The Yakovlev Yak-3 was one of the lightest and most agile Soviet fighters of the Second World War. Introduced to front-line units in 1944, it proved highly effective at low and medium altitudes, where its combination of speed and manoeuvrability made it a difficult opponent for German pilots. It was also the aircraft chosen by the Normandie-Niémen Group — a French volunteer squadron flying under Soviet command on the Eastern Front — who used the Yak-3 to score nearly 100 victories against the Luftwaffe in 1944 alone. This particular aircraft, NX130AM, c/n 170101, began life as a LET C-11 (the Czech-built equivalent of the Yak-11 two-seat trainer), manufactured in Kunovice, Czech Republic, and delivered in 1956. It served with the Egyptian Air Force until the early 1970s, was then dismantled and stored until 1985, and by 1988 had found its way to static display at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford. It was subsequently converted to Yak-3U standard with an Allison V-1710 engine, registered in the UK before transferring to the US register, and is now displayed in the markings of the Normandie-Niémen Group, with the Cross of Lorraine on the tail and Soviet red star on the fuselage.