Lavochkin La-9

infobox Aircraft
name = La-9 "Fritz"
type = Fighter
manufacturer = Lavochkin

---

caption =
designer =
first flight = 1946
introduced = August 1946
retired =
produced = 1946-1948
number built = 1,559
status = Out of service
unit cost =
primary user = Soviet Air Force
more users = Romanian Air Force
North Korea Air Force
developed from =
variants with their own articles = Lavochkin La-11The Lavochkin La-9 (NATO reporting name Fritz) was an early post-World War II Soviet fighter aircraft.

Development

La-9 represents further development of the Lavochkin La-126 prototype. First prototype, designated La-130 was finished in 1946. Similarity to the famous Lavochkin La-7 was only superficial -- the new fighter had all-metal construction, a laminar flow wing, and a pressurized cockpit. Weight savings due to elimination of wood from the airframe allowed for greatly improved fuel capacity and four-cannon armament. Mock combat demonstrated that La-130 was evenly matched with La-7 but was inferior to Yakovlev Yak-3 in both horizontal and vertical planes. The new fighter, officially designated La-9, entered production in August 1946. A total of 1,559 aircraft were built by the end of production in 1948.

Only one La-9 remains in airworthy condition today, ZK-LIX (pictured above at Warbirds Over Wanaka) in Wanaka, New Zealand, having been restored by Pioneer Aero Restoration and AVspecs between 2001 and '03. A handful of others remain in museums in China and Korea.

Variants

Like other aircraft designers at the time, Lavochkin was experimenting with using jet engines to augment performance of piston-engined fighters. One such attempt was La-130R with an RD-1Kh3 liquid fuel rocket engine in addition to the Shvetsov ASh-82FN piston powerplant. The project was cancelled in 1946 before the prototype could be assembled. A more unusual approach was La-9RD which was tested in 1947-1948. It was a production La-9 with a reinforced airframe and armament reduced to two cannons which carried a single RD-13 pulsejet (likely of the German V-1 rocket origin) under each wing. The 70 km/h (45 mph) increase in top speed came at the expense of tremendous noise and vibration. The engines were unreliable and worsened the handling. The project was abandoned although between 3 and 9 La-9RD were reported to perform at airshows, no doubt pleasing the crowds with the noise.

Other notable La-9 variants were:
* La-9UTI - field-modified two-seat trainer version
* La-132 (La-132) - prototype with upgraded Shvetsov M-93 engine. Projected top speed 740 km/h (460 mph) at 6,500 m (21,300 ft). Engine proved a failure and the single prototype was equipped with an experimental Shvetsov ASh-82M instead. The aircraft did not proceed to production.
* La-9M (La-134) - long-range fighter prototype, see Lavochkin La-11
* La-9RD - one La-9 was fitted with two underwing RD-13 auxiliary pulejet engines.
* La-138 - one La-9 was fitted with two underwing PVRD-450 axiliary ramjets engines.

Operators

;PRK
*North Korea Air Force;ROM
*Romanian Air Force;USSR
*Soviet Air Force

pecifications (La-9)

aircraft specifications

plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=prop
crew=One
length main=8.63 m
length alt=28 ft 4 in
span main=9.80 m
span alt=32 ft 2 in
height main=3.56 m
height alt=11 ft 8 in
area main=17.6 m²
area alt=189 ft²
empty weight main=2,638 kg
empty weight alt=5,816 lb
loaded weight main=3,425 kg
loaded weight alt=7,551 lb
max takeoff weight main=3,676 kg
max takeoff weight alt=8,104 lb
more general=
engine (prop)=Shvetsov ASh-82FN
type of prop=air-cooled radial engine with a two-stage supercharger and fuel injection
number of props=1
power main=1,380 kW
power alt=1,850 hp
max speed main=690 km/h
max speed alt=430 mph
max speed more=at altitude
range main=1,735 km
range alt=1,082 mi
ceiling main=10,800 m
ceiling alt=35,424 ft
climb rate main=17.7 m/s
climb rate alt=3,489 ft/min
loading main=195 kg/m²

loading alt=40 lb/ft²
power/mass main=0.40 kW/kg
power/mass alt=0.25 hp/lb
armament=
* 4x 23 mm Nudelman-Suranov NS-23 cannons, 75 rounds/gun

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Gordon, Yefim. "Lavochkin's Piston-Engined Fighters (Red Star Volume 10)". Earl Shilton, Leicester, UK: Midland Publishing Ltd., 2003. ISBN 1-85780-151-2.
* Green, William. "War Planes of the Second World War, Volume Three: Fighters". London: Macdonald & Co.(Publishers) Ltd., 1961. ISBN 0-356-01447-9.
* Kopenhagen, W (ed.), "Das große Flugzeug-Typenbuch" (in German). Transpress, 1987, ISBN 3-344-00162-0.

External links

*http://www.aviation.ru/La/#9
*http://www.wio.ru/tacftr/lag.htm

ee also

aircontent

sequence=
* "VVS sequence:" LaGG-3 - La-5 - La-7 - La-9 - La-11 - La-15
* "Lavochkin prototypes sequence:" La-120 - La-126 - La-130 - La-132 - La-134 - La-138 - La-140

related=
* La-126
* La-134
* La-138
* La-11

similar aircraft=

* F8F Bearcat
* Hawker Sea Fury
* North American P-51 Mustang

lists=
* List of fighter aircraft

see also=