Yakovlev Yak-9U Frank - Seattle, WA - Static Aircraft Displays on Waymarking.com

Located at the Museum of Flight are a large number of static aircraft on display. One of them is a Yakovlev Yak-9U Frank. The Museum of Flight website contains a page devoted to this aircraft and it reads:

Developed from the earlier Yakovlev fighters that included the successful Yak-3 and Yak-7, the Yak-9, when it first entered combat in 1942, was simply a lighter version of the former. The Yak-9 eventually was built in many different versions. Most were optimized for ground attack.

The Museum's Yak-9 is a rare, rebuilt original aircraft. Doug Champlin first learned of it during a trip to Russia in 1992. Shortly afterwards, Art Williams was hired to find and acquire it. Williams traveled to Novosibirsk, Siberia, and after consummating the acquisition, arranged for the Yak-9 to be transferred to Moscow via the Siberian railroad. The trip took four days under constant guard.

Once the Yak-9 was safely stored in Moscow, Sergei Kotov arranged for a restoration team to rebuild it. This work took two years to complete. In 1996, the Yak-9 was shipped to The Champlin Museum in Mesa, Arizona.

The Museum's Yak-9 is one of four original aircraft known. It is the only original Yak-9 on display in the West. It is equipped with an original engine and propeller, and all instrumentation and other miscellaneous parts are of original Russian manufacture. The aircraft is painted in the markings of the Russian World War II ace, Georgiy Baevsky.

A nearby placard highlights this Yak-9U in more detail and reads:

When Alexandr Yakovlev's Yak-1 entered production in 1941, it immediately faced monumental challenges and delays. The Soviet Union found it necessary to move its entire aircraft industry east of the Ural Mountains, out of reach of the advancing Germans. Eventually during the "Great Patriotic War," an incredible 36,000 Yak-1s, -7s, -9s, and -3s were produced; 16,000 of them were the -9, which was developed in 1942. The Yak-9 series combined the best of the -1 and -7 series and was outstanding in any fighter role.

The Museum's Yak was built in 1945. It was abandoned in a Siberian forest and rendered useless by detonating a hand grenade atop the engine. It took Doug Champlin three years of negotiations, and the help of Sergei Kotov of Avia-M, to get the hulk moved to Moscow for restoration. In 1995, the plane, restored as a Yak-9U, joined the Champlin Collection in Mesa, Arizona. It is the only Yak-9U in the United States.

Type of Aircraft: (make/model): Yakovlev Yak-9U Frank Tail Number: (S/N): None Construction:: original aircraft Location (park, airport, museum, etc.): Museum of Flight - Personal Courage Wing - 1st Floor inside / outside: inside Other Information:: Not listed Access restrictions: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
Photo of aircraft (required - will be interesting to see if the aircraft is ever repainted or progress if being restored)
Photo of serial number (required unless there is not one or it is a replica)
Photo(s) of any artwork on the aircraft (optional but interesting)

Tell why you are visiting this waymark along with any other interesting facts or personal experiences about the aircraft not already mentioned.

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Date Logged Log User Rating   08/27/2022 r.e.s.t.seekers visited it 10/01/2018 Ulven7470 visited it 10/31/2017 petendot visited it

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