World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseThe La-5 (Ла-5) fighters were designed because of the poor performance of LaGG-1 and LaGG-3 fighters, which had pushed the rival aircraft manufacturing company Yakovlev's Yak-1 into the spotlight. The design was still largely based on the LaGG-3, but when the prototype took flight in Mar 1942, the difference was easy to see; in fact, test pilots declared that the performance was on par with, or exceeding, that of Yak-7. In Jul 1942, production of La-5 began with the conversion of incomplete LaGG-3 airframes into the new design. In summer of 1943, the Germans captured a La-5FN. Test pilot Hans-Werner Lerhe flew the captured aircraft and noted that the fighter excelled at lower altitudes (below 3,000 meters) and had a high top-speed, but suffered several disadvantages including a short range and overly-complicated cockpit levers. Out of the 9,920 built, many La-5 fighters survived the war and remained in the air forces of Soviet Bloc countries.

SPECIFICATIONS

La-5FN

Machinery	One Shvetsov ASh-82FN radial engine rated at 1,630hp
Armament	2x20mm ShVAK cannon, 8xRS-82 rockets or up to 500kg of bombs
Span	9.80 m
Length	8.67 m
Height	2.54 m
Wing Area	17.50 m²
Weight, Empty	2,605 kg
Weight, Loaded	3,265 kg
Weight, Maximum	3,402 kg
Speed, Maximum	648 km/h
Rate of Climb	16.70 m/s
Service Ceiling	11,000 m
Range, Normal	475 km

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