Sure made me feel like a n00b!!I read about a challenge that some UBI forum dude set up. YAK-1 Vs 109G6. Not much of a fight in my opinion.
Especially since you can pick the plane and the AI flies the other one. I chose a 109F4, a G2 and fianlly a G6 against the Ace Yakster. Faought with 25% fuel. Spanked him handily every time. Was impressed by the zoom climb of the Yak and AI pilot. REALLY made me work a bit to cut the corner and use the 109's to their advantage.
I decided to swap rides and go after the 109's in the same order that I'd flown them. GAWD!! I was snapping out of turns, spinning at dumb times and doing silly stuff like I'd NEVER flown.
I managed to down all of my opponents with those ShVak laser cannons. I did take a few hits in the engine area in a fight with a G2 resulting in an off/on engine fire for 4 or 5 minutes...... It was still making plenty of power and the windscreen wasn't too trashed to use the gunsight.. 
I got a fresh ride, downed the last foe and hunted an airfield to land in/on..
Talk about lookin silly.
SHEESH!! I can plant a battle damaged 109 or a 190 without too many problems usually about anywhere I want to on the runway. That damned YAK was ALL OVER THE PLACE. It floated FOREVER!! Then it decided to quit flying about 10 mtr off the ground and splat down with no gear and a trashed prop.This is the FIRST YAK I've attemtped to fly since 4.01. It shakes and rattles BAD at 650KmH and is NOT easy to land. (for me anyway) Maybe the later versions are better. My Joystick is set to only give 85% up elevator, ( did that to make the 190's a bit more managable) and I was still losing that YAK when yanking it through a turn. I will say the Russian 20mm's are AWESOME compared to the German guns.
I've been flying 190 Antons and Doras almost exclusively offline for several months. The Antons lost a lot in 4.01 in my opinion and the DORA gained a LOT. I prefer it now whereas I preferred an A8 prior to 4.01.
I used to fly Yak to some extent and La 5/7's almost exclusively but then I got called to the DARK SIDE..
I've messed with the La5/7's since 4.01 and noticed that they are HANDFUL to get airborne. I found that locking the tailwheel before it's rolling good will cause problems. Took me a while to figure that one out.
THought my game had gone ghey when I gassed it from a dead stop with 110% and promptly taxied very sedately into some trees aobut 5 times in row. ( I'm a slow learner sometimes, and BESIDES, it ALWAYS worked fine before doing things that way!! 
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