Lavochkin LaGG-3
| Lavochkin-Gorbunow-Gudkow LaGG-3 | |
|---|---|
 1st series LaGG-3 |
|
| Type: | Fighter plane |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: |
Lavochkin |
| First flight: |
June 14, 1940 |
| Commissioning: |
1941 |
| Production time: |
1941 to early 1944 |
| Number of pieces: |
6528 |
.svg){kind=small}
The Lavochkin-Gorbunow-Gudkow LaGG-3 ( Russian Лавочкин-Горбунов-Гудков ЛаГГ-3 ), its full type designation, was a single-seat, single-engine fighter aircraft that was developed by the Soviet Union and used in World War II .
development
Semjon Lavotschkin , who has worked at ZAGI since 1929 , was concerned with the development of a special building material that would make it possible to produce high-performance fighter planes made entirely of wood. The material should be lighter than duralumin , non-flammable, easy to shape and easy to work with. As part of the OKB-301, which was founded in May 1939, he then designed a hunter together with Mikhail Gudkow and Wladimir Gorbunow , which was made of synthetic resin-soaked plywood from Siberian birch, a new type of wood building material, and which should allow rapid and cheap series production. Under the designation I-22 , the aircraft took off on March 30, 1940 with A. I. Nikashin for its maiden flight. 100 of this type, which was subsequently renamed LaGG-1 in 1941 , were built.
The hasty construction inevitably revealed deficiencies, such as problems with controlling the machine, which required a lot of effort, as well as technological weaknesses in production. The aircraft was then redesigned again, so larger tanks were installed and the two-bladed propeller was replaced by a three-bladed propeller. The first flight of this I-301 and later LaGG-3 model was on June 14, 1940 , again carried out by Nikaschin.
At the beginning of 1941, series production began at Plant 23 in Leningrad (later Plant 153 in Novosibirsk), Plant 21 in Gorky and Plant 31 in Taganrog (later Tblissi). By the beginning of the war with Germany about 300 LaGG-3s had been built, by the end of 1941 there were already 2507. Most of the LaGG-3s were built in Gorki from 1941 to 1942 (3553 aircraft), after the production changeover in Gorki to the La-5 only Plant 31 in Tblissi produced the improved versions of the LaGG-3. After a total of around 2550 LaGG-3s produced there, production was switched to the Jak-3 at the beginning of 1944 . The Leningrad plant 23 (65) and the plant 153 in Novosibirsk (330) produced small quantities. A total of 6528 LaGG-3s were built.
The LaGG-3 was very robust and resilient, but its life suffered from an engine that was too heavy and too weak, which is why Lavochkin tested several other engines, such as the WK-107 , M-82 or the WK-105PF-2 . In a small series, a LaGG-3 ( Russian облегчённый oblegschjonny - relieved ) with the WK-105PF, reduced to 2865 kg takeoff mass, finally appeared in the summer of 1942 . This was designed by Vladimir P. Gorbunow. In addition to the other engine, the back of the fuselage was lowered behind the cockpit, slats and aileron mass balancing pieces were removed and a B-20 light cannon and a 12.7 mm MG UB were installed in the propeller hub. As a result, the curb weight could be reduced by 300 kg. Despite significantly increased flight performance, such as a speed of 623 km / h at an altitude of 4000 m, the model was not pursued further. Other names for this type were Gorbunow 105 and Samoljot (airplane) 105 .
commitment
The LaGG-3 soon formed the core of the Soviet fighter pilot units. However, it proved to be inferior to the then newly used Bf 109 F of the German Air Force, which led to the development of the successor La-5 .
technical description
The LaGG-3 was a cantilever low-wing aircraft in solid wood construction and conventional landing gear with a rear wheel. The tail unit was also self-supporting, the trapezoidal wings were double-spar with plywood strips glued diagonally over them. The control surfaces consisted of metal frames covered with fabric. The landing gear was completely retractable. The fuselage was made in half-shell construction. The engine mounts and the weapon mounts were made of welded tubular steel.
