Lavochkin La-5 – the Soviet fighter

KB, led by S. Lavochkin, in 1941 completed the modification of the mass-produced fighter LaGG-3 by fitting it with the ASh-82 radial engine. The revisions were relatively minor, the dimensions and structure of the plane did not change, but due to the large cross-section of the new engine, a second, additional fairing was made at the front of the fuselage. This was done in order not to stop the mass production of airplanes. Later the fuselage was gradually reworked. The modified plane received the designation La-5 and was accepted for mass production. The operative performance of the large volume of finishing works during testing of La-5 depended very much on the close cooperation of S. Lavochkin KB with AF SRI, LTI, CAMI and A. Shvetsov KB. Thanks to this, it was possible to solve many issues in the shortest terms, mainly related to the engine composition and to start serial production of the La-5 before another plane appeared on the conveyor, which was supposed to replace the LaGG. Already in September 1942 regiments, armed with La-5 machines, took part in air battles near Stalingrad and achieved great success. The battles showed that the Soviet fighter is a serious competitor to enemy aircraft of the same class. Its speed reached 613 km/h; the plane was very maneuverable. Of course, serial fighters were slightly inferior to the test model in terms of flight characteristics, but not as much, as other Soviet fighters. 5047 La-5s were produced in 1943. Most Soviet aces, including Kozhedub, Allelyukhin, Popkov, Pokryshev and many others, fought with these planes and their later modifications.

From the publication, it is possible to glue the "toothed" La-5, which was painted in this way as a gift to Captain Georgy Kostylev by friends of the regiment. A well-designed and richly detailed jet fighter model of medium complexity, that will assemble for modelers of all experience. Only advanced beginners and low-experience modelers are recommended to work under the supervision of a more experienced colleague and make the model in flight phase (no cabin interior, with opaque cabin hood, landing gear intake) and it should not be one of the first, more complex models in your modeling career.