Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Military Illustrated Modeller 05/2014

The Lavochkin La-5 was significant as one of the first Soviet fighters capable of matching its German counterparts. The La-5 was a development of the widely loathed LaGG-3. The LaGG-3 was frequently felt to be more dangerous to its own pilots than to the Luftwaffe. The first LaGG-3s were overweight and underpowered, suffering from poor build quality and slow climb performance. Pilots were also put at risk by its deadly high stall speed. The Messerschmitt Bf 109 F was superior to the LaGG-3 in every aspect of dogfighting except in the horizontal plane, and even then the Bf 109 could simply break off combat and climb to safety. The LaGG was so mistrusted that its pilots dubbed it the "lakirovanny garantirovanny grob ("guaranteed varnished coffin"). Despite these shortcomings, the LaGG-3 showed potential thanks to its heavy armament and robust survivability. Even after being shot to pieces, a LaGG could often still limp away to its home airfield. However, the mating of the massive 41.2 litre M82 radial engine to the LaGG-3 airframe led to a powerful and agile new aircraft - the Lavochkin La-5. It was appropriate that the La-5 entered service at around the time of the battle for Stalingrad and the destruction of von Paulus' 6th Army. The La-5 was a part of a turnaround in the skies that reflected the action on the ground. The Lavochkin bureau continued to improve the La-5 with a 1,560 horsepower fuel-injected engine and lightening of the airframe. This ultimate development was the Lo-5FN. Performance of the La-5FN was equal to the Messerschmitt Bf 109 G and Fw 190 at altitudes lower than 3,000 metres.

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