Lavochkin La-7

what is it?

The Lavochkin La-7 (Russian: Лавочкин Ла-7; NATO reporting name: Fin) is a piston-engined single-seat fighter aircraft developed by the Soviet Union 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.

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

base stats

• speed 661 km/htop speed
• range 665 kmwithout refuelling
• size 3,315 kgmax take-off weight
• built 5,905made 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 82 years ago, in 1944.
• 🏎️Top speed is 5.1× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 9.8 m: about 2 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🏔️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

1944-02

introduced

1944

retired

1950

status

retired

number built

5,905

role

fighter

origin

🇷🇺 Soviet Union

makers

Ulan-Ude Aviation Plant, NPO Lavochkin, Sokol

engines

1× Shvetsov ASh-82FN / ASh-82

crew

1

length

8.6 m

wingspan

9.8 m

height

2.5 m

max take-off weight

3,315 kg

top speed

661 km/h

cruise speed

597 km/h

range

665 km

ceiling

10,450 m

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