Lavochkin La-9
| La-9 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| General information | |
| Type | Fighter |
| Manufacturer | Lavochkin |
| Status | Phased out of service |
| Primary users | Soviet Air Force |
| Number built | 1,559 |
| History | |
| Manufactured | 1946–1948 |
| Introduction date | August 1946 |
| First flight | 1946 |
| Developed into | Lavochkin La-11 |
The Lavochkin La-9 (NATO reporting name Fritz) was a Soviet fighter aircraft produced shortly after World War II. It was one of the last piston engined fighters to be produced before the widespread adoption of the jet engine.
Development
[edit]La-9 represents a further development of the Lavochkin La-126 prototype. The first prototype, designated La-130 was finished in 1946. Similarity to the famous Lavochkin La-7 was only superficial – the new fighter had an all-metal construction and a laminar flow wing. Weight savings due to elimination of wood from the airframe allowed for greatly improved fuel capacity and four-cannon armament. Mock combat demonstrated that the La-130 was evenly matched with the La-7 but was inferior to the Yakovlev Yak-3 in horizontal 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.
Variants
[edit]Like other aircraft designers at the time, Lavochkin was experimenting with using jet propulsion 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 (the engine which powered the V-1 flying bomb, probably taken from surplus Luftwaffe stocks) 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 – two-seat trainer version. Built at GAZ-99 in Ulan-Ude. Two versions exist: with 12.7 mm UBS machine gun and with one 23 mm NS-23 cannon (all armament is mounted in the cowling above the engine, firing through the propeller).
- La-132 (La-132) – prototype with upgraded Shvetsov M-93 engine. Projected top speed 740 km/h (460 mph) at 6,500 m (21,325 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 auxiliary RD-13 pulsejet engines underwing.
- La-138 – one La-9 was fitted with two underwing PVRD-450 auxiliary ramjet engines.
Operators
[edit]
- People's Liberation Army Air Force Imported 129 La-9 airplanes in 1950. The last 5 La-9 fighters retired in 1959.
- Volkspolizei (5 operated from 1952 to 1956 prior to the formation of the Air Forces of the National People's Army)
- Romanian Air Force (10 delivered in 1950: 5 La-9 and 5 La-9 UTI)
Surviving aircraft
[edit]China
[edit]- La-9 6201 is on display at Beijing Aeronautical Institute, Beijing, China as 7504
- La-9 (unidentified S/N) on display at People's Liberation Army Air Force Museum, Datangshan, Chiangping, China as 06
- La-9UTI (unidentified S/N) on display at People's Liberation Army Air Force Museum, Datangshan, Chiangping, China
North Korea
[edit]- La-9 102 is on display at Glorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum, Pyongyang, North Korea[1]
Romania
[edit]- La-9 66 on display at Central Military Museum, Bucharest, Romania
United States
[edit]- La-9 28 owned by Jerry Yagen's Military Aviation Museum and restored by Pioneer Aero Restorations in New Zealand between 2001 and 2003, airworthy as N415ML
Specifications (La-9)
[edit]
Data from [citation needed]
General characteristics
- Crew: 1
- Length: 8.63 m (28 ft 4 in)
- Wingspan: 9.8 m (32 ft 2 in)
- Height: 3.56 m (11 ft 8 in)
- Wing area: 17.6 m2 (189 sq ft)
- Aspect ratio: 5.46
- Airfoil: TsAGI Laminar Airfoil [2]
- Empty weight: 2,638 kg (5,816 lb)
- Gross weight: 3,425 kg (7,551 lb)
- Max takeoff weight: 3,676 kg (8,104 lb)
- Powerplant: 1 × Shvetsov ASh-82FN 14-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine, 1,380 kW (1,850 hp) with 1-stage 2-speed supercharger and fuel injection
- Propellers: 3-bladed constant-speed propeller
Performance
- Maximum speed: 690 km/h (430 mph, 370 kn) at altitude
- Range: 1,735 km (1,078 mi, 937 nmi)
- Service ceiling: 10,800 m (35,400 ft)
- Rate of climb: 17.7 m/s (3,480 ft/min)
- Wing loading: 150 kg/m2 (31 lb/sq ft)
- Power/mass: 0.40 kW/kg (0.24 hp/lb)
Armament
- Guns: 4 × 23 mm Nudelman-Suranov NS-23 cannon, 75 rpg
See also
[edit]Related development
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
- Grumman F8F Bearcat
- Hawker Sea Fury
- Hispano Aviación HA-1112
- Nakajima Ki-84
- Kawasaki Ki-100
- North American P-51 Mustang
- Vought F4U Corsair
Related lists
References
[edit]- ^ "Aviation Photo #0861812: Lavochkin La-9 - North Korea - Air Force". Airliners.net. 9 May 2005. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
- ^ Lednicer, David. "The Incomplete Guide to Airfoil Usage". m-selig.ae.illinois.edu. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
Further reading
[edit]
- Gordon, Yefim. Lavochkin's Piston-Engined Fighters (Red Star Volume 10). Earl Shilton, 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.
- Méal, Xavier (June 2004). "Lavotchkine 9: les fins de race sont toujours le plus belle" [The Lavochkin 9: The Finishers of the Race are Still the Best]. Le Fana de l'Aviation (in French) (415): 18–27. ISSN 0757-4169.
The initial version of this article was based on material from aviation.ru. It has been released under the GFDL by the copyright holder.