Lavochkin La-5
| Lavochkin La-5 | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Type: | Fighter plane |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: | |
| First flight: |
Late 1941 |
| Commissioning: |
Summer 1942 |
| Production time: |
1942-1944 |
| Number of pieces: |
≈ 10,000 |
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The Lavotschkin La-5 ( Russian Лавочкин Ла-5 ) was a single-seat single-engine Soviet fighter aircraft that was used in World War II .
history
In 1941, Semyon Alexejewitsch Lavotschkin set about developing a successor model for the LaGG-3 , which, due to its inferiority to German hunters, could only be viewed as a temporary solution.
The new pattern was a motor instead of the 12 V- Schwezow ASch-82 - double radial engine built to be completely revised so that the cell had, which made the aircraft virtually a new design. The model developed in this way in the aircraft factory No. 21 in Gorki was tested towards the end of 1941. However, testing was delayed due to problems with cooling the rear cylinders. To make matters worse, the factory was exposed to attacks by German bombers.
In March 1942, all test flights were completed and the La-5 completed state flight tests by June 1942. At the beginning of December, the first series copies of the La-5F, equipped with a full-view pulpit, appeared, which were used for the first time in large quantities at the Battle of Stalingrad and were given the nickname "Wooden Rescuer of Stalingrad"; At the end of 1942, 1,125 aircraft had already been delivered to the front, which, together with the Jakowlew Jak-9 , were fighting for air supremacy with the German air force. At the end of 1942, the aircraft went into series production as the La-5F with the improved ASch-82F engine, which enabled the type to reach a top speed of 630 km / h .
When the further improved ASch-82FN engine with direct injection became available in March 1943, the most powerful version was the La-5FN with the characteristic, fully forward-drawn air inlet on the upper side of the fuselage and the lowered back of the fuselage behind the cockpit for better all-round visibility. This type was first used in large numbers in the battle of the Kursk Arch in the summer of 1943 . Due to its maneuverability, it was able to compete with the opposing Messerschmitt Bf 109 near the ground and at medium height and climbed faster than the heavier Focke-Wulf Fw 190 . She played a major role in the fact that from this point on the initiative in the air gradually passed to the Soviet troops. Iwan Koshedub , the most successful allied fighter pilot of the Second World War, shot twelve kills with a La-5FN near Kursk. However, the high landing speed, inadequate instrumentation and high temperatures in the cabin were problematic.
From September 1943, the two-seat school version La-5UTI (also: La-5U , also known as UTI-5 by the Air Force ) was used.
The La-5FN was also flown by the “1. Mixed Czechoslovak Aviation Division ”, including during the Slovak National Uprising from the Zolná and Tri Duby airfields . Captured La-5 machines were flown to and tested by the German Air Force in the 2./Versuchsverband Ob.dL. Test pilot Werner Lerche confirmed good workmanship, flight characteristics and climbing performance.
After the war, the ČSR air force received the La-5 as equipment and flew it under the code S-95 . The La-5UTI trainer was used as the CS-95 .
By the end of 1944, 1,021 La-5s, 4,147 La-5Fs and 4,817 La-5FNs had been produced, plus 28 La-5UTI trainer aircraft.
LaG-5 and Gu-82
While Lavochkin in Gorky optimized the production of the LaGG-3 and worked on the La-5, Vladimir Petrovich Gorbunov organized the production of the LaGG-3 in Plant No. 31 in Taganrog . After its evacuation to Tbilisi, he developed the LaG-5 using the ASch-82 radial engine . It was similar to the La-5, but had the fuselage that was taken over from the LaGG-3 and was not lowered behind the cabin with integrated side windows. The LaG-5 did not quite match the performance of the La-5 prototype. Nevertheless, from June 1942 onwards, a small series was built in Tbilisi as an interim solution. At the end of 1942, production was switched to the La-5.
The LaG-5 was used, among other things, with the 159th IAP ( Russian истребительный авиаполк , transcription : Istrebitelny Awiapolk, fighter pilot regiment) during the siege of Leningrad and with the 240th IAP in the tank battle in the Kursk arc .
