[JG52Uther]

Lavochkin La-126 1945

By the end of 1944, the Lavochkin bureau had abandoned further development of the mixed-construction La-7 in favour of an entirely new all-metal design bearing only a configurational similarity to its predecessor, and, early in 1945, work began on this as the La-126. Despite its design bureau designation, which suggested that it was a development of the La-120 (La-7), the La-126 possessed no commonality with the Lavochkin bureau's previous fighter, apart from an M-82FN (ASh-82FN) engine. It featured an all-metal monocoque fuselage and a TsAGI laminar-section wing. Armament was restricted to two 20mm ShVAK cannon and prototype flight testing was completed at the factory on 10 January 1945, but no production was undertaken, the La-126 serving as a basis for the La-130.

The prototype was subsequently fitted with two Bondaryuk VRD-430 ramjets as the La-126PVRD, and these, it was claimed, increased maximum speed in level flight by 100km/h. The La-126PVRD was tested between June and September 1946, attaining a max speed of 800km/h at 8000m.


Lavochkin La-150 1946

The Lavochkin bureau's response to Yosif Stalin's order of February 1945 to design and build a single-seat jet fighter around a Junkers Jumo 004B turbojet, the La-150 was of distinctive pod-and-boom layout with a shoulder-mounted wing. Like the competitive designs from the Mikoyan-Gurevich and Yakovlev bureaux, the La-150 was awarded a prototype/pre-series aircraft order, the first of the prototypes flying in September 1946 powered by the Soviet derivative of the Jumo engine, the RD-10 rated at 900kg. Unique among first-generation Soviet jet fighters in having a fuselage-mounted undercarriage, the La-150 featured a somewhat complex, overly robust and heavy structure and was, in consequence, underpowered. Excessive dihedral effect resulting from the wing positioning was rectified on the second prototype by drooping the wingtips, but excessive oscillation of the tail surfaces at high speeds resulting from inadequate stiffness of the tailboom could not be overcome. In the event, only five airframes were completed. Armament comprised two 23mm NS-23 cannon.



The Lavochkin bureau's response to Yosif Stalin's order of February 1945 to design and build a single-seat jet fighter around a Junkers Jumo 004B turbojet, the La-150 was of distinctive pod-and-boom layout with a shoulder-mounted wing. Like the competitive designs from the Mikoyan-Gurevich and Yakovlev bureaux, the La-150 was awarded a prototype/pre-series aircraft order, the first of the prototypes flying in September 1946 powered by the Soviet derivative of the Jumo engine, the RD-10 rated at 900kg. Unique among first-generation Soviet jet fighters in having a fuselage-mounted undercarriage, the La-150 featured a somewhat complex, overly robust and heavy structure and was, in consequence, underpowered. Excessive dihedral effect resulting from the wing positioning was rectified on the second prototype by drooping the wingtips, but excessive oscillation of the tail surfaces at high speeds resulting from inadequate stiffness of the tailboom could not be overcome. In the event, only five airframes were completed. Armament comprised two 23mm NS-23 cannon.

La-150 (second prototype)


Specification
WEIGHTS
Take-off weight 2961 kg 6528 lb
Empty weight 2059 kg 4539 lb
DIMENSIONS
Wingspan 8.20 m 26 ft 11 in
Length 9.42 m 30 ft 11 in
Wing area 12.15 m2 130.78 sq ft
PERFORMANCE
Max. speed 805 km/h 500 mph
Range 500 km 311 miles