The Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LaGG-1 (russian: Лавочкин-Горбунов-Гудков ЛаГГ-1) was a

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, ...

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 ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. 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 Semyon Alekseyevich Lavochkin (russian: Семён Алексе́евич Ла́вочкин; 11 September 1900 - 9 June 1960) was a Soviet aerospace engineer, Soviet aircraft designer who founded the Lavochkin aircraft design bureau. Many of his ...

, and of

design bureau 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 application ...

OKB-301 in Khimki to the north-west of Moscow. It was designed as a light-weight aircraft around the

Klimov M-105 The Klimov M-105 was a V12 liquid-cooled piston aircraft engine used by Soviet aircraft during World War II.Gunston 1989, p. 90 Development The M-105, designed in 1940, drew heavily on Klimov's experience with the Hispano-Suiza 12Y ( license-bu ...

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 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 ...

had been made plain by recent losses in the

Winter War The Winter War,, sv, Vinterkriget, rus, Зи́мняя война́, r=Zimnyaya voyna. The names Soviet–Finnish War 1939–1940 (russian: link=no, Сове́тско-финская война́ 1939–1940) and Soviet–Finland War 1 ...

with

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...

, 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 would result at last in the

LaGG-3 The Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LaGG-3 (Лавочкин-Горбунов-Гудков ЛаГГ-3) was a Soviet fighter aircraft of World War II. It was a refinement of the earlier LaGG-1 and was one of the most modern aircraft available to the Sov ...

Operators

; *

Specifications (LaGG-1)

References

* 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

Design and development

Operators

Specifications (LaGG-1)

See also

References

Further reading