'Order' not to engage Yak-3s???

[Kutscha]

Very many knowledgable people here so:

This 'order' has been around for a long time in books, and mentioned in forums, but was there really such an order issued?

Or, was it just a cautionary notice, that was mis-interprated, to be weary of the new Soviet fighter with improved performance over the simular looking Yak-1?

[Kutscha]

No one knows if this is myth or truth about engaging the Yak-3?

[Ruy Horta]

This subject has been asked before, on several occasions by myself.

I guess I have read as many books on the subject as the best of them, but I cannot remember finding any such statement other than from the Russian side.

The only official document that I have on the subject does not treat the new Yak with any special regard.

If I recall correctly the claim is (amongst others) made in Yakovlev's The Aim of a Lifetime.

Personally, although this is only an assumption, I think that in the split second environment of air combat it would be next to impossible to make clear distinctions between Yaks - to distinguish between safe targets and dangerous foes.

Also, if shown to be correct, it is extremely important to find an original German text. It would not at all be hard to imagine an order to forbid Luftwaffe pilots from getting drawn into classical dogfights, similar to Allied pilots in the Pacific versus the Japanese, yet not to engage at all does not make any sense.