Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Goudkov LaGG-3

Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Goudkov LaGG-3 series 66
photo shows earlier series 35 aircraft
Description
Role	Fighter
Crew	one, pilot
First Flight	July 14, 1940
Entered Service	1941
Manufacturer	Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Goudkov
Dimensions
Length	8.81m	28' 10"
Wingspan	9.80m	32' 1"
Height	4.40m	14' 5"
Wing area	17.5m²	188 ft²
Weights
Empty	2,205kg	4,851 lbs
Loaded	2,620kg	5,764 lbs
Maximum takeoff	3,190kg	7,018 lbs
Powerplant
Engine	Klimov M-105PF
Power	924kW	1,240 hp
Performance
Maximum speed	591km/h	369 mph
Range	650 km	406 miles
Service ceiling	9,600m	31,500 ft
Rate of climb	892m/min	2,926 ft/min
Wing loading	150kg/m²	31lb/ft²
Power/Mass	0.35kW/kg	0.21 hp/lb
Avionics
Avionics
Armament
Guns	2x 12.7mm BS machine guns 1x 20mm ShVAK cannon

The Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Goudkov 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 Soviet Air Force at the time of Germany's attempted invasion.

The central deficiency of the LaGG-1 design was a lack of power. The first attempt to rectify this was to install a more powerful version of its Klimok M-105 engine. In itself, this change did not help very much, and without an alternative powerplant, the only solution was to lighten the airframe. The LaGG design team re-examined the design and pared down the structure as much as possible. They also added fixed slats to the wings to improve climb and manoeuvrability and further weight was saved by installing lighter armament. The LaGG-3 replaced the LaGG-1 on production lines immediately.

The result was still disappointing, as even with the lighter airframe and supercharged engine, the LaGG-3 was still underpowered and proved immensely unpopular with the pilots assigned to fly it. The novel, wood-laminate construction of the aircraft continued to be a quality-control problem (as it had been with its predecessor) and pilots joked that rather than being an acronym of the designers' names (Lavochkin, Gorbunov, and Goudkov) "LaGG" stood for lakirovanny garantirovanny grob ("guaranteed varnished coffin" - лакированный гарантированный гроб). Some aircraft supplied to the front line were up to 40km/h (25 mph) slower than they should have been, and some were even supplied in an unairworthy condition. Despite all this, the fighter still acquitted itself well against the Luftwaffe's Bf 109Es, largely through an ability to absorb massive amounts of damage.

The LaGG-3 was constantly improved and updated during its production run, resulting in 66 minor variants within the 6,258 that were eventually built. Experiments with fitting a large radial engine to the LaGG-3 airframe finally solved the power problem, and led to the superb Lavochkin La-5.

Related content
Related Development	LaGG-1 - La-5 - La-7
Similar Aircraft	Messerschmitt Bf 109 - Supermarine Spitfire - Curtiss P-40 - Kawasaki Ki-61
Designation Series	LaGG-1 - LaGG-3 - La-5 - La-7 - La-9
Related Lists	List of military aircraft of the Soviet Union and the CIS - List of fighter aircraft

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