Lavochkin LA 7  GBP £89.95 inc VAT

The latest in our range of warbirds available early November 2002

A Brief History

On June 22nd 1941 the Germans launched Operation Barbarossa on the Soviet Homeland. Over 3 million German troops swarmed into Russia. The Soviet Air force was virtually destroyed on the ground and The Red Army retreated to the east, leaving a terrible trail of destruction behind them.

But the Russians are very  resilient and versatile. They learned very quickly that their aircraft were obsolete and that they could learn a lot from the technology that the Germans had brought with them.

The Soviet factories were quickly moved to the far east, out of range of enemy bombers, and the design teams quickly got to work on a new generation of aircraft.

Whereas the Germans built aircraft capable of carrying out a number of roles, the Russians decided that they could make a great forward leap by making very specific designs. They knew that their aircraft would fight a low to medium altitudes where the air is relatively dense. So they needed to make small, aerodynamic aeroplanes with swept leading edge wings to cut through the turbulence encountered at low level. They took  a look at the things they didn't need and threw them out to save weight and to speed production.

They also knew, better than anyone, that their planes must be simple and robust to cope with the terrible winters.

And hence the new generation of fighters from MIG, Yakalov, and Lavochkin emerged. The early versions were comparable to Hurricane and P40 performance. Good, but not as good as their opponents ME 109F's and FW 190's. But it wasn't long before updated models arrived with better engines and lighter and slicker airframes.

There is no doubt about it, the lightweight Yak 3 and the superb Lavochkin LA 7 beat the pants off the Luftwaffe in their chosen area of combat.

The skill levels of the German aces was still a deciding factor but the gap was closing fast. Elite `Russian Guards` units often identified by the red noses of their aircraft were racking up considerable tallies, and with the massive population to recruit from, it was only a matter of time before the tables were turned.

The Lavochkin LA 7 would have made a great `Reno Racer` because it was so fast at low level. Its predecessor the LA5FN was a good all  rounder similar in performance to its opponents. But the Lavochkin design bureau knew it could do better.

An LA5 was brought in for some serious tuning. Every joint was tested for drag, every item was weighed, all luxuries were deleted and finally the LA7 appeared.

At last, the Russians had a plane that could out run, out climb and out turn the latest FW 190. In level flight the LA7 was around 40mph faster the the FW 190A8.

The cockpit was very spartan, with no artificial horizon cloudy days must have been a bit of a worry!. To add to the discomfort the cockpit vents had been deleted to reduce drag.

Bearing in mind the outside temperature could be minus 20 Fahrenheit the cockpit temperature could be as high as 104 degrees F!, bringing into play that old question, `shall I wear a coat or not`. What's it like outside?

Well we know that the Russians are made of stern stuff and they may have enjoyed the on board sauna.