Lavochkin La-7

Infobox Aircraft
name =La-7
type =Fighter
manufacturer =Lavochkin OKB



caption =
designer =
first flight =
introduced =
retired =
status =
primary user =Soviet Air Force
more users =
produced =
number built = 5,753
unit cost =
developed from= Lavochkin La-5
variants with their own articles = Lavochkin La-9

"This article is about the WW2 Soviet airplane. For the Italian television station, see La7."

The Lavochkin La-7 (Лавочкин Ла-7) was a Soviet fighter aircraft of World War II. It was a development and refinement of the Lavochkin La-5, and the last in a family of aircraft that had begun with the LaGG-1 in 1938.

Design and development

By 1943, the La-5 had become a mainstay of the Soviet Air Force, yet both its head designer, Semyon Lavochkin, as well as the engineers at TsAGI ("Central Aerohydrodynamics Institute") felt that it could be improved upon. The LaGG-1 had been designed at a time when it was considered necessary to conserve strategic materials such as aircraft alloys, and had a structure built almost entirely of plywood. With Soviet strategists now confident that supplies of these alloys were unlikely to become a problem, Lavochkin began replacing large parts of the airframe (including the wing spars) with alloy components. Various other streamlining changes were made as well, increasing performance further. The prototype, internally designated La-120 by Lavochkin, flew in November, and was quickly put into production, entering service the following spring.

Operational history

The La-7 earned itself a superb combat record by the end of the war, and was flown by the top two Soviet aces of the conflict, one of which was Ivan Nikitovich Kozhedub. Turning a full circle took 19-21 seconds. The aircraft was also used as a testbed to explore advanced propulsion systems, including a tail-mounted liquid-fuelled rocket engine (La-7R), two under-wing pulsejets (La-7D), and two under-wing ramjets (La-7S). None of these variants proved worth pursuing, and turbojet technology quickly overtook them.

The La-7 was the only Soviet fighter to shoot down a Messerschmitt Me-262, by Ivan Nikitovich Kozhedub on one occasion over Germany on February 15, 1945.

Total production of the La-7 amounted to 5,753 aircraft, including a number of La-7UTI trainers. Those aircraft still in service after the end of the war were given the NATO reporting name "Fin". The follow-up model, La-9 despite its outward similarity was a complete reworking of the design.

Variants

;La-7D:Testbed for two under-wing pulsejet engines.;La-7R:Testbed for tail-mounted liquid-fuelled rocket engine.;La-7S:Testbed for two under-wing ramjet engines.;La-7TK:One La-7 testbed with two TK-3 turbocharges installed.;La-7UTI:Two-seat trainer version.

Operators

;CZS
*Czech Air Force;flag|Romania|1948
*Romanian Air Force;USSR
*Soviet Air Force;PRK
*North Korean Air Force

pecifications (Lavochkin La-7)

aircraft specification

plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=prop
crew=One
length main=8.60 m
length alt=28 ft 2 in
span main=9.80 m
span alt=32 ft 1 in
height main=2.540 m
height alt=8 ft 4 in
area main=17.5 m²
area alt=188 ft²
empty weight main=2,638 kg
empty weight alt=5,803 lb
loaded weight main=3,265 kg
loaded weight alt=7,183 lb
max takeoff weight main=3,400 kg
max takeoff weight alt=7,480 lb
engine (prop)=Shvetsov ASh-82FN
type of prop=radial engine
number of props=1
power main=1,380 kW
power alt=1,850 hp
max speed main=680 km/h
max speed alt=425 mph
range main=990 km
range alt=618 miles
ceiling main=9,500 m
ceiling alt=31,160 ft
climb rate main=18.3 m/s
climb rate alt=3,608 ft/min
loading main=38 lb/ft²
loading alt=187 kg/m²
power/mass main=0.42 kW/kg
power/mass alt=0.25 hp/lb
armament=
*2x20 mm ShVAK cannon or 3x20 mm Berezin B-20 cannon
*200 kg (440 lb) of bombs

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Abanshin, Michael E. and Gut, Nina. "Fighting Lavochkin, Eagles of the East No.1". Lynnwood, WA: Aviation International, 1993. ISBN unknown.
* Gordon, Yefim. "Lavochkin's Piston-Engined Fighters (Red Star Volume 10)". Earl Shilton, Leicester, UK: Midland Publishing Ltd., 2003. ISBN 1-85780-151-2.
* Gordon, Yefim and Khazanov, Dmitri. "Soviet Combat Aircraft of the Second World War, Volume One: Single-Engined Fighters". Earl Shilton, Leicester, UK: Midland Publishing Ltd., 1998. ISBN 1-85780-083-4.
* Green, William. "Warplanes of the Second World War, Volume Three: Fighters". London: Macdonald & Co. (Publishers) Ltd., 1961 (seventh impression 1973). ISBN 0-356-01447-9.
* Green, William and Swanborough, Gordon. "WW2 Aircraft Fact Files: Soviet Air Force Fighters, Part 1". London: Macdonald and Jane's Publishers Ltd., 1977. ISBN 0-354-01026-3.
* Jane, Fred T. “The La-7.” Jane’s Fighting Aircraft of World War II. London: Studio, 1946. ISBN 1-85170-493-0.
* Liss, Witold. "The Lavochkin La 5 & 7 (Aircraft in Profile number 149)". Leatherhead, Surrey, UK: Profile Publications Ltd., 1967.
* Morgan, Hugh. "Soviet Aces of World War 2". London, Osprey Publishing, 1997. ISBN 1-85532-632-9.
* Stapfer, Hans-Heiri. "La 5/7 Fighters in Action (Aircraft in Action Number 169)". Carrollton, TX: Squadron/Signal Publications, Inc., 1998. ISBN 0-89747-392-2.
* Veštšík, Miloš. "Lavočkin La-7" (in Czech/English). Prague, Czech Republic: MBI-Miroslav BÍLÝ Books, 2000 (reprinted 2003, ISBN 80-86524-05-1). ISBN 80-902238-7-7.

External links

* [http://www.plastikowe.pl/galerie/lotnictwo/lawoczkin-la-7-s-97 Photo gallery of Lavochkin La-7]
* [http://scalemodels.ru/modules/photo/viewcat_cid_142.html Walkaround on La-7 from Monino Museum (Russia)]
* [http://wio.ru/tacftr/lag.htm Lavochkin fighters]

ee also

aircontent

related=
*LaGG-1
*LaGG-3
*La-5
*La-9
*La-11

similar aircraft=
*Focke-Wulf Fw 190
*Hawker Tempest II
*Hawker Sea Fury
*P-47 ThunderboltD
*Kawasaki Ki-100

sequence=
LaGG-1 - LaGG-3 - La-5 - La-7 - La-9 - La-11 - La-15

lists=
*List of military aircraft of the Soviet Union and the CIS -
*List of fighter aircraft