Lavochkin La-126

Lavochkin La-126 was a World War II Soviet prototype piston-engined fighter aircraft.

Development

Despite its superb performance, Lavochkin La-7 fighter had a major drawback -- much of its airframe was made of wood. In addition to being heavier than metal, the wooden structure was prone to rotting and warping when exposed to the elements, which at times led to nasty surprises during flight and could ground entire squadrons. The solution was to create an all-metal airframe. Meanwhile, in 1944 a La-7 was successfully tested with Nudelman-Suranov NS-23 23 mm cannons. At the same time, TsAGI was testing a La-7L with a new laminar flow wing. Finally, another La-7 was tested with the new Shvetsov ASh-83 motor. While only slightly more powerful than Shvetsov ASh-82FN, ASh-83 had much better performance at high altitude. All of these developments were combined in the new La-120 prototype with mostly metal construction, NS-23 cannons, a laminar flow wing, and the ASh-83 engine. Flight testing began in January 1945 with the aircraft reaching a top speed of 735 km/h (457 mph). However, the ASh-83 engine proved unreliable and La-120 development was stopped after two prototypes.

The La-120 design directly evolved into La-126. The aircraft was equipped with the proven ASh-82FN engine and the laminar flow wing was perfected, eliminating the need for leading-edge slats. This was a welcome change as the slats on La-7 had a tendency for unsynchronized deployment with a serious impact on aircraft handling. Flight testing of La-126 was completed by 1946 with somewhat disappointing results. While the armament of four 23 mm NS-23 cannons represented a leap over La-7 with three 20 mm Berezin B-20 (projectile mass from a one-second burst had increased from 3.1 kg (6.8 lb) on La-7 to 6 kg (13.2 lb) on La-126), there was no significant improvement in performance. As the result, La-126 never advanced beyond the prototype stage. The concept of an all-metal La-7 was finally realized with Lavochkin La-9.

Specifications (La-126)

General characteristics

• Crew: One
• Length: 8.63 m (28 ft 4 in)
• Wingspan: 9.80 m (32 ft 2 in)
• Height: 3.56 m (11 ft 8 in)
• Wing area: 17.6 m² (189 ft²)
• Empty weight: 2,579 kg (5,686 lb)
• Loaded weight: 3,315 kg (7,308 lb)
• Powerplant: 1× Shvetsov ASh-82FN air-cooled radial engine with a two-stage supercharger and fuel injection, 1,380 kW (1,850 hp)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 690 km/h (430 mph) at altitude
• Range: 700 km (435 mi)
• Service ceiling: 10,800 m (35,400 ft)
• Rate of climb: 17.8 m/s (3,510 ft/min)
• Wing loading: 188 kg/m² (39 lb/ft²)
• Power/mass: 0.42 kW/kg (0.25 hp/lb)

Armament

• 4x 23 mm Nudelman-Suranov NS-23 cannons, 50 rounds/gun

References

Notes

Biblliography

• Gordon, Yefim. Lavochkin's Piston-Engined Fighters (Red Star Volume 10). Earl Shilton, Leicester, UK: Midland Publishing Ltd., 2003. ISBN 1-85780-151-2.
• Kopenhagen, W (ed.), Das große Flugzeug-Typenbuch (in German). Transpress, 1987, ISBN 3-344-00162-0

See also

Related development

• Lavochkin La-9
• Lavochkin La-130

Comparable aircraft

• Focke-Wulf Fw 190

Designation sequence

• La-120 - La-126 - La-130 - La-132 - La-134

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Lavochkin La-126".