Lavochkin La-150

Lavochkin La-150
Pre-flight test plane
Role	Jet fighter
Manufacturer	Lavochkin
Designed by	Semyon Lavochkin
First flight	September 1946
Retired	1947
Status	Project cancelled
Primary user	Soviet Air Force
Number built	8

Lavochkin La-150 (a.k.a. Izdeliye 150 - Aircraft or Article 150; USAF reporting code Type 3) was the Lavochkin bureau's response to Joseph Stalin's order of February 1945 to design and build a single-seat jet fighter around a Junkers Jumo 004B turbojet. (Note:- All Lavochkin's jet aircraft were referred to in house, and at government level, as "Izdeliye 150" etc.. The use of the La-prefix was actually introduced by western intelligence bureau to help avoid confusion)
The La-150 was of distinctive pod-and-boom layout with a shoulder-mounted wing. Like the competitive designs from the Mikoyan-Gurevich and Yakovlev bureau, the La-150 was awarded a prototype/pre-series aircraft order, the first of the prototypes flying in September 1946 powered by the Soviet derivative of the Jumo engine, the RD-10 rated at 900 kgf (1,984 lbf). Unique among first-generation Soviet jet fighters in having a fuselage-mounted undercarriage, the La-150 featured a somewhat complex, overly robust and heavy structure and was, in consequence, underpowered. Excessive dihedral effect resulting from the wing positioning was rectified on the second, and subsequent, prototypes by drooping the wingtips, but excessive oscillation of the tail surfaces at high speeds resulting from inadequate stiffness of the tailboom could not be overcome. In the event, only five airframes were completed.

Contents 1 Operators 2 Variants 3 Specifications (La-150)

Operators

 Soviet Union

• Soviet Air Force

Variants

• La-VRD Not a variant, as such, but Lavochkins first toe-dip into jet-engined aircraft. Intended to use L'yulka's S-18 turbojet. Delayed development of the S-18 and the Lavochkin bureau's move back into Moscow forced cancellation of the project.
• La-150M - One La-150 was modified to produce the La-150M. the major differences were a separate wing, with dow-turned wingtips, which could be removed from the fuselage, a wider cockpit and various equipment changes.
• La-150F One La-150 was modified with a Izdeliye YuF(Yoomo Forseerovannyy) - Article Yumo (004) uprated, afterburning RD-10. Confusingly this engine was also named RD-10F,(à la Yakovlev), but the afterburner was a completely different design.

Specifications (La-150)

Data from Gordon, Yefim. Early Soviet Fighters.Midland Publishing.Hinkley. ISBN 1 85780 139 3

General characteristics

• Crew: 1, pilot
• Length: 9.42 m (30 ft 11 in)
• Wingspan: 8.20 m (26 ft 10.83 in)
• Height: 2.6 m (8 ft 6.36 in)
• Wing area: 12.15 m² (130.64 ft²)
• Empty weight: 2,156 kg (4,753 lb)
• Loaded weight: 2,973 kg (6,554 lb)
• Powerplant: 1× RD-10 turbojet, 8.8 kN (1,984 lbf)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 878 km/h (475 kts)
• Range: 493 km (306 mi)
• Service ceiling: 12,600 (41,338)
• Rate of climb: 22.1 (4,349)
• Wing loading: 244.6 kg/m² (50.22 lb/ft²)
• Thrust/weight: 0.303

Armament

• 2 × 23 mm NS-23 cannon with 75 rpg