Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LaGG-3

what is it?

The Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LaGG-3 (Лавочкин-Горбунов-Гудков ЛаГГ-3) was a Soviet fighter aircraft of World War II. It was a refinement of the earlier LaGG-1 and was one of the most modern aircraft available to the Soviet Air Forces at the time of Germany's invasion in 1941. Compared to its opponents the LaGG-3 was underpowered and, despite its wooden construction, overweight. It was unpopular with Soviet pilots, but despite this, at one point in the war, on average 12 LaGG-3s were being completed daily and 6,528 had been built in total when production switched to the Yak-3 in 1944.

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

base stats

• speed 589 km/htop speed
• range 1,000 kmwithout refuelling
• size 3,190 kgmax take-off weight
• built 6,528made 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 86 years ago, in 1940.
• 🏎️Top speed is 4.5× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 9.8 m: about 2 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🌍Range of 1,000 km: 6× Amsterdam to Brussels.
• 🏔️Can fly 1.1× 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

1940

introduced

1941

retired

1944

status

retired

number built

6,528

role

fighter

origin

🇷🇺 Soviet Union

makers

Tbilisi Aircraft Manufacturing, Taganrog, Novosibirsk Aircraft Production Association, Sokol

engines

1× Klimov M-105PF

crew

1

length

8.8 m

wingspan

9.8 m

height

2.5 m

max take-off weight

3,190 kg

top speed

589 km/h

range

1,000 km

ceiling

9,700 m

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