Lavochkin La-15

Lavochkin La-15
Type:	Fighter plane
Design country:	Soviet Union
Manufacturer:	OKB Lavochkin , ; Plant No. 21 Gorky , ; Plant No. 168 Rostov , ; Plant No. 292 Saratov
First flight:	January 8, 1948
Commissioning:	1949
Production time:	February - August 1949
Number of pieces:	235 La-15 + 2 La-15UTI

The Lavochkin La-15 ( Russian Лавочкин Ла-15 , NATO code name : Fantail ) is a Soviet fighter aircraft .

development

The La-15 was from the design office Lavochkin as competition draft MiG-15 developed and sold as from early 1948, La-174D tested. The British Rolls-Royce Derwent engine or its replica RD-500 was used. The series production planned for the second half of 1948 in Gorki , with the construction of 650 aircraft planned for 1949 alone, was delayed by a necessary revision of the construction plans to simplify production and the start was postponed to February 1949. April 1949 began also the Saratower plant with the production. The first 20 copies were put into service with the 196th Fighter Regiment in Kubinka , where they replaced the Jak-15 . The aircraft was popular with pilots because of its maneuverability and climbing performance, but it was prone to uncontrollable flight conditions and easily went into a tailspin . In the first few weeks of operation, four La-15s were lost in crashes in which two pilots were killed. Series production ended in August of that year after around 235 copies, and the MiG-15 was selected for large-scale production. Although this was slightly inferior in its properties, it was significantly easier to manufacture and maintain. The La-15 remained in service until 1954.

Further developments

With the further development of the La-176 , the speed of sound could be flown for the first time in the Soviet Union on December 26, 1948.

Another derivation was the two-seater La-15UTI, of which only two were made. The flight performance corresponded roughly to that of the La-15. The armament was reduced to accommodate the second pilot's seat.

Technical specifications

La-15

Three-sided tear

Parameter	Data (La-15)	Data (La-15UTI)
crew	1	2
span	8.83 m
length	9.10 m	9.65 m
height	3.35 m
Wing area	16.16 m²	k. A.
Wing swept	37 ° 20 ′	k. A.
Empty mass	2,575 kg	2,750 kg
Takeoff mass	normal 3,500 kg maximum 3,850 kg	maximum 3,850 kg
Wing loading	238.3 kg / m²	k. A.
Power load	2.42 kg / hp	k. A.
Engine	1 × RD-500 jet engine with 1,590 kp static thrust
power	15.6 kN
Top speed	1,025 km / h at 5,000 m	1,010 km / h at 5,000 m
Marching speed	k. A.	800 km / h
Rise time	3.10 min at 5,000 m	k. A.
Range	normal 1,100 km	normal 1,150 km
Service ceiling	13,700 m
Armament	3 × 23mm NR-23 cannon	1 × 23mm NR-23 cannon

literature

Wilfried Bergholz : Russian warplanes since 1934. Motorbuch, Stuttgart 2019, ISBN 978-3-613-04226-1 , pp. 90–92.
Karl-Heinz Eyermann : beam trainer . German Military Publishing House, Berlin 1971, p. 34-37 .
Wilfried Copenhagen : Soviet fighters . Transpress, Berlin 1985, p. 158/159 .
Heinz A. F. Schmidt: Soviet planes . Transpress, Berlin 1971, p. 108 .

Web links

Commons : La-15 - collection of images, videos and audio files

Museum Monino (engl.)

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c Ulf Gerber: The great book of Soviet aviation 1920–1990. Rockstuhl, Bad Langensalza 2019, ISBN 978-3-95966-403-5 , pp. 607, 622 and 623
^ Karl-Heinz Eyermann: Beam trainer. Deutscher Militärverlag, Berlin 1971, p. 36.
↑ La-15UTI on airwar.ru (with photos)

[Gerber,_Luftfahrt-1] Ulf Gerber: The great book of Soviet aviation 1920–1990. Rockstuhl, Bad Langensalza 2019, ISBN 978-3-95966-403-5 , pp. 607, 622 and 623

[2] Karl-Heinz Eyermann: Beam trainer. Deutscher Militärverlag, Berlin 1971, p. 36.

[3] La-15UTI on airwar.ru (with photos)