Lavochkin La-5 / La-7
The radial-engined fighter that clawed back Soviet skies.
Developed from the troubled LaGG-3 by replacing its inline engine with a powerful radial, the La-5 and its successor La-7 became the Soviet Union's premier low-altitude dogfighters. Rugged, simple, and available in huge numbers, they matched the German Bf 109G and Fw 190 in the environments where most Eastern Front combat occurred.
01The original LaGG-3 was so unloved that its designation became a bitter joke among pilots ("Varnished Guaranteed Coffin"). The swap to the Shvetsov radial transformed the aircraft's performance almost overnight. Debut combat at Stalingrad in late 1942 was a nasty surprise for the Luftwaffe.
02Ivan Kozhedub, the highest-scoring Allied ace of the war with 64 victories, flew La-5s and La-7s exclusively. He notably downed a Me 262 with his La-7 in February 1945.
03The La-7 was arguably the best Soviet piston fighter of the war — faster than any Luftwaffe fighter below 6,000 m and a match for them above. Its wooden construction kept production costs and strategic-material requirements low, an enormous advantage during wartime.
Theatres of operation
- ·Eastern Front
Principal operators
- ·Soviet VVS
- ·Czechoslovak Air Force
Others in the same fight.
Supermarine Spitfire
Mk.I — Mk.24
Hawker Hurricane
Mk.I — Mk.IV
North American P-51 Mustang
P-51B / C / D / K
Republic P-47 Thunderbolt
P-47C / D / M / N