Cool La-7 Reference
Sky Corner La-7 Translation:
All recommendations, obtained with building of aircraft caress # 206, they considered on constructed during January 1944 the aircraft of &.tsuot;La-shch the standard of 1944 g.&.tsuot;: the external and internal hermetic sealing of power plant and glider is carry ouied, the shields, which completely close the niches of chassis, are established, oil radiator is transferred under the fuselage, and the suction branches of supercharger - into the nose of center section, the form of the fairings between the wing and the fuselage is improved, reduced a quantity of covers of cowling is reduced the size of mobile lateral folds; due to the installation of aerodynamic compensators on the elevators it was possible to decrease the stick forces to 20-23%. &.tsuot;Etalon&.tsuot; was obtained the intensive armament from three 20- mm of the guns Of berezina UB-20 with the ammunition on 150 projectiles to the stem. The first flight on the modernized destroyer test pilot Georgiy Mikhaylovich shiyanov completed on 2 February, 1944, only in two weeks; on 16 February - they transmitted aircraft to official tests. According to the program State of tests it was planned to carry out 44 flights, but in the ninth flight, on 20 February, occurred the break of connecting rod in the engine, and for test pilot a.G.Kubyshkin with difficulty it was possible to plant destroyer. Tests were renewed on 8 March, after repair caress. When the large part of the program was worked out, because of the manufacturing defect (poor glueing) in air was destroyed the 12th frame of fuselage, Kubyshkin again it knew how to plant the damaged aircraft. In the test report Major kubyshkin noted that considerably increased the horizontal speed and rate of climb, maximum speed it reached the value of 680 km/h at the height of 6250 m - best result among all domestic destroyers of that time. At the same time it also deficiencies in &.tsuot;etalona of 1944 g.&.tsuot; - heat in the cab (+40-50° s), accumulation in the cab of the condensate of moisture, are great pedal forces, the rapid abandoning of machine is not provided, there is no automation of control of power plant. The conclusion Of kubyshkin made the following: it &.tsuot;Samolet according to its flight-performance data it is one of the best destroyers. It is necessary to boost series building with the simultaneous elimination of nedostatkov.&.tsuot pointed out above; In the beginning of May the standard of 1944 was neglected into the series production under the designation la -7, and from November 1944 la -7 completely extruded the la -5FN, production which ceased (by the way, on last series la -5FN were inculcated some innovations of &.tsuot;etalona&.tsuot;, in particular, on la -5FN 39-1 and 41-1 series metallic wing spars). Majority series la -7 is released with two guns SHVAK, but not with three UB-20. Gun UB-20 was altered under the caliber 20 mm machine gun UB, and it were at first characterized by low reliability; only 368 three-cannon la, prepared to the end of the war, they were constructed from March 1945 at the plant ¹ of 381. In all were produced 5750 destroyers la -7. Troop tests from 15 September through 15 October, 1944, la -7 underwent to 63- m giap, which commanded the Hero of the Soviet Union Lieutenant Colonel Gorbatov. Regiment was based on the Lithuanian airfields Of shaulyay and Purchay. In the tests took part 30 &.tsuot;Lavochkinykh&.tsuot;. Guardsmen brought down 55 aircraft of enemy (52 fw190 and three Bf 109) in 47 air battles, after losing its four machines (everything - because of the engine failures). In one battle on 25 September six la -7 of Major Voronkov attacked 12 &.tsuot;fokkerov&.tsuot; and it brought down seven of them! Undoubtedly, their role in this calculation said not only technology, but also enormous combat experience of pilots - autumn of 1944. - this is not the summer of 1941! Personnel of guard regiment consisted of veterans, some pilots began to war on caress even in the environs of Stalingrad. Then to &.tsuot;fokke-vul'fakh&.tsuot; the lethal factor it is far from Of khartmany - at the end of the war into the destroyers and the fighter-bombers many pilots from the disbanded bomber and transport air groups, which did not manage the skill of air battle, arrived. However, on the la -7 they successfully beat German aces. In the fall of 1944 for the opposition to destroyers of Helmut Vicat (130 victories) toward the 3rd Baltic front was directed the squadron of Ivan kozhedub from 176- GO giap. Squadron was based on the airfield Of valga. Sum of the mission of guardsmen - 12 biased Germans with two lost its aircraft. As a result the activity of &.tsuot;okhotnikov&.tsuot; Lyuftvaffe sharply was reduced. La -7 so not was deprived of very serious deficiencies. For example, on it there is no automation of control of the work of power plant. The characteristics of aircraft unavoidably are reduced with the mass production - not one series la -7 developed the speed more than 658 km/h. The shortage of speed served as the reason for conducting BY NII - SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH INSTITUTE VVS in August- September of 1944 monitoring tests of the aircraft of advance run and series. Test pilots advanced to series machine the unsatisfactory estimation: the shortage of speed, the temperature in the cab composed +55° s, with the climb the motor was heated. La -7 on the combination of combat characteristics became the best Soviet series destroyer World War II. On this aircraft Of i.N.Kozhedub, honored three gold stars of Hero of the Soviet Union, gained the large part of its victories. One of the last rams in the World War II was perfected on the la -7. Of guards captain p.Ya.Golovachev from 9th GIAP, 30 December of 1944 intercepted the high-altitude intelligence officer Ju 88, he was succeeded in damaging aircraft by cannon turns; however, on 9000 m of the gun of zamerzli - remained only ram. &.tsuot;Yunkere&.tsuot; it collapsed in the district of the German city Of trayburg, and Golovochev could successfully plant its &.tsuot;Lavochkin&.tsuot;. In all for the war Of golovachev brought down 31 aircraft personally one in the group, 12 enemy machines it destroyed on the la -7 and two - to LaGG-e.
Modification Là-7
span of wing, m 9.80
Length, m 8.67
Height, m 2.54
Wing Area, m2 17.59
Mass, êg
Empty 2605
Takeoff 3265
Type of Engine 1 PE Shvetsov ASH -82FN
Power, hp 1 õ 1850
Maximum Speed , kph
sea level 597
at 6250 m 680
Service Range, km 635
Maximum Rate of Climbe, m/min 1111
Service Ceiling, m 10750
Crew 1
Armament: three 20-mm UB-20 or two 20-mm SHVAK
200 kg of bombs
My comments:
Max speed of prototype is 680 km/h at the height of 6250 m (422 mph at 20,505 ft), however... "The characteristics of aircraft unavoidably are reduced with the mass production - not one series (i.e. production) la-7 developed the speed more than 658 km/h" (408 mph)
"Max climb (presumably of prototype) 1,111 m/min" = 3,645 ft/min (presumably at sea level)
only 368 three-cannon la, prepared to the end of the war
- Why is the 3 cannon version not considered a different model like the F4U-1C (200 produced)?
the temperature in the cab composed +55° s, with the climb the motor was heated.
- Yikes, it got up to 131 Degrees Fahrenheit in the cockpit because of the engine heat during climb! Take a bottle of cold water along.
La-7 power loading 7189 lbs/1850hp = 3.88 lbs/hp at S.L.
But what really counts is thrust, not power. I suspect the propeller was a limiting factor to the performance of the La-7.
