The Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LaGG-1 (russian: Лавочкин-Горбунов-Гудков ЛаГГ-1) was a
Soviet fighter aircraft
Fighter aircraft are fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the airspace above a battlefield ...
of
World War II. Although not very successful, it formed the basis for a series of aircraft that would eventually become some of the most formidable Soviet fighters of the war.
Design and development
The LaGG-1 was designed in 1938 by
Semyon Lavochkin, and of
design bureau OKB-301
NPO Lavochkin (russian: НПО Лавочкина, OKB-301, also called Lavochkin Research and Production Association or shortly Lavochkin Association, LA) is a Russian aerospace company. It is a major player in the Russian space program, being th ...
in
Khimki
Khimki ( rus, Химки, p=ˈxʲimkʲɪ) is a city in Moscow Oblast, Russia, 18.25 kilometres northwest of central Moscow, and immediately beyond the Moscow city boundary.
History Origins and formation
Khimki was initially a railway station tha ...
to the north-west of Moscow. It was designed as a light-weight aircraft around the
Klimov M-105 engine and built out of
laminated wood
Engineered wood, also called mass timber, composite wood, man-made wood, or manufactured board, includes a range of derivative wood products which are manufactured by binding or fixing the strands, particles, fibres, or veneers or boards of woo ...
to save on
strategic material
Strategic material is any sort of raw material that is important to an individual's or organization's strategic plan and supply chain management. Lack of supply of strategic materials may leave an organization or government vulnerable to disru ...
s. The first prototype flew on March 30, 1940, and once some initial difficulties had been worked out of the design, proved to be promising, if somewhat short of what its designers had hoped for. By this stage, however, the need to modernise the
Soviet Air Force had been made plain by recent losses in the
Winter War with
Finland, and the aircraft, initially designated I-22 was ordered into production. Some 100 aircraft were sent to evaluation squadrons, where their shortcomings quickly became obvious. The new fighter proved clearly underpowered. It lacked agility and range. Furthermore, while the prototypes were carefully handmade and finished, the mass-produced examples were comparatively crude.
The subsequent modifications undertaken by Lavochkin's
OKB
OKB is a transliteration of the Russian initials of "" – , meaning 'experiment and design bureau'. During the Soviet era, OKBs were closed institutions working on design and prototyping of advanced technology, usually for military applications. ...
would result at last in the
LaGG-3.
Operators
;
*
Soviet Air Force
Specifications (LaGG-1)
See also
References
Further reading
* Abanshin, Michael E. and Gut, Nina. ''Fighting Lavochkin, Eagles of the East No.1''. Lynnwood, WA: Aviation International, 1993. ISBN unknown.
* Chant, Chris. ''Aerei della Seconda Guerra Mondiale''. Roma, L'Airone, 2008. .
* Gordon, Yefim. ''Lavochkin's Piston-Engined Fighters (Red Star Volume 10)''. Earl Shilton, Leicester, UK: Midland Publishing Ltd., 2003. .
* Gordon, Yefim and Khazanov, Dmitri. ''Soviet Combat Aircraft of the Second World War, Volume One: Single-Engined Fighters''. Earl Shilron, Leicester, UK: Midland Publishing Ltd., 1998. .
* Green, William. ''Warplanes of the Second World War, Volume Three: Fighters''. London: Macdonald & Co. (Publishers) Ltd., 1961 (seventh impression 1973). .
* Green, William and Swanborough, Gordon. ''WW2 Aircraft Fact Files: Soviet Air Force Fighters, Part 1''. London: Macdonald and Jane's Publishers Ltd., 1977. .
* Keskinen, Kalevi; Stenman, Kari and Niska, Klaus. ''Venäläiset Hävittäjät (Suomen Ilmavoimien Historia 7)'' (in Finnish with English Summary). Espoo, Finland: Tietoteos, 1977. .
* Leonard, Herbert. ''Encyclopaedia of Soviet Fighters 1939-1951''. Paris: Histoire & Collections. 2005.
* Stapfer, Hans-Heiri. ''LaGG Fighters in Action (Aircraft in Action Number 163)''. Carrollton, TX: Squadron/Signal Publications, Inc., 1996. .
{{Soviet fighter designations
Lavochkin aircraft
1930s Soviet fighter aircraft
World War II Soviet fighter aircraft
Low-wing aircraft
Single-engined tractor aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1940