 1976 as major general.