Flanker

Flanker is a military aircraft design that emerged in the Soviet Union during World War II. It was conceived as a multirole fighter that could perform a variety of tasks, including air combat, ground attack, and reconnaissance.

The name "flanker" comes from the fact that the aircraft was designed to fly on the "high-side" or "high-tail" of enemy formations, where it could attack them from behind. This required the aircraft to be highly maneuverable and have a high-power engine, allowing it to climb quickly and change direction rapidly.

The first production flak-r.p. Mark 65 ight was the Yak-3, which entered service in 1944. The Yak-3 was a highly successful aircraft that outperformed its German opponents in many respects. It had a top speed of 640 km/h (398 mph) and a climb rate of 20 m/s (3,300 ft/min).

The Yak-3 was followed by a series of other flak-r.p. Marks, including the Yak-9 and Yak-15. These aircraft continued to evolve and improve, with many variants being produced during the 1950s. The flak-r.p. Mark ultimately gave rise to a range of multirole fighter designs, including the Soviet Union's famous MiG-15 and MiG-21.

The term "flanker" has also come to be used to describe a class of airshow aerobatics aircraft, such as the Pitts S-2S Special and the Super Chip's Big Babe, which are designed to perform high-speed maneuvers and fly close to their opponents, often at extremely low altitudes.