The La-5 fighter of the Soviet Air Force was a shining star on the Eastern Front of World War II. It engaged in thrilling confrontations not only with the German armored forces on the ground, but also in the air with the German BF109 and FW190. It is a high-performance, easy-to-produce fighter that the Soviet Air Force urgently needs in wartime, it is a sharp weapon of the Soviet Air Force to turn the situation around in the defense of Stalingrad, it is the right-hand man of the ace pilots of the Soviet Air Force, and it is the pride and glory of the Soviet Air Force.
Let's take a look at the story of the La-5 fighter.
Wartime design In 1941, Luftwaffe aggression put the Soviet Air Force in a difficult position. The Luftwaffe's BF109 fighters, with their advanced technological superiority, easily defeated the I15 and I16 fighters of the Soviet Air Force. The Soviet Air Force was in dire need of a new fighter that could compete with the Germans.
The Lavochkin Design Bureau took up the challenge and began intense wartime design work. They improved on the existing La-3 fighter, maintaining the lightweight airframe of the La-3 while replacing it with a more powerful 992-kilowatt engine. They also optimized the aircraft's center of gravity, field of view, firepower, etc. After unremitting efforts, the La-5 fighter was finally born.
In May 1942, the La-5 fighter passed state acceptance, and two months later mass production began. The first batch of La-5 fighters were equipped with the 287th Aviation Division of the USSR Air Force, which was part of the 8th Army of the USSR Air Force and carried out the tasks of defending Stalingrad.
Battle of Stalingrad In August 1942, the La-5 fighter took part in the battle over Stalingrad for the first time. It was one of the most tragic battles of the Soviet-German war, and the two sides fought for it in the city. The La-5 fighter played an important role in this campaign, as it engaged in fierce encounters with the German BF109 and FW190 in the air, providing air support to the Soviet ground forces. By September, the 287th Division had participated in a total of 299 air battles and shot down 97 German aircraft, creating an impressive record. The La-5 fighter showed its strength in the skies of Stalingrad, broke the air superiority of the German army and laid the foundation for the final victory of the Soviet army.
What are the characteristics of the La-5 fighter? The wing length of the La-5 fighter was 98 meters, the length of the fuselage is 867 meters. It has a maximum flight speed of 634 km/h, a maximum flight altitude of 10,000 meters, and a climb to 5,000 meters in just 6 minutes. Its armament consists of 2 guns and 200 kg of bombs that can be mounted under the wings.
For the first time in the mass production process, the La-5 fighter uses the technology of the leading edge flap, a device that can change the shape of the leading edge of the wing, which can improve the maneuverability and lift of the aircraft.
The first model of the La-5 fighter caused a lot of trouble for the German BF109G in real combat, but it also had an obvious flaw, that is, poor climbing performance. In order to solve this problem, the Lavochkin Design Bureau made further improvements to the La-5 by replacing it with a more powerful 1126 kW direct-injection engine, which made the new La-5FN fighter surpass the German BF109G and FW190A4 in performance and became the ace fighter of the Soviet Air Force.
From the spring of 1943, the La-5FN fighters were put into air combat on the Soviet-German battlefield. Here, the ace pilots of the Soviet Air Force, represented by Kozhdub, piloted the La 5FN and launched a thrilling aerial duel with the Luftwaffe. Kozhdub was a legend of the Soviet Air Force, who flew the La-5 fighter and shot down more than 60 German aircraft, setting a record in the history of the Soviet Air Force.
The La-5FN fighter allowed the Soviet Air Force to refine its tactics in actual combat, and they used the La-5FN to provide escort for the Il-2 and Pei-2 bombers and attack aircraft, ensuring their bombing and ground strike effectiveness. The ratio of escorts is determined by the number of bombers or attack aircraft. In general, 4 bombers need 10 fighters to escort, and 10 bombers need 16 to 20 pull-5 fighters. The escort fighters were divided into two groups, one patrolling the designated area, and the other performing the task of hunting in wartime in the surrounding airspace.
In the task of protecting ground attack aircraft, the La-5 fighter also used the tactic of dispersing actions. The escort La-5 will fly 90 to 300 meters higher than the bomber, and will always cover at high altitude until it detects the enemy aircraft, and then engage the enemy aircraft threatening the bomber.
Once encountering an enemy aircraft, the La-5 will use its maneuverability advantage to maneuver around the enemy aircraft outside of its range. Constantly draw circles around enemy aircraft, looking for opportunities.
If no enemy aircraft appeared, the escort La-5 could also perform some ground attack missions in air combat, which was equivalent to the La-5 being a rare multi-functional fighter in the equipment of the Soviet Air Force at that time.
The Soviet Air Force spoke highly of the La-5 fighter, and the shortcomings of the La-5 were mainly its short range, low ammunition, no obvious weaknesses, and relatively balanced performance. The La-5 fighter has trained many ace pilots, in addition to Kozhdub, there are also Marevsky, Popov, Gorbanov, etc. The La-5 and the improved La-7, with a total of more than 20,000 units produced, became the main fighter of the Soviet army in the late Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union, and were also exported to some socialist countries after the war.
The Germans also knew something about the La-5 fighters, they captured some of the La-5 fighters during the war, tested and evaluated them. The Germans considered the advantages of the La-5 fighter to be:
The wings of the aircraft are smooth, the pilot's seat is comfortable, and there is a good view of the front from the cockpit. The plane takes off with some shaky, but it can be controlled and stabilized. The acceleration of the La-5 fighter is good, the take-off distance is short, which saves time.
The aircraft is stable on full speed climbs, the cannon aims easily, and the joystick rolls more gently and can withstand it.
The Germans came to the conclusion that the La-5 fighter was suitable for low-altitude operations. Its aileron effect is sometimes better than that of the BF109, and the turning radius is smaller than that of the FW190.
The La-5 fighter and its successors, the La-7, La-9 and La-11, left a glorious page in the history of the Soviet Air Force. After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the Chinese Air Force introduced a batch of La-9 and La-11 fighters from the Soviet Union, which played an important role in defending the motherland's airspace against the US aggressors as a transitional model for the Chinese Air Force to transition from piston to jet.
In January 1950, China imported more than 120 La-9 fighters from the Soviet Union. On October 1, 1950, the La-9 and Tu-2 bombers participated in the National Day Anniversary Parade.
On October 1, 1951, the La-9, La-11, Tu-2, Il-10 and MiG-15 fighters participated in the military parade for the second anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. The La series of fighters witnessed the "great moment" of the rapid development and growth of the Chinese Air Force.
In 1952, the La-11 fighter and the MiG-15 took part in the famous air battle on Yamato Island.
F86 fighter.
In the third bombing of Yamato Island, due to errors in time judgment and other reasons, there was no waiting for the MiG-15, only 16 La-11 fighters of the 2nd Air Division were escorting the Tu-2, and dozens of F86 fighters of the US Air Force frantically intercepted the flying volunteer army group. Wang Tianbao, the pilot of the 2nd Air Division, fought bravely in the fierce battle and finally shot down 1 F86, creating a miracle in the air battle in which the Chinese Air Force's piston aircraft shot down jets.