Yak-9 Nyet...Yak-3, Da!

[Soviet Ace]

Yak-3 never had oil coolers under the nose, incase anyone was curious. The Luftwaffe was told not to do combat with the Yaks that had the oil cooler deleted from the nose, under 5-6,000 ft or they would be chewed up. Yak-1, 7, and 9s were the only ones with oil coolers under the nose. Also, if you look at the Yak-3, the plane all around is smaller.

And I realized that as well when I read the debrief. I thought I'd never get my Yak-3