Here is the
story......
“In 1943 the Russian
authorities decided that it would be good for public relations, and the war
effort, to send one of their new fighters on a visit to a RAF base in England.
The YaK9D was chosen
since it had been developed as a long range escort fighter with a range of over
800 miles without external tanks. It also had a good top speed of over 320 mph.
The Russians were also
keen on fostering their relationship with neutral Sweden so through their
embassy in Stockholm they arranged for the YaK to refuel at a base in southern
Sweden. The distance to RAF Manston in Kent was just possible for the second
leg.
Click on
images below to see larger images
Major Piotr Kosachenko
was assigned the duty of flying the YaK to England. He had recently been awarded
a Golden Star to his Hero of the Soviet Union decoration..
The flight to Manston
was successfully completed and he received a warm welcome from the officers and
men of 609 Squadron. He was entertained well with a visit to London, to see the
sights, and included a visit to the Windmill Theatre (which it is reported that
he enjoyed very much!!). He also was welcomed by top RAF Officers and members of
Winston Churchill' s war cabinet.
What he didn't know
was that whilst he was there enjoying himself, the Station Commander at 609 Sqn
had got his men to respray the YaK in RAF colours.
Piotr was only at
Manston a few days before he was mysteriously recalled to the Soviet Union.
During this short time
he was lucky to have a few flights in the squadron's 'car door' type Typhoon
1B's and some of the RAF men had flights in his YaK. The Yak developed engine
trouble and so hasty plans were put in place to get Piotr back to Sweden in the
bomb bay of one of BOAC's civvy Mosquitos. This flight went well and he was then
taken from Sweden aboard a VVS DB3F back to his base in Russia.
Just what became of
the YaK9D was never documented.
Incidentally, in real
life, visits of Russian Air Force aircraft to the UK were extremely rare in WW2
days. I recall only one and that was the visit of the Russian Foreign Minister,
Molotov, in a four engined Pe-8 to Leuchars.
(The article first appeared on
the Airfix Tribute Forum about two months ago.)
Ron Firth
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