Although I've made this list very many times.. in the spirit of asking for a decent representation of the VVS, here it is again, the VVS planes we need:
[Yak-7A or -7B]: The most advanced fighter aircraft of the VVS in the early years of the war is considered to be the Yak-1. However, shortages in Yak-1 production initiated a plan to produce 'makeshift' fighter aircraft by using the resources allocated for producing the two-seat Yak trainer, UTI-26. From this design directly sprang the Yak-7 series, which quickly surpassed the Yak-1 in overall production numbers and practically became the two central fighters of the early days of the Eastern Front, along with the I-16.
[Yak-1B]: In 1942, the Yak-1 was refined into the next step of its evolution. Having put forth all of the major field modifications attempted to improve the still-lacking Yak-1 into a single airframe (which included a bubble canopy and a more powerful engine), the final 'standard' version came into production as the Yak-1B, a "light" Yak variant which finally could be considered a match to the German Bf109s fighting in the Eastern Front.
[LaGG-3]: While the Yakoblev Yak-1 and Yak-7 were considered as successful fighters, the Soviet attempts to produce more advanced fighter aircraft were still lagging behind. Many design teams, such as Mikoyan-Gurevich, tried to come up with a design better than the Yakblev planes, but were showing only limited results. Among them, was the Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Goudkov team, which came up with the LaGG-3. Although clearly inferior to its German adversaries, the LaGGs would form a large, interim bulk of the VVS until finally from its lineage the La-5 would evolve.
[Yak-9]: Just as the "light" Yak-1 would evolve into the Yak-1B, the "heavy" Yaks of the VVS - the Yak-7 series - would also be refined into the Yak-9, which quickly became the most numerous Yak version in 1943. In the latter days, this Yak-9 would reach the peak of its war-time evolution as the Yak-9U.
[La-5]: The immediate predecessor to the greatly successful La-5FN, the La-5 was a large modification and refinement of the LaGG-3, which in this form, finally began to show great potential. After the engine was switched to the Shvetsov ASh-82 radial, along with the appropriate design changes to accomodate for the new engine, the old LaGG design finally sprang to life. The La-5 would come to represent the middle point (and at the same time, the turning point) in the evolution of the LaGG line of designs, which would finally bloom into the most excellent La-5FN and the La-7.
... add these five planes to the current roster consisting of I-16, Yak-9T, Yak-9U, La-5FN and La-7 - a total of 10 fighter planes which would definately complete the most representative VVS fighter roster of the period between 1941 and 1945.
