The Lavochkin La-15 ( Plant 21 product code Izdeliye 52, USAF reporting name Type 21,

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

reporting name Fantail), was an early

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

jet fighter and a contemporary of the

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 (russian: Микоя́н и Гуре́вич МиГ-15; USAF/DoD designation: Type 14; NATO reporting name: Fagot) is a jet fighter aircraft developed by Mikoyan-Gurevich for the Soviet Union. The MiG-15 was one of ...

Design and development

Lavochkin had produced a line of prop powered fighters in World War II. The

Lavochkin La-150 The Lavochkin La-150 (also known as the ''Izdeliye'' 150 – Aircraft or Article 150,All Lavochkin's jet aircraft were referred to in-house, and at government level, as "''Izdeliye'' 150", etc. USAF/ DOD designation Type 3), was designed by the ...

was its first response to a 1945 order to build a single-seat jet fighter using a single German

Junkers Jumo 004 The Junkers Jumo 004 was the world's first production turbojet engine in operational use, and the first successful axial compressor turbojet engine. Some 8,000 units were manufactured by Junkers in Germany late in World War II, powering the Mess ...

turbojet from the Me 262. The

Lavochkin La-152 The Lavochkin La-152,All Lavochkin's jet aircraft were referred to in-house, and at government level, as "''Izdeliye'' (Item or Product) 152", etc. (USAF reporting name - Type 4),Parsch, Andreas and Aleksey V. Martynov"Designations of Soviet and ...

which flew in December 1946 moved the engine to the front of the nose, which reduced thrust loss. The

Lavochkin La-160 The Lavochkin La-160, known as ''Strelka'' (Arrow), was the first Soviet swept-winged jet fighter research prototype. It was designed and manufactured by the Lavochkin Design Bureau from 1946. USAF reporting name - Type 6 Design and development ...

was the first Soviet fighter to apply swept wings, and flew in June 1947. The Lavochkin La-168 first flew on April 22, 1948. It was designed to use the new turbojet based on the Rolls-Royce Nene in response to a 1946 request for an advanced swept-wing jet fighter capable of transonic performance. The engine was placed behind the pilot, but with a high-mounted wing and T-tail compared to the similar MiG-15. The La-15 which reached mass production was the outcome of a series of development aircraft that began with the

Aircraft 150 The OKB-1 150 was a jet bomber designed and produced in the Soviet Union from 1948. Development At the end of World War II, many Germans, German engineers were 'seconded' by the Soviet Union, Soviet government to continue their advanced resear ...

bomber in 1945 and culminated in Aircraft 176, later in 1948. These aircraft were designed for British engines, Rolls-Royce Derwent V and

Rolls-Royce Nene The Rolls-Royce RB.41 Nene is a 1940s British centrifugal compressor turbojet engine. The Nene was a complete redesign, rather than a scaled-up Rolls-Royce Derwent"Rolls-Royce Aero Engines" Bill Gunston, Patrick Stephens Limited 1989, , p.111 w ...

, acquired by the Soviets in 1947 and then copied as the

Klimov RD-500 The Klimov RD-500 was an unlicensed Soviet copy of the Rolls-Royce Derwent V turbojet that was sold to the Soviet Union in 1947. The Klimov OKB adapted it for Soviet production methods and materials. Development Producing metric drawings and anal ...

and

Klimov RD-45 The Klimov VK-1 was the first Soviet jet engine to see significant production. It was developed by and first produced by the GAZ 116 works. Derived from the Rolls-Royce Nene, the engine was also built under licence in China as the Wopen WP-5. ...

respectively. The Derwent-powered Aircraft 174 was designed as a backup for the main program, the Nene-powered Aircraft 168, in case the British failed to deliver more powerful Nene engines with afterburners (which they did fail to deliver). The first prototype of Aircraft 174 was flown just 9 days after its counterpart the Mikoyan-Gurevich I-310, on January 8, 1948. The first prototype was however lost on May 11, 1948 due to vibrations. Trials were continued with an improved second prototype, designated Aircraft 174D, which underwent State Acceptance Tests from August to September 25, 1948. In comparison with the Nene-powered MiG-15 it had almost the same maximum speed and better maneuverability, with somewhat reduced rate of climb. The type was ordered into production in September 1948, even while Aircraft 174D was undergoing flight trials, and given the official designation La-15 in April 1949. The La-15 had a barrel-like fuselage, shoulder-mounted swept wings with 6 degrees anhedral, and stabilizers mounted high on the fin, almost a T-tail. It was popular with pilots because of its easy handling and reliability, and its pressurized cockpit was an advantage at high altitude. Nevertheless, official enthusiasm for the La-15 was mild, largely because it was a complex design that required complicated and expensive production tooling. Only 235 La-15s were built, serving with the Soviet Air Force until 1953. La-15

Operational history

The La-15 was tested operationally by the 192nd Fighter Wing, based at Kubinka from 19 March 1949, and began appearing in front-line combat units later the same year. One unit was seemingly the 196th Fighter Aviation Regiment. Introduction was accompanied by numerous accidents, but the competing MiG-15 design fared little better. However, although the La-15 had a number of technical advantages over the MiG-15, a combination of easier manufacture and lower costs led to the MiG-15 being favoured. The Soviet authorities decided to produce only one fighter, and they chose the MiG-15bis. The remaining La-15s in service were disarmed by 1953, and their engines reused on the KS-1 Komet air-to-surface missile. The aircraft were expended as targets at various nuclear bomb tests.

Variants

;Aircraft 174 :Rolls-Royce Derwent powered first prototype of La-15. Crashed due to structural vibrations caused by sympathetic resonant frequencies of tailplane and rear fuselage. ;Aircraft 174D :(Dooblyor-second)- Second prototype with modifications shown to be required from Aircraft 174's flight tests. ;Aircraft 180 :A two-seat trainer version was also developed as Aircraft 180 and was to be put into production as the UTI La-15 or La-15UTI, but as official interest in the La-15 waned, the trainer was cancelled before mass production began and only two were made.

Operators

; *

Soviet Air Force The Soviet Air Forces ( rus, Военно-воздушные силы, r=Voyenno-vozdushnyye sily, VVS; literally "Military Air Forces") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Soviet Air Defence Forces. The Air Forces ...

Survivors

An La-15 is on display at the

Central Air Force Museum The Central Air Force Museum (russian: Центральный музей Военно-воздушных сил РФ) is an aviation museum in Monino, Moscow Oblast, Russia. A branch of the Central Armed Forces Museum, it is one of the world's la ...

at Monino, outside of Moscow, Russia.
Monino home page

Specifications (La-15)

References

Citations

Bibliography

*Gordon,Yefim. ''Lavochkin's Last Jets''. Midland Publishing. Hinkley. 2007.