Lavochkin La-168

File:Lawotschkin La-168.jpg

Lavochkin La-168

The Lavochkin La-168 was a jet fighter developed for the USSR. It was designed in response to a 1946 request for a new swept-wing jet fighter capable of transonic speeds. As a single seat fighter with swept flight surfaces and an engine behind the pilot, it was similar in appearance to the Mikoyan MiG-15, which was designed to the same specifications. It also shared the cannon-armament and the Rolls-Royce Nene II engine. Unlike the MiG-15, the La-168 had shoulder mounted wings and a t-tail layout. Due to Lavochkin's decision to wait with La-168 development for the Nene II engine, the MiG-15, first flown with the less powerful Nene I, was available four months earlier, giving it a crucial advantage.

The La-168's first flight was on April 22, 1948, with I. E. Fedorov at the controls. Trials continued until February 19, 1949, when testing of the cannons at high altitude caused the canopy to collapse, almost resulting in a fatal crash. In the end, the Lavochkin fighter lost out to the competing MiG-15. It was later developed into several variants, including the production La-15, which although being well liked and having superior performance, was more expensive and harder to mass produce than the MiG-15. Another La-168 derivative was the La-176, the first Soviet plane to achieve supersonic flight (in a shallow dive) on December 26, 1948.

Specifications (La-168)

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General characteristics

• Crew: one, pilot
• Length: 9.5 m (31 ft 2 in)
• Wingspan: 10.56 m (24 ft 8 in)
• Height: ()
• Wing area: 18.08 m² (194.54 ft²)
• Empty weight: 2,973 kg (6,540 lb)
• Max takeoff weight: 4,412 kg (9,706 lb)
• Powerplant: × Rolls-Royce Nene II centrifugal flow turbojet, 22.3 kN (4,994 lbf) each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 1,084 km/h (581 kt, 669 mph) at sea level
• Range: 1,275 km (688 nm, 786 mi)
• Service ceiling: 14,570 m (47,790 ft)
• Rate of climb: 41.6 m/s (8,200 ft/min)
• Thrust/weight: 0.515

Armament

• 2 × 23 mm Nudelman-Suranov NS-23 cannon
• 1 × 37 mm NL-37 cannon

External links

• La-168 at the Russian Aviation Museum

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Lavochkin La-168".