The Finnish Air Force captured this LaGG an used it opertionally.
During February of 1944, Warrant Officer E. Koskinen shot down a Soviet LaGG-3
while flying this fighter.
Design: Semyon Alexseyevich Lavochkin, Vladmir Petrovich Gorbunov and Mikhail Ivanovich Gudkov
Manufacturer: State Industries; Type: Single Seat Fighter
Powerplant: One 1,240 hp (925 kw) Klimov M-105PF Vee 12-cylinder piston engine.
Performance: Maximum speed 348 mph (560 km/h) at 16,405 ft (5000 m); service ceiling 31,495 ft (9600 m).
Range: 404 miles (650 km) on internal fuel.
Weight: Empty 5,776 lbs (2620 kg) with a maximum take-off weight of 7,231 lbs (3280 kg).
Dimensions: Span 32 ft 1 3/4 in (9.80 m); length 29 ft 2 1/2 in (8.90 m); height 8 ft 10 in (2.69 m); wing area 188.37 sq ft
(17.50 sq m).
Armament: One 20 mm ShVak cannon firing through the propeller nose and two 2.7 mm (0.50 in) BS Machine guns
plus underwing racks capable of either two 220 lbs (100 kg) bombs or six RS-82 rockets.
Variants: LaGG-3 (developed from the short lived LaGG-1). Later versions had a retractable tailwheel and support for
drop tanks.
Operators: Soviet Union.
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I
The generation of combat aircraft built in the Soviet Union during The prototype was redesignated I-301 and, once tests had
the war witnessed the debut of designers who were to become world been completed, the fighter went into production with the official
famous over the next few years. Following Mikoyan and Gurevich, designation LaGG-3. However, its initial operative service (from
another extremely talented technician was Semyon Alexseyevich 1941) brought to light some negative flight characteristics, for
Lavochkin, whose initials characterized a family of fighters that example, a tendency to go into a spin following particularly tight
survived until the 1950s, ranging from the LaGG-1 of 1940, to the La- turns, making further research and testing necessary.
11 of 1947, the last aircraft powered by a piston engine to serve in the
Once in service with the units, the LaGG-3 was widely used in
Soviet air force.
the early phases of the war against the Germans, especially on the
Lavochkin executed his first project together with another two Finnish front, and its performance proved to be satisfactory.
talented technicians, Viadimir Petrovich Gorbunov and Mikhail However, the aircraft never possessed the characteristics of an
lvanovich Gudkov, with whom he had worked since 1938. This was a interceptor that had been planned in the original project. Never-
single-seater fighter, initially designated I-22 and then LaGG-1; the theless, it was used with success in bomber escort duty, ground
prototype made its maiden flight on March 30,1940. The aircraft was a attack, and target attack against the least dangerous of the for-
low-wing monoplane, carefully studied from an aerodynamic point of midable German fighters, such as reconnaissance planes and
view and fitted with completely retractable landing gear. A bombers. Moreover, the LaGG-3 proved to be extremely versatile
predominant feature that made it unique among its kind, was its being and reliable. Its typical armament included a 20 mm cannon that
built entirely in wood, with the exception of the moving parts, which fired through the propeller hub and two 12.7 mm machine guns,
were metal, and the fabric covering: the fuselage, empennage, and while under the wings supports were planned for light bombs or
wings had a supporting structure in wood onto which a covering of rockets. Up to August 1942, a total of 6,528 LaGG-3s came off the
diagonal strips of plywood was stuck using special resins. Its engine assembly lines, a remarkable number considering the unexceptional
was a large Klimov M-105 liquid-cooled V-12 that generated 1,050 hp performance of the aircraft.
at takeoff.
In the course of production numerous other experimental
However, flight tests proved to be unsatisfactory. Consequently, prototypes were completed, built with the aim of improving the
before production got under way, numerous modifications were carried aircraft's characteristics. Lavochkin, in particular, dedicated himself
out. These included the adoption of a more powerful and supercharged to the task of perfecting it. Following a series of failed attempts,
version of the Klimov M-105 engine (the 1,240 hp (925 kw) M-105PF) success was achieved when a radically new engine became
and of a three-bladed variable-pitch metal propeller, increased fuel tank available. This was the Shvetsov M.82 radial engine and, once it had
capacity, and the installation of slats on the leading edge of the wings. been fitted on the LaGG-3, it transformed it into a first-class aircraft,
the LaGG-5 of 1942, one of the best Soviet fighters of the entire war.