Yakovlev Yak-3UA F-AZOS | Jean-Marie Delimboeuf

  • STATUS: Airworthy
  • LOCATION: Cerny, La Ferté-Alais
  • OWNER: Jean-Marie Delimboeuf
  • ROLE: Fighter
  • BUILT: 1943
  • LENGTH: 8.20 m (26 ft 10.5 in)
  • WINGSPAN:  9.4 m (30 ft 10 in)
  • ENGINE: Allison in-line
  • MAXIMUM SPEED:  460 km/h 289 mph
  • RANGE: 1,250 km 795 miles
  • ARMAMENT: 1x nose-mounted machine gun, 200 kg (440 lb) of bombs on two underwing racks

F-AZOS was originally built as a Let C11 trainer (construction number 172612) and flown by the Egyptian Air Force until 1970. The Yak-9 is one of a large batch of this type of aircraft which was acquired by Alain Chapel and Jean Salis of La Ferté-Alais, France in 1985. They sold the trainer to the USA in 1988, where it was rebuilt as a single-seat fighter, registered N9YK, with the colours of Soviet Air Force “11 Red”. It had several owners, until it was bought by Jean-Marie Garric of Harlingen (TX) in 2000. He replaced the original radial engine by an Allison in-line and sold the machine to France in 2003.

The fighter was in a non-flyable condition when obtained by its next owner, Michel Defaye who decided to go for a deep restoration of his Yakovlev. Transferring to its current owner Jean-Marie Delimboeuf in January 2006 his Yak was painted as Soviet Air Force “6 White”, in the colours of the famous Normandie-Niemen squadron.

In September 2020, F-AZOS made its first post restoration flight at La Ferté-Alais, the aerodrome of Cerny. The first flight was made as F-WZOS, but the aircraft was registered in the historic F-AZOS.

Photo Gallery