Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Goudkov LaGG-3

LaGG-3
275px
A Series 35 LaGG-3 (Finnish markings).
Type	fighter
Manufacturer	Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Goudkov
Maiden flight	March 30, 1939
Introduced	late 1941
Primary user	Soviet Union
Produced	1941-1942
Number built	6,258
Variants	Lavochkin La-5 Lavochkin La-7

The Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Goudkov LaGG-3 (Лавочкин-Горбунов-Гудков ЛаГГ-3) was a Soviet fighter aircraft of World War II. It was a refinement of the earlier LaGG-1, and was one of the most modern aircraft available to the Soviet Air Force at the time of Germany's invasion in 1941.

Development

The main deficiency of the LaGG-1 design was power. A more powerful version of its Klimov M-105 engine was tried. The improvement was poor and without an alternative powerplant, the only solution was to lighten the airframe. The LaGG team re-examined the design and pared down the structure as much as possible. Fixed slats were added to the wings to improve climb and manoeuvrability and further weight was saved by installing lighter armament. The LaGG-3 replaced the LaGG-1 immediately.

The result was still not good enough although it came close to its rival Bf-109F in performance and was superior in maneuverability. Still, even with the lighter airframe and supercharged engine, the LaGG-3 was underpowered and proved immensely unpopular with pilots. The novel, wood-laminate construction of the aircraft continued to be poor quality (as with its predecessor) and pilots joked that rather than being an acronym of the designers' names (Lavochkin, Gorbunov, and Goudkov) "LaGG" stood for lakirovanny garantirovanny grob ("guaranteed varnished coffin" - лакированный гарантированный гроб). Some aircraft supplied to the front line were up to 40 km/h (25 mph) slower than they should have been and some were not airworthy. In combat, LaGG-3's main advantage was its strong airframe. Although the laminated wood did not burn it shattered severely when hit by high explosive rounds.

The LaGG-3 was improved during production, resulting in 66 minor variants in the 6,258 that were built. Experiments with fitting a large radial engine to the LaGG-3 airframe finally solved the power problem, and led to the superb Lavochkin La-5.

Operators

Template:FIN

• Finnish Air Force operated 3 captured examples.

Template:JPN

• Imperial Japanese Army Air Service operated 1 captured example for tests only.

Template:USSR

• Soviet Air Force

Specifications LaGG-3

(data for LaGG-3 series 66) Template:Aircraft specification

References

Bibliography

• Abanshin, Michael E. and Gut, Nina. Fighting Lavochkin, Eagles of the East No.1. Lynnwood, WA: Aviation International, 1993. ISBN unknown.
• Gordon, Yefim. Lavochkin's Piston-Engined Fighters (Red Star Volume 10). Earl Shilton, Leicester, UK: Midland Publishing Ltd., 2003. ISBN 1-85780-151-2.
• Gordon, Yefim and Khazanov, Dmitri. Soviet Combat Aircraft of the Second World War, Volume One: Single-Engined Fighters. Earl Shilton, Leicester, UK: Midland Publishing Ltd., 1998. ISBN 1-85780-083-4.
• Green, William. Warplanes of the Second World War, Volume Three: Fighters. London: Macdonald & Co. (Publishers) Ltd., 1961 (seventh impression 1973). ISBN 0-356-01447-9.
• Green, William and Swanborough, Gordon. WW2 Aircraft Fact Files: Soviet Air Force Fighters, Part 1. London: Macdonald and Jane's Publishers Ltd., 1977. ISBN 0-354-01026-3.
• Jane, Fred T. "The LaGG-3". Jane’s Fighting Aircraft of World War II. London: Studio, 1946. ISBN 1-85170-493-0.
• Keskinen, Kalevi; Stenman, Kari and Niska, Klaus. Venäläiset Hävittäjät (Suomen Ilmavoimien Historia 7) (in Finnish with English Summary). Espoo, Finland: Tietoteos, 1977. ISBN 951-9035-25-7.
• Kotelnikov, Vladimir; Orlov, Mikhail and Yakubovich, Nikolay. LaGG-3 (Wydawnictwo Militaria 249) (in Polish). Warszawa, Poland: Wydawnictwo Militaria, 2006. ISBN 83-7219-249-9.
• Stapfer, Hans-Heiri. LaGG Fighters in Action (Aircraft in Action Number 163). Carrollton, TX: Squadron/Signal Publications, Inc., 1996. ISBN 0-89747-634-7.

See also

Related development

• LaGG-1
• Lavochkin La-5
• Lavochkin La-7

Comparable aircraft

• Curtiss P-40
• Kawasaki Ki-61
• Messerschmitt Bf 109
• Supermarine Spitfire

Designation sequence
LaGG-1 - LaGG-3 - La-5 - La-7 - La-9 Related lists

• List of fighter aircraft
• List of military aircraft of the Soviet Union and the CIS

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Goudkov LaGG-3".