The Lavochkin La-7 was a piston-engined single-seat Soviet fighter aircraft developed during World War II by the Lavochkin Design Bureau. It was a development and refinement of the Lavochkin La-5, and the last in a family of aircraft that had begun with the LaGG-1 in 1938. Its first flight was in early 1944 and it entered service with the Soviet Air Forces later in the year. A small batch of La-7s was given to the Czechoslovak Air Force the following year, but it was otherwise not exported. Armed with two or three 20 mm (0.8 in) cannon, it had a top speed of 661 kilometers per hour (411 mph). The La-7 was felt by its pilots to be at least the equal of any German piston-engined fighter. It was phased out in 1947 by the Soviet Air Force, but served until 1950 with the Czechoslovak Air Force.
Lavochkin La-7
La-7 with Shvetsov ASh-82FN engine
A La-7 of the Czech Air Force on display at the Prague Aviation Museum, Kbely
Lavochkin La-7 of the 2nd Flight, 1st Fighter Regiment, 4th Air Division, Czechoslovak Air Force, 1947
The Lavochkin La-5 was a Soviet fighter aircraft of World War II. It was a development and refinement of the LaGG-3, replacing the earlier model's inline engine with the much more powerful Shvetsov ASh-82 radial engine. During its time in service, it was one of the Soviet Air Force's most capable types of warplane, able to fight German designs on an equal footing.
Lavochkin La-5
Replica of Capt. Georgii Dmitrievich Kostylev's La-5 of the 4th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, White 15 that served in Leningrad 1943, at the Museum of the Great Patriotic War in Moscow, 2005.
La-5
La-5F