Projects
| designation | features |
| LaGG-3M-82 | Machine tested in Tblissi in the summer of 1941 with a Schwezow M-82 radial engine . Did not go into series production due to insufficient performance and poor aerodynamics. |
| Gudkov K-37 | Prototype series from August 1941 with a 37 mm Nudelman cannon. The combat rate was 20 grenades. Gudkov had already separated from Lavochkin at this point. Three copies were built, which were tested at Vyasma. The pilot Pereskokow shot down two Bf 110s during such a combat flight . The evacuation of the Moscow plant prevented series production. |
| Gudkow Gu-82 / Gu-182 |
In March 1941, the Gu-182 was tested with an M-82 radial engine. The engine with carrier, hood and propeller was taken over unchanged from the Suchoi Su-2 . Since the aircraft had poor climbing characteristics, the engine mount was replaced by that of the Su-4 . The armament consisted of two 20 mm MK SchWAK. The project was delayed by the evacuation of the plant in October 1941. In the summer of 1942, the model was tested as the Gu-82. The project was no longer pursued because the La-5 was now ready for series production and the take-off mass of the type was too high compared to the engine power. |
| LaGG-3 Dubler | Lavochkin prototype from 1944 with a more powerful Klimov WK-105PF-2 engine , 23-mm gun WJa and 12.7-mm machine gun UBS . Tested by I. M. Djuba, it reached a top speed of 618 km / h at 3400 meters. A series production was omitted. |
Technical specifications
| Parameter | Data |
|---|---|
| span | 9.80 m |
| length | 8.81 m |
| height | 3.34 m |
| Wing area | 17.51 m² |
| Preparation mass | 2,620 kg |
| Takeoff mass | 3,076 kg |
| Engine | a 12-cylinder V-engine Klimow WK-105P |
| power | 1,050 hp (772 kW) |
| Top speed | at ground level 495 km / h at 5000 m height 575 km / h |
| Rise time to 5000 | 5.0 min |
| Range | 1,000 km |
| Summit height | 9,700 m |
| Time for a full turn | 20 s |
| Armament | a 20-mm automatic cannon shvak cannon , two 12.7-mm MG UBS |
| Drop ammunition | 200 kg bombs or six unguided RS-82 missiles |
See also
literature
- Olaf Groehler : History of the Air War 1910 to 1980 . Military Publishing House of the German Democratic Republic , Berlin 1981, ISBN 978-3-89488-021-7 , p. 743 .
- Wilfried Copenhagen , Jochen K. Beeck: The large aircraft type book . Motorbuch, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 978-3-613-02522-6 , p. 751 .
- Wilfried Copenhagen: Soviet fighters . Transpress, Berlin 1985, p. 184 .
Web links
- Лавочкин, Горбунов, Гудков ЛаГГ-3 (1 серии). Retrieved July 16, 2019 (Russian).
- Лавочкин, Горбунов, Гудков ЛаГГ-3 (4-8 серии). Retrieved July 16, 2019 (Russian).
- Лавочкин, Горбунов, Гудков ЛаГГ-3 (11 серии). Retrieved July 16, 2019 (Russian).
- Лавочкин, Горбунов, Гудков ЛаГГ-3 (23-35 серии). Retrieved July 16, 2019 (Russian).
- Лавочкин, Горбунов, Гудков ЛаГГ-3 (34 серии). Retrieved July 16, 2019 (Russian).
- Лавочкин, Горбунов, Гудков ЛаГГ-3 (66 серии). Retrieved July 16, 2019 (Russian).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Die Soviet Flugzeugwerke 1941–1945 ( Memento of the original from August 4, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b William Green and Gordon Swanborough: Fighter Airplanes of the World , Motorbuch, Stuttgart 1996, ISBN 3-7276-7126-2
- ↑ Wilfried Copenhagen : Encyclopedia Soviet aviation. Elbe – Dnjepr, Klitzschen 2007, ISBN 978-3-933395-90-0 , p. 82.
- ^ Gudkov Gu-82. In: Fliegerrevue No. 6/1983 (364), p. 280