Michael Iwanowitsch Gudkow, who had also worked on the LaGG-3, also developed the ASch-82 version Gu-82 . He took over the engine mounting and the engine cowling from the light front bomber Su-2 , which was produced in series with the ASch-82 (among others). The Gu-82 was armed with two 20 mm SchWAK cannons above the engine. The first flight was carried out by AN Grintschik in March 1941 under the designation Gu-182 . The engine mount proved to be unsuitable, so Gudkow took over that of the planned Su-2 further development, Su-4. After being converted in this way, the aircraft took off on its maiden flight as the Gu-82 in autumn 1941. The motor turned out to be too weak for the relatively heavy cell and the tests were discontinued.
technical structure
The La-5 was a single-seat fighter in an all-wood half-shell construction . The frames were made from birch plywood and the planking from Bakelite birch plywood. The stringers were constructed as triangular profiles. The front fuselage was designed as a metal construction with removable access flaps to accommodate the engine. On the top of the engine cowling was the charger air duct for a two-stage charger behind the engine, on the underside there was an air inlet for the oil cooler with a throttle valve.
The engine was held in place by a welded chrome steel construction and was equipped with a three-bladed WISch 105W variable pitch propeller. The propeller had a diameter of 3.10 m. The blade adjustment mechanism and the balancing weights were attached under the spinner and a Hucks starter claw at the tip . The seven exhaust pipes on each side were combined into a vertical row and thus provided additional propulsion. On the front of the engine cowling were adjustable cooling air flaps behind the propeller. The 14-cylinder double radial engine M-82 (later referred to as ASch-82) with propeller gear served as the engine . From the La-5F version the ASch-82F and from the La-5FN the ASch-5FN with direct injection, and from May 1942 additionally with a two-speed compressor .
The wing had a main spar made of birch veneer that ran over the entire wingspan and was glued to WIAM-B-3 in the direction of the fibers. Like the hull, the planking was made of Bakelite birch plywood. Automatic slats were attached to the outer part of the wing leading edge. On the wing's trailing edge, fabric-covered ailerons with a structure made of duralumin and a Flettner flap were positioned on the outside . The inner landing flaps were designed as expanding flaps and consisted of dural. In the wings there were three fuel tanks with a total capacity of 464 liters.
Starting with the La-5FN / 41 version, a new wing structure was developed which, apart from improved ailerons and nose flaps, remained aerodynamically almost unchanged. Instead, the construction had a higher proportion of metal, such as B. Main spars made of duralumin and chrome steel (30ChGSA) and central ribs made of duralumin. This structure was later adopted for the La-7.
Like the ailerons, the tail unit consisted of a duraluminium construction and was covered with fabric. All rudders were fitted with trim tabs.
The main landing gear legs of the tail wheel landing gear were pulled inwards hydraulically. They were provided with strut flaps which almost completely covered the landing gear when retracted. The spur was also retractable, but due to frequent malfunctions it was often disconnected from the hydraulics and operated in the "extended and locked" state.
The pilot's seat was protected from behind by a 10 mm thick armored steel plate. The pulpit was initially taken from the LaGG-3 and combined in later versions with a rear pulpit cladding made of Plexiglas , which offered a better all-round view.
Technical specifications
| Parameter | LaG-5 (ЛаГ-5) | La-5FN (Ла-5ФН) |
|---|---|---|
| span | 9.80 m | 9.80 m |
| length | 8.70 m | 8.67 m |
| height | 3.58 m | 3.40 m |
| Wing area | 17.51 m² | 17.60 m² |
| Empty mass | 2,605 kg | 2,605 kg |
| Takeoff mass | 3,320 kg | 3,265 kg |
| Engine | a 14-cylinder double radial engine Schwezow ASch-82 (M-82) |
a 14-cylinder twin radial engine Schwezow ASch-82FN with direct injection |
| Starting power | 980 kW (1,330 hp) | 1,360 kW (1,850 hp) |
| Top speed | 554 km / h at 6,500 m | 563 km / h near the ground 648 km / h at 6,500 m |
| Climb performance | 18.1 m / s | |
| Rise time | 5.4 min at 5,000 m | 4.7 min at 5,000 m |
| Range | 630 km | 765 km |
| Summit height | 9,500 m | 11,000 m |
| Time for a full turn | 18 s | |
| Armament | two 20 mm SchWAK cannons |
two 20 mm SchWAK cannons |
| Drop ammunition | 150 kg bombs or unguided RS-82 missiles |
|
| crew | 1 pilot | 1 pilot |
La-5
La-5F
La-5FN
See also
literature
- Wilfried Copenhagen , Jochen K. Beeck: The large aircraft type book . Motorbuch, Stuttgart 2005. ISBN 978-3-613-02522-6 .
- Wilfried Copenhagen: Soviet fighters . Transpress, Berlin 1985.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Heinz AF Schmidt: Soviet aircraft. Transpress, Berlin 1971. P. 104.