Lavochkin La-152

Last updated

Izdeliye 152
Lavochkin La-152.jpg
Izdeliye 152
Role Jet fighter prototype
National originSoviet Union
Manufacturer Lavochkin
Designer Semyon Alekseyevich Lavochkin
First flight5 December 1946
Number built4
Developed from Lavochkin La-150
Developed into Lavochkin La-160

The Lavochkin La-152, [Note 1] (USAF reporting name - Type 4), [1] and its variants, was a jet fighter prototype designed and manufactured by the Lavochkin Design Bureau (OKB) shortly after the end of World War II. Derived from the Lavochkin La-150, the 152 used several different engines, but the program was canceled as other fighters with more powerful engines and swept wings showed more promise.

Contents

Design and development

Izdeliye 152

Following the limited success of the 150, drastic changes were introduced to improve performance and ease of maintenance. The RD-10 engine, rated at 8.8 kN (2,000 lbf) of thrust, was moved to the front of the nose and its cowling formed the bottom of the forward fuselage. This position minimized thrust losses due to the length of the intake duct and allowed the engine to be changed much more easily than its predecessor. The cockpit was widened and moved to a position over the mid-set wings, even with the engine's exhaust nozzle. The pilot's seat back was armored and he was protected by an armor plate to his front and a bulletproof windscreen. Three fuel tanks were positioned ahead of the cockpit and one behind it with a total capacity of 620 kilograms (1,370 lb) of fuel. The removable, mid-mounted wings used several different laminar flow airfoils over their span. Each wing had a single spar, slotted flaps and ailerons. The tricycle undercarriage retracted into the fuselage, which meant that the aircraft had a very narrow ground track. The aircraft was armed with three 23-millimeter (0.91 in) Nudelman-Suranov NS-23 autocannon, two on the starboard side of the aircraft's nose and the other on the port side. Each gun had 50 rounds of ammunition. [2]

The 152 made its first flight on 5 December 1946 and the manufacturer's trials completed on 23 June 1947. State acceptance trials commenced on 12 July, but the prototype crashed on the eighth flight when the engine failed on approach. The maximum speed attained by the 152 before its crash was only 840 kilometers per hour (520 mph). [2]

Izdeliye 154

The Lavochkin OKB decided to improve the performance of the 152 in late 1946 by replacing the RD-10 engine with a more powerful Lyulka TR-1 turbojet of 12.3 kN (2,800 lbf) thrust. The design work was completed in September 1947, and construction began of a prototype shortly afterward, but the engine was not yet ready for testing and the project was canceled. The only other significant difference from the 152 was that each cannon was furnished with 75 rounds of ammunition. [3]

Izdeliye 156

Meanwhile, the OKB had been developing two afterburning versions of the RD-10 to increase the engine's power. The more successful model was only 100 millimeters (3.9 in) longer and weighed an additional 31 kilograms (68 lb) more than the original engine. Its power, however, was increased by an additional 3.3 kN (740 lbf), over 30% more thrust. This engine was designated the izdeliye YuF by the bureau [Note 2] and was fitted into an aircraft 152 prototype in November 1946, initially designated as the 150D (Dooblyor - Second). This was changed to Aircraft 156 the following month. [4]

In addition to the more powerful engine, the aircraft now had an ejection seat, additional cockpit armor, and a revised canopy. More importantly, it was fitted with new wings with a greater span and more surface area; they also had a new airfoil designed to delay Mach tuck. The area of the tailplane and the vertical stabilizer was also increased. Two prototypes were built and the first one was completed in February 1947 and made its first flight on 1 March. The second prototype joined the manufacturer's trials later that month. One of these aircraft participated in the Tushino flypast on 3 August 1947, [5] where it was given the USAF reporting name of Type 5. [1] The additional power increased the aircraft's top speed by 40–70 km/h (25–43 mph) over the 152. The second prototype began state acceptance trials on 9 September and demonstrated a maximum speed of 905 km/h (562 mph) at an altitude of 2,000 meters (6,560 ft). It could reach 5,000 meters (16,400 ft) in four minutes using afterburner. The aircraft was rejected by the Soviet Air Forces when the trials were concluded on 28 January 1948. The report said that the YuF engine was required more work before it was ready for production, the aircraft had problems with longitudinal stability, excessive stick forces from the ailerons and elevators, and the undercarriage was troublesome. Lavochkin consequently canceled the program. [6]

Izdeliye 174TK

An experimental version of Izdeliye 156 was built in 1947 under the name of Izdeliye 174TK (Tonkoye Krylo - thin wing). It had a very thin, straight wing of 6% thickness, believed to be the thinnest yet flown in the world, and an imported Rolls-Royce Derwent V engine, rated at 15.6 kN (3,500 lbf), mounted in the nose. The three NS-23 cannon had to be repositioned on the bottom of the nose to accommodate the engine. It was first flown in January 1948 and had a top speed of 970 km/h (600 mph) at sea level. It reached an altitude of 5,000 meters in only 2.5 minutes, but even these impressive gains over the 156 were inferior to the swept-wing Lavochkin La-160 that had flown nine months earlier and the program was canceled. [7]

