La-5: about the advantages of the Soviet fighter, which deprived the Luftwaffe of air superiority
At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the advantage in the air belonged entirely to the Luftwaffe pilots on the Messerschmitts. However, by the end of 1942 everything began to change dramatically.
The legendary La-5 fighter entered service with the Red Army Air Force, which became a real problem for the German aces.
The fact that from 1942 to 1944 about 10 thousand units of La-5, La-5F and La-5FN aircraft were produced confirms that the machine turned out to be more than successful. Meanwhile, it is worth dwelling on the main advantages of the fighter.
The first is, of course, the engine. The La-5, which became a further modernization of the LaGG-3, was equipped with an M-82 air-cooled engine.
The LaGG-3 with its all-wood hull was a very good machine, but the power of the water-cooled M-105 engine, which amounted to 1100 hp, was sorely insufficient to fight on equal terms with the Messerschimmts.
Another thing is the M-82 power plant with a power of 1700 hp, which completely solved the above-mentioned problem.
The second is the same wooden case. The fuselage of the aircraft was made of wood: pine, plywood, birch veneer, and delta wood (wood modified with resins). In fact, this material was the first aviation composite.
The use of wood in the design of the La-5 provided the aircraft with phenomenal survivability. There were cases when fighter planes arriving at airfields looked like a “sieve.” However, aviation technicians patched and glued the crippled aircraft in the field, after which they promptly returned to service. It would hardly be possible to do something like this with planes that had a metal fuselage.
It is worth noting that, despite the claims of some experts about the high flammability of the above-mentioned material, in reality this is not the case. IN historical in references you can even find an episode where I.V. Stalin tried to set fire to the fragment of delta wood shown to him, but he failed.
Finally, the La-5 was superior to its predecessor in armament. The aircraft received two synchronized 20-mm ShVAK cannons, which left no chance not only for German fighters, but also for well-protected bombers. In addition, the La-5FN modification could carry two FAB-100 aerial bombs.
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