Lavochkin La-11

what is it?

The Lavochkin La-11 (NATO reporting name Fang) is an early post-World War II Soviet long-range piston-engined fighter aircraft. The design was essentially that of a Lavochkin La-9 with additional fuel tanks and the removal of one of the four 23 mm Nudelman-Suranov NS-23 cannons. Like the La-9, the La-11 was designed to be a low to medium-altitude general-purpose fighter, although the additional fuel tanks were added with the intent of employing the La-11 in the escort fighter role.

🔎How to recognise it: 1 piston engine with propeller · 9.8 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 674 km/htop speed
• range 2,235 kmwithout refuelling
• size 3,996 kgmax take-off weight
• built 1,182made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 79 years ago, in 1947.
• 🏎️Top speed is 5.2× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 9.8 m: about 2 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🌍Range of 2,235 km: 12× Amsterdam to Brussels.
• 🏔️Can fly 1.2× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).

piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.

spec sheet

first flight

1947-05

introduced

1950

retired

1966

status

retired

number built

1,182

role

fighter

origin

🇷🇺 Soviet Union

makers

NPO Lavochkin, Sokol

engines

1× Shvetsov ASh-82FN / ASh-82

crew

1

length

8.6 m

wingspan

9.8 m

height

3.5 m

max take-off weight

3,996 kg

top speed

674 km/h

range

2,235 km

ceiling

10,250 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.