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Lavochkin La-9

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La-9
General information
TypeFighter
ManufacturerLavochkin
StatusPhased out of service
Primary usersSoviet Air Force
Number built1,559
History
Manufactured1946–1948
Introduction dateAugust 1946
First flight1946
Developed intoLavochkin La-11

The Lavochkin La-9 (NATO reporting name Fritz) was a Soviet fighter aircraft produced shortly after World War II. It was one of the last piston engined fighters to be produced before the widespread adoption of the jet engine.

Development

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La-9 represents a further development of the Lavochkin La-126 prototype. The first prototype, designated La-130 was finished in 1946. Similarity to the famous Lavochkin La-7 was only superficial – the new fighter had an all-metal construction and a laminar flow wing. Weight savings due to elimination of wood from the airframe allowed for greatly improved fuel capacity and four-cannon armament. Mock combat demonstrated that the La-130 was evenly matched with the La-7 but was inferior to the Yakovlev Yak-3 in horizontal planes. The new fighter, officially designated La-9, entered production in August 1946. A total of 1,559 aircraft were built by the end of production in 1948.

Variants

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Like other aircraft designers at the time, Lavochkin was experimenting with using jet propulsion to augment performance of piston-engined fighters. One such attempt was La-130R with an RD-1Kh3 liquid fuel rocket engine in addition to the Shvetsov ASh-82FN piston powerplant. The project was cancelled in 1946 before the prototype could be assembled. A more unusual approach was La-9RD which was tested in 1947–1948. It was a production La-9 with a reinforced airframe and armament reduced to two cannons, which carried a single RD-13 pulsejet (the engine which powered the V-1 flying bomb, probably taken from surplus Luftwaffe stocks) under each wing. The 70 km/h (45 mph) increase in top speed came at the expense of tremendous noise and vibration. The engines were unreliable and worsened the handling. The project was abandoned although between 3 and 9 La-9RD were reported to perform at airshows, no doubt pleasing the crowds with the noise.

Other notable La-9 variants were:

  • La-9UTI – two-seat trainer version. Built at GAZ-99 in Ulan-Ude. Two versions exist: with 12.7 mm UBS machine gun and with one 23 mm NS-23 cannon (all armament is mounted in the cowling above the engine, firing through the propeller).
  • La-132 (La-132) – prototype with upgraded Shvetsov M-93 engine. Projected top speed 740 km/h (460 mph) at 6,500 m (21,325 ft). Engine proved a failure and the single prototype was equipped with an experimental Shvetsov ASh-82M instead. The aircraft did not proceed to production.
  • La-9M (La-134) – long-range fighter prototype, see Lavochkin La-11
  • La-9RD – one La-9 was fitted with two auxiliary RD-13 pulsejet engines underwing.
  • La-138 – one La-9 was fitted with two underwing PVRD-450 auxiliary ramjet engines.

Operators

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People's Republic of China
East Germany
North Korea
Romania
Soviet Union

Surviving aircraft

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China

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North Korea

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Romania

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United States

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  • La-9 28 owned by Jerry Yagen's Military Aviation Museum and restored by Pioneer Aero Restorations in New Zealand between 2001 and 2003, airworthy as N415ML

Specifications (La-9)

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3-view drawing of Lavochkin La-9

Data from [citation needed]

General characteristics

  • Crew: 1
  • Length: 8.63 m (28 ft 4 in)
  • Wingspan: 9.8 m (32 ft 2 in)
  • Height: 3.56 m (11 ft 8 in)
  • Wing area: 17.6 m2 (189 sq ft)
  • Aspect ratio: 5.46
  • Airfoil: TsAGI Laminar Airfoil [2]
  • Empty weight: 2,638 kg (5,816 lb)
  • Gross weight: 3,425 kg (7,551 lb)
  • Max takeoff weight: 3,676 kg (8,104 lb)
  • Powerplant: 1 × Shvetsov ASh-82FN 14-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine, 1,380 kW (1,850 hp) with 1-stage 2-speed supercharger and fuel injection
  • Propellers: 3-bladed constant-speed propeller

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 690 km/h (430 mph, 370 kn) at altitude
  • Range: 1,735 km (1,078 mi, 937 nmi)
  • Service ceiling: 10,800 m (35,400 ft)
  • Rate of climb: 17.7 m/s (3,480 ft/min)
  • Wing loading: 150 kg/m2 (31 lb/sq ft)
  • Power/mass: 0.40 kW/kg (0.24 hp/lb)

Armament

See also

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Related development

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

Related lists

References

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  1. ^ "Aviation Photo #0861812: Lavochkin La-9 - North Korea - Air Force". Airliners.net. 9 May 2005. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  2. ^ Lednicer, David. "The Incomplete Guide to Airfoil Usage". m-selig.ae.illinois.edu. Retrieved 16 April 2019.

Further reading

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lavochkin La-9.
  • Gordon, Yefim. Lavochkin's Piston-Engined Fighters (Red Star Volume 10). Earl Shilton, UK: Midland Publishing Ltd., 2003. ISBN 1-85780-151-2.
  • Green, William. War Planes of the Second World War, Volume Three: Fighters. London: Macdonald & Co.(Publishers) Ltd., 1961. ISBN 0-356-01447-9.
  • Kopenhagen, W (ed.), Das große Flugzeug-Typenbuch (in German). Transpress, 1987, ISBN 3-344-00162-0.
  • Méal, Xavier (June 2004). "Lavotchkine 9: les fins de race sont toujours le plus belle" [The Lavochkin 9: The Finishers of the Race are Still the Best]. Le Fana de l'Aviation (in French) (415): 18–27. ISSN 0757-4169.

The initial version of this article was based on material from aviation.ru. It has been released under the GFDL by the copyright holder.

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