The aircraft was powered by a 1050h.p. M105P liquid-cooled
engine enabling it to reach speeds of 605 km/h - it was faster than a modified
"Me-109", Germany's main fighter.
Production of the new plane,
named the LaGG-1, was started just before the
end of flight testing, the plane's construction
being developed in time for production to
proceed serially.
Additional fuel tanks were
installed in the replacement wing sections. This
modification gave longer range and was named the
LaGG-3, and five aircraft factories started
production of this type.
Series production aircraft
were up to 40km/h slower than those tested. Not
fully developed the LaGG-3 was in front line
combat before its teething troubles had been
worked out. It suffered hydraulic failures and
its armament was unreliable. While the LaGG-3
was far from an ideal mount, inexperience and
poor pilot training were as much at fault as was
the aircraft. As casualties mounted morale among
LaGG equipped units sank to an unprecedented
low.
To overcome this Lavochkin
along with two leading test pilots toured front
line units demonstrating the strong points of
the aircraft. As a result morale quickly
increased and before long LaGG-3 units began to
count aces among their ranks, a number of which
would go on to rank among the top Soviet pilots
of World War II. Some 6,000 LaGG -3s were
produced.
The first LaGG-3 to
fall into the enemy's hands was captured and
evaluated by the Japanese when a Soviet pilot
defected to Manchuria. The captured LaGG was
flown in mock combats with the Ki-27 Nate and
the Ki 43 Hayabusa.
It was eventually
written off in a take off accident. The Finish
Air Force was the only other air force to fly
the LaGG-3 in combat when three LaGG -3s were
captured flown against their former masters.
Fortunately for
historians and modelers alike the Finish Air
Force used a rather novel serial numbering
system for their aircraft, making identification
easy if the serial number can be identified.
In 1942 the LaGG-3 designers developed its
performance characteristics according to CAGI
and NII VVS (Science institute of the Air Force)
recommendations. As a result, the series 66
LaGG-3 had appeared, being the last modification
of this type. Series 66 production lasted from
the spring of 1943 to the summer of 1944. Some
of them were used against the Japanese Army
during August of 1945.
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