Variants

Specifications (Izdeliye 156)

Lavochkin La-152 3-view line drawing.svg

Data fromEarly Soviet Jet Fighters [9]

General characteristics

Performance

Armament

See also

Related development

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

Related lists

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-9</span> Fighter aircraft family; first jet-powered MiG

The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-9 was the first turbojet fighter developed by Mikoyan-Gurevich in the years immediately after World War II. It used reverse-engineered German BMW 003 engines. Categorized as a first-generation jet fighter, it suffered from persistent problems with engine flameouts when firing its guns at high altitudes due to gun gas ingestion. A number of different armament configurations were tested, but none solved the problem. Several different engines were evaluated, but none were flown as the prototype of the MiG-15 promised superior performance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yakovlev Yak-141</span> Soviet VTOL fighter prototype

The Yakovlev Yak-141, also known as the Yak-41, is a Soviet supersonic vertical takeoff/landing (VTOL) fighter aircraft designed by Yakovlev. It was used for testing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yakovlev Yak-36</span> Soviet experimental VSTOL aircraft

The Yakovlev Yak-36, also known as Izdeliye V, is a Soviet technology demonstrator for a VTOL combat aircraft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lavochkin La-15</span> Type of aircraft

The Lavochkin La-15, was an early Soviet jet fighter and a contemporary of the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yakovlev Yak-28</span> Family of Soviet jet combat aircraft

The Yakovlev Yak-28 is a swept wing, turbojet-powered combat aircraft used by the Soviet Union. Produced initially as a tactical bomber, it was also manufactured in reconnaissance, electronic warfare, interceptor, and trainer versions, known by the NATO reporting names Brewer, Brewer-E, Firebar, and Maestro respectively. Based on the Yak-129 prototype first flown on 5 March 1958, it began to enter service in 1960.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sukhoi Su-9 (1946)</span> Experimental fighter aircraft

The Sukhoi Su-9 was an early jet fighter built in the Soviet Union shortly after World War II. The design began in 1944 and was intended to use Soviet-designed turbojet engines. The design was heavily influenced by captured German jet fighters and it was subsequently redesigned to use a Soviet copy of a German turbojet. The Su-9 was slower than competing Soviet aircraft and it was cancelled as a result. A modified version with different engines and a revised wing became the Su-11, but this did not enter production either. The Su-13 was a proposal to re-engine the aircraft with Soviet copies of the Rolls-Royce Derwent turbojet as well as to modify it for night fighting, but neither proposal was accepted.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yakovlev Yak-15</span> Soviet first-generation turbojet fighter

The Yakovlev Yak-15 was a first-generation Soviet turbojet fighter developed by the Yakovlev design bureau (OKB) immediately after World War II. The main fuselage was that of Yakovlev Yak-3 piston-engine fighter modified to mount a reverse-engineered German Junkers Jumo 004 engine. The Yak-15 and the Swedish Saab 21R were the only two jets to be successfully converted from piston-power to enter production. 280 aircraft were built in 1947. Although nominally a fighter, it was mainly used to qualify piston-engine-experienced pilots to fly jets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yakovlev Yak-19</span> Soviet prototype fighter aircraft

The Yakovlev Yak-19 was a prototype Soviet fighter built in late 1940s. It was the first Soviet aircraft to be equipped with an afterburning turbojet, the Klimov RD-10F that was derived from the German Jumo 004 engine. Only two examples were built as it was rejected for service by the Soviet Air Force.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tumansky RD-9</span> Turbojet aircraft engine

The Tumansky RD-9 was an early Soviet turbojet engine, not based on pre-existing German or British designs. The AM-5, developed by scaling down the AM-3, was available in 1952 and completed testing in 1953; it produced 25.5 kN (5,700 lbf) thrust without afterburner. AM-5 engine is notable for making possible the first mass-produced supersonic interceptor, the MiG-19, and the first Soviet all-weather area interceptor, the Yak-25. When Sergei Tumansky replaced Alexander Mikulin as the OKB-24's chief designer in 1956, the engine was renamed RD-9. The engine was later built under license in China as the WP-6.

