Lavochkin La-7
| Lavochkin La-7 | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Type: | Fighter plane |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: | |
| First flight: |
January 1944 |
| Commissioning: |
May / June 1944 |
| Number of pieces: |
5753 |
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The Lavochkin La-7 ( Russian Лавочкин Ла-7 ) is a Soviet fighter aircraft of the Second World War . It was a further development of the La-5FN with the aim of creating an aircraft with better flight performance with the same engine.
history
As with the design of the LaGG-3 for the La-5, attempts were made to increase the speed by making some favorable aerodynamic changes and weight savings. In contrast to the La-5, the La-7 got completely closing landing gear fairings, the air inlets were moved inside and the oil cooler to the rear under the pilot's cabin. The armament has also been strengthened and the interior of the cabin has been revised.
Development began in 1943/44 under the designation La-120 and from mid-1944 the front units received the first machines. The most successful Allied fighter pilot of the Second World War , Iwan Koschedub , also flew the La-7 and achieved the last of his 62 aerial victories, including one over an Me 262 . His machine can be seen in the Central Museum of the Air Force of the Russian Federation in Monino . Another La-7 is in the Prague / Kbely Museum in the Czech Republic, where this type was flown under the designation S-97 until 1950.
The La-7 was the last fighter aircraft manufactured in wood / metal composite construction Lawotschkins and the most powerful of the USSR in World War II used this type. In total La-7 made 5753 the aircraft factory Moscow and Yaroslavl.
Versions
- La-7U / La-7UTI : two-seat school version with less fuel and only one cannon
- La-7TK : High-altitude fighter equipped with two TK-3 turbochargers, tested in July / August 1944, not built in series
- La-7 / ASch-71 : Prototype with 18-cylinder ASch-71TK engine
- La-7 / ASch-83 : prototype with ASch-83 engine that was tested from late 1944 to September 12, 1945
- La-126 : Version with modified wings and two additional ramjet engines attached underneath, three built and tested until January 10, 1945. Formed the starting point for the La-9 .
- La-7S / La-126PRWD : series-produced variant with two Bondarjuk WRD-430 ramjet engines under the wings, tested from June to September 1946
- La-7 / PuWRD : test model also equipped with two jet engines
- La-7R / La-120R : Version tested at the end of 1944 with rocket engine RD-1ChS or SchRD-1 in the rear. Two machines were built. The engine name stands for Khimitscheskije Saschiganije (Химические Зажигание, chemical ignition) or Schidkostny Raketny Dwigatel (Жидкостный Ракетный Двигатель, liquid rocket engine)
Technical specifications
| Parameter | Data |
|---|---|
| length | 8.60 m |
| height | 2.80 m |
| span | 9.80 m |
| Wing area | 17.59 m² |
| Empty mass | 2625 kg |
| Takeoff mass | 3400 kg |
| Engine | an air-cooled 14-cylinder double radial engine ASch-82FN |
| Starting power | 1,850 PS (approx. 1,360 kW) |
| Top speed | 665 km / h at 6000 m, 600 km / h near the ground |
| Ascent time to 5000 m | 4.5 min |
| Range | 635 km |
| Flight duration | 1 h |
| Summit height | 11,800 m |
| Armament | two 20 mm MK SchWAK (200 shots each) or three B-20 (140 shots each) |
| Bomb load | two bombs up to a total of 150 kg or six RS-82 missiles |
See also
literature
- Wilfried Copenhagen : Soviet fighters. transpress Verlag, Berlin 1985.
- Olaf Groehler : History of the Air War 1910 to 1980. Military publishing house of the German Democratic Republic, Berlin 1981.
- Author collective: Airplanes from A – Z, volume 3. Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Koblenz 1989, ISBN 3-7637-5906-9 .
- Collective of authors: Weapons of the Second World War. Bechtermünz Verlag, Augsburg 2000, ISBN 3-8289-5380-8 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Harold A. Skaarup: RCAF War Prize Flights, German and Japanese Warbird Survivors. , iUniverse 2006, ISBN 978-0-595-84005-2 , p. 156.