Lavochkin La-7 (Russian: Лавочкин Ла-7)

National origin:- Soviet Union

Role:- Fighter

Manufacturer:- Lavochkin Plant No.21 (Gorky), Plant No.381 (Moscow), Plant No.99 (Ulan-Ude)

Design group:- S.A. Lavochkin Design Bureau

First flight:- 1 February 1944 (La-5 mod. 1944)

Introduction:- June 1944

Status:- Retired

Produced:- May 1944 - August 1946

Number built:- 5,753 (+ 582 trainers)[1]

Primary users:- Soviet Air Force

Sceondary users:- Czechoslovak Air Force

Developed from:- Lavochkin La-5

Variants:- Lavochkin La-9

The Lavochkin La-7 (Russian: Лавочкин Ла-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.^[2]

Originally designated the TB-7, the aircraft was renamed the Pe-8 after its primary designer, Vladimir Petlyakov, died in a plane crash in 1942. Supply problems complicated the aircraft's production and the Pe-8s also had engine problems. As Soviet morale boosters, they were also high-value targets for the Luftwaffe's fighter pilots. The loss rate of these aircraft, whether from mechanical failure, friendly fire, or combat, doubled between 1942 and 1944.

By the end of the war, most of the surviving aircraft had been withdrawn from combat units. After the war, some were modified as transports for important officials, and a few others were used in various Soviet testing programs. Some supported the Soviet Arctic operations until the late 1950s.