The Yakovlev Yak-25 was a Soviet military aircraft, an early turbojet-powered fighter aircraft designed by the Yakovlev OKB. The designation was later reused for a different interceptor design. Tasked by the Council of Ministers in a directive issued on 11 March 1947, with producing a straight winged fighter similar to the earlier Yak-19, but powered by a Rolls-Royce Derwent V, OKB-115 swiftly produced the Yak-25, which blazed several trails as the first Soviet fighter with a fully pressurised cockpit, air conditioning, jettisonable canopy, and hydraulic airbrakes on the fuselage amongst other innovations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lavochkin La-250</span> Type of aircraft

The Lavochkin La-250 "Anakonda" was a high-altitude interceptor aircraft prototype developed in the Soviet Union by the Lavochkin design bureau in the 1950s. Its nickname "Anaconda" was invented during the flight test and referred to both the elongated body shape as well as the relatively critical flight characteristics of the machine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lavochkin La-150</span> Soviet early jet fighter by Lavochkin

The Lavochkin La-150, was designed by the Lavochkin design bureau (OKB) in response to a 1945 order to build a single-seat jet fighter using a single German turbojet. By this time both the Americans and British, as well as the Germans, had already flown jet fighters and the single Soviet jet engine under development was not yet ready for production. The design was completed quickly, but the construction of the five flying prototypes was protracted by the factory's inexperience in building metal aircraft. The aircraft made its first flight in September 1946, but proved to require extensive modifications to meet the Soviet Air Forces' requirements. These took so long to make and test that the aircraft was essentially obsolete by the time that they were completed. Even one variant with a much more powerful engine was inferior to other aircraft that the OKB had under development and all work was terminated in 1947.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yakovlev Yak-30 (1948)</span> Soviet jet interceptor prototype

The Yakovlev Yak-30 was an experimental Soviet interceptor from the late 1940s. Derived from the Yak-25, from which it differed primarily in having wings sweptback 35° at quarter chord, the Yak-30 retained the fuselage, tail surfaces and undercarriage of the earlier fighter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sukhoi P-1</span> Type of aircraft

The Sukhoi P-1 was a prototype Soviet interceptor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yakovlev Yak-50 (1949)</span> Type of aircraft

Yakovlev Yak-50 was an early experimental turbojet interceptor aircraft designed in 1948 by the Yakovlev OKB in the USSR. The aircraft was essentially a stretched version of the Yakovlev Yak-30 (1948), with a more powerful engine and greater wing sweep. The Yak-50 is perhaps most significant as the first Yakovlev aircraft equipped with velosipednoye (bicycle) landing gear, a trademark of later Yakovlev designs. The Yak-50 designation was later reused for a propeller-driven aerobatic and trainer aircraft.

The Yakovlev Yak-33 was a vertical takeoff and landing supersonic multi-purpose aircraft family, studied in the early 1960s, with variants of a basic design used to fulfill different roles, in a similar fashion to the Yak-25, Yak-27, Yak-28 family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lavochkin La-160</span> Type of aircraft

The Lavochkin La-160, known as Strelka (Arrow), was the first Soviet swept-winged jet fighter research prototype. It was designed and manufactured by the Lavochkin Design Bureau from 1946. USAF reporting name - Type 6

The Lyulka TR-1 was a turbojet designed by Arkhip Lyulka and produced by his Lyulka design bureau. It was the first indigenous Soviet jet engine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yakovlev Yak-140</span> Soviet prototype lightweight supersonic fighter

The Yakovlev Yak-140 was a Soviet prototype lightweight supersonic fighter developed during the 1950s. The prototype was completed in 1954, but it was denied authorization to enter flight testing and the program was cancelled in 1956.

The Mikoyan-Gurevich I-75 was the final design of a series of three experimental swept-wing interceptors developed in the Soviet Union in the mid-late 1950s by the Mikoyan-Gurevich design bureau from their Mikoyan-Gurevich I-3 airframe. All the aircraft in the I-3 program were affected by delays in the development of the Klimov VK-3 turbojet engine, its cancellation and ultimate replacement by the Lyulka AL-7F turbojet engine.

References

Notes

  1. All Lavochkin's jet aircraft were referred to in-house, and at government level, as "Izdeliye (Item or Product) 152", etc.
  2. Confusingly, some sources refer to both this engine and Yakovlev's afterburning version of the RD-10 as RD-10Fs, although they had two different afterburner designs.

Citations

  1. 1 2 Parsch, Andreas and Aleksey V. Martynov. "Designations of Soviet and Russian Military Aircraft and Missiles." designation-systems.net, 2008. Retrieved: 19 August 2011.
  2. 1 2 Gordon 2002, pp. 109, 112.
  3. 1 2 Gordon 2002, pp. 109–110, 112.
  4. Gordon 2002, pp. 106–107, 109–110.
  5. Gordon 2002, pp. 110, 113.
  6. Gordon 2002, pp. 113–114.
  7. 1 2 Gunston 1995, p. 168.
  8. Gordon 2002, pp. 106–107, 109–110, 113–114
  9. Gordon 2002, p. 114.

Bibliography