# Lavochkin La-9

The Lavochkin La-9 (NATO reporting name Fritz) was a Soviet fighter aircraft produced shortly after World War II. It was one of the last piston engined fighters to be produced before the widespread adoption of the jet engine.

## Development

La-9 represents a further development of the Lavochkin La-126 prototype. The first prototype, designated La-130 was finished in 1946. Similarity to the famous Lavochkin La-7 was only superficial – the new fighter had an all-metal construction and a laminar flow wing. Weight savings due to elimination of wood from the airframe allowed for greatly improved fuel capacity and four-cannon armament. Mock combat demonstrated that the La-130 was evenly matched with the La-7 but was inferior to the Yakovlev Yak-3 in horizontal planes. The new fighter, officially designated La-9, entered production in August 1946. A total of 1,559 aircraft were built by the end of production in 1948.

## Variants

Like other aircraft designers at the time, Lavochkin was experimenting with using jet propulsion to augment performance of piston-engined fighters. One such attempt was La-130R with an RD-1Kh3 liquid fuel rocket engine in addition to the Shvetsov ASh-82FN piston powerplant. The project was cancelled in 1946 before the prototype could be assembled. A more unusual approach was La-9RD which was tested in 1947–1948. It was a production La-9 with a reinforced airframe and armament reduced to two cannons, which carried a single RD-13 pulsejet (the engine which powered the V-1 flying bomb, probably taken from surplus Luftwaffe stocks) under each wing. The 70 km/h (45 mph) increase in top speed came at the expense of tremendous noise and vibration. The engines were unreliable and worsened the handling. The project was abandoned although between 3 and 9 La-9RD were reported to perform at airshows, no doubt pleasing the crowds with the noise.
Other notable La-9 variants were:
* La-9UTI – two-seat trainer version. Built at GAZ-99 in Ulan-Ude. Two versions exist: with 12.7 mm UBS machine gun and with one 23 mm NS-23 cannon (all armament is mounted in the cowling above the engine, firing through the propeller).
* La-132 (La-132) – prototype with upgraded Shvetsov M-93 engine. Projected top speed 740 km/h (460 mph) at 6,500 m (21,325 ft). Engine proved a failure and the single prototype was equipped with an experimental Shvetsov ASh-82M instead. The aircraft did not proceed to production.
* La-9M (La-134) – long-range fighter prototype, see Lavochkin La-11
* La-9RD – one La-9 was fitted with two auxiliary RD-13 pulsejet engines underwing.
* La-138 – one La-9 was fitted with two underwing PVRD-450 auxiliary ramjet engines.

## Operators
### People's Republic of China

* People's Liberation Army Air Force Imported 129 La-9 airplanes in 1950. The last 5 La-9 fighters retired in 1959.

### East Germany

* Volkspolizei (5 operated from 1952 to 1956 prior to the formation of the Air Forces of the National People's Army)

### North Korea

* North Korea Air Force

### Romania

* Romanian Air Force (10 delivered in 1950: 5 La-9 and 5 La-9 UTI)

### Soviet Union

* Soviet Air Force
* Soviet Air Defence Forces

## Surviving aircraft
### China

* La-9 6201 is on display at Beijing Aeronautical Institute, Beijing, China as 7504
* La-9 (unidentified S/N) on display at People's Liberation Army Air Force Museum, Datangshan, Chiangping, China as 06
* La-9UTI (unidentified S/N) on display at People's Liberation Army Air Force Museum, Datangshan, Chiangping, China

### North Korea

* La-9 102 is on display at Glorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum, Pyongyang, North Korea

### Romania

* La-9 66 on display at Central Military Museum, Bucharest, Romania

### United States

* La-9 28 owned by Jerry Yagen's Military Aviation Museum and restored by Pioneer Aero Restorations in New Zealand between 2001 and 2003, airworthy as N415ML

## Specifications (La-9)

Data from
General characteristics
* Crew: 1
* Length: 8.63 m (28 ft 4 in)
* Wingspan: 9.8 m (32 ft 2 in)
* Height: 3.56 m (11 ft 8 in)
* Wing area: 17.6 m$^2$ (189 sq ft)
* Aspect ratio: 5.46
* Airfoil: TsAGI Laminar Airfoil
* Empty weight: 2,638 kg (5,816 lb)
* Gross weight: 3,425 kg (7,551 lb)
* Max takeoff weight: 3,676 kg (8,104 lb)
* Powerplant: 1 × Shvetsov ASh-82FN 14-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine, 1,380 kW (1,850 hp) with 1-stage 2-speed supercharger and fuel injection
* Propellers: 3-bladed constant-speed propeller
Performance
* Maximum speed: 690 km/h (430 mph, 370 kn) at altitude
* Range: 1,735 km (1,078 mi, 937 nmi)
* Service ceiling: 10,800 m (35,400 ft)
* Rate of climb: 17.7 m/s (3,480 ft/min)
* Wing loading: 150 kg/m$^2$ (31 lb/sq ft)
* Power/mass: 0.40 kW/kg (0.24 hp/lb)
Armament
* Guns: 4 × 23 mm Nudelman-Suranov NS-23 cannon, 75 rpg