YAK 38 RANGE

[The Oncoming Storm]

i'm playing a scenario and my Yak 38 has a maximum range of 58Nm...? Seems a bit low, or is that normal?

[whatdoesthisbuttondo?]

They have extra VTOL engine, which burns extreme amounts of fuel during takeoff and landing, but in low speed flight as well.

So you need to be extra careful to order them to altitude and cruise speed fast, or they keep burning fuel.

The takeoff problem was only solved somewhat around '85 when they started to adopt a short takeoff roll instead of vertical takeoff, but we don't have that in game.

It will never have good range, not even mediocre range, but you can get a range that one can work with somewhat.

[Generation_Ugly]

You know, there is a special place in hell for the most evil human beings... it's the cockpit of a Forger.

[101GHOST]

Originally posted by whatdoesthisbuttondo?:

They have extra VTOL engine, which burns extreme amounts of fuel during takeoff and landing, but in low speed flight as well.

So you need to be extra careful to order them to altitude and cruise speed fast, or they keep burning fuel.

The takeoff problem was only solved somewhat around '85 when they started to adopt a short takeoff roll instead of vertical takeoff, but we don't have that in game.

It will never have good range, not even mediocre range, but you can get a range that one can work with somewhat.

Book "Soviet Naval Aviation" by Yefim Gordon, page 269 quote:

"...in February 1979 SNS Minsk departed Sevastopol on a voyage to her new port of registry, Vladivostock. (...) The cruise involved a good deal of flying, much of it was of a test nature. In particular, short take-off and landing (STOL) test of Yak-38 in high ambient temperature and humidity were performed when the Minsk was sailing the South China Sea. It turned out that rolling take-off was possible and the landing run did not exceed 20-60m, but a rolling landing was impossible if the ship was rocking with angles in excess of 3º. The STOL technique reduced the fuel consumption and increased the aircraft´s combat potential significantly."

So the YAK-38 sans suffix was a VTOL aircraft from 1976 to 1979. From 1979 onwards it was a VSTOL aircraft. Range by this source of this aircraft type: 600km.

YAK-38M extended it´s range by having more fuel internally, revised wings, new variant of the cruise engine (R28-300) and new lift engines (RD-38). Also YAK-38M was the first Forger to carry external drop tanks (old YAK-38 sans suffix only tested this).

In short, YAK-38 sans suffix can do rolling take-off and did it as early as 1979. Range is 600km with this technique.

[whatdoesthisbuttondo?]

Originally posted by 101GHOST:

In short, YAK-38 sans suffix can do rolling take-off and did it as early as 1979. Range is 600km with this technique.

Good find, I was aware it could and did do it, however the sources I could find pointed towards mid-1980s.

Might be there was a significant delay in the technique being widely adopted, I'm not sure but I wouldn't argue either way given how difficult it can be to find reliable sources when it comes to the soviet equipment and its use.

At any rate, I'd even go as far as saying that I'd have preferred the aircraft getting the capability in game that it always had even if pilots didn't use it IRL at the time instead of adding a bandaid in the shape of the Orel to fill that capability gap. I'd even have understood an exception to the timeline and adding the Kusnetzov, but I guess I need to stop rambling about the Orel now, lol.

[The Oncoming Storm]

So.... It basically did less miles than a trip to the shops and back...? In Russia, you bring destination to plane...

[whatdoesthisbuttondo?]

Originally posted by The Oncoming Storm:

So.... It basically did less miles than a trip to the shops and back...? In Russia, you bring destination to plane...

It did have issues with extreme fuel consumption when using the VTOL engine.

In the game it always does vertical takeoff at the moment, which means a good chunk of fuel burned up front.

You need to micromanage them a bit right now, meaning as soon as they start moving away from carrier, set them to cruise speed and altitude.

Range is still not good, but you can use them in their intended role, e.g. air-to-air close screening and light anti-ship work where you wouldn't want to expend one of your AShMs.

[101GHOST]

In fact rolling take-off can also solve another problem right now, the buggy vertical take-off that YAK-38 performs.

If you take a 2 ship flight just after the first plane start its horizontal flight it suddenly stops and got stuck until the second plane strat flying horizontally also.

Also the Forger hovers unnaturally still right above the carrier on take-offs. The carrier should overtake the plane that is still in the air, that is the way it shoud be. Right now it feels like is tethered to the carrier.

First one is a bug, second one is more like a stethic anoyance.

[tacit rainbow]

Yak-38 had a nickname "the aircraft of mast defence" (самолет защиты мачты) in the Soviet Navy. So yes, it was that small. The second nickname was "Yak get a deck crash" ("Як - об палубу хуяк", goes in rhyme in Russian. Guess why.

[tacit rainbow]

"Yak - ob palubu huyak", Steam is just censoring me

[Landbernt]

Yak 38 has no real use at this range. Maybe TF CAP at the range

[whatdoesthisbuttondo?]

Originally posted by Landbernt:

Yak 38 has no real use at this range. Maybe TF CAP at the range

They are useful for screening against Prowlers and dealing with small targets like missile boats where you don't want to waste one of those comically huge AShMs.

[Hades.]

In the game its about timing with the Yaks I sucessfully intercepted 2 B52's with them with rear aspect missles before they got into Harpoon range, but you have to pick the right time to launch the aircraft

[101GHOST]

Still not fixed despite sourcing credible and factual sources about range.

Hope I see it fixed in future updates, it´s kinda annoying and I´m sure it´s a quick fix.

They only have to give the YAK it´s real range (600km).

[Cap'n Darwin]

Which version of the Yak are we talking about? If it is the original serving from the early 70s to the mid 80s, then the low range and pure VTOL mode is probably close to the correct range. Now if you are 84 and beyond with the Yak-38M with more fuel, bigger wing, and rolling take off you can get the 600 to 700 nm ferry range and a rough combat radius of 125 nm or so.

[The Oncoming Storm]

Originally posted by 101GHOST:

Still not fixed despite sourcing credible and factual sources about range.

Hope I see it fixed in future updates, it´s kinda annoying and I´m sure it´s a quick fix.

They only have to give the YAK it´s real range (600km).

In the meantime, simply press f10, click 'test mode' and right click the + to add fuel in hundreds of gallons.