Lavochkin La-160

History

The Soviet Union's Lavochkin Concern provided several notable fighter developments during World War II (1939-1945), including the LaGG-3 and La-5 - both of which were prop-powered platforms. As the war drew to a close, the focus was on jet fighters, a process accelerated to keep up with developments in Britain, America and elsewhere. Stalin himself ordered several projects directly, and Lavochkin's engineers were part of a larger collective to ensure that the Soviet Union was one step ahead of its soon-to-be postwar foe.

His La-150 was a solid attempt at an early jet fighter, while the La-156 was the first Soviet fighter with an onboard afterburner turbojet. Its successor, the La-160, spawned its own "first generation" Soviet aircraft, becoming the first Soviet aircraft with a swept-wing main aircraft.

The La-160 shares characteristics with Lavochkin's other early jet-powered models - it was designed around a "pod and boom" arrangement, resulting in a deep fuselage, nose-mounted air intakes and center Wing cockpit guidance. The placement of the engines at the front of the fuselage forced the cockpit to move back from previous attempts of the Lavochkin jet, with the pilot sitting close to the nose. The engine exhausts below the center of the length of the fuselage.

The rear wing is very traditional, with only one vertical rear wing and one horizontal plane. The landing gear that receives the modern three-point linkage is wheeled and fully retracts the fuselage.

For his hunting role, this guy will be equipped with a turret, which is a 2 x 37mm system mounted on the nose.

Engineers opted for a 35 degree sweep along the leading edge of the wing, which in turn encouraged trailing edge sweep. These appendages were centered on the sides of the hull, albeit well ahead of the midship, and the chords were thin, limiting interior space for fuel and weapons. The RD-10 turbojet is a Soviet wartime replica of the German Junkers Jumo 004B turbojet, during which the first La-160 was installed for soil testing during an attempted aerial flight in June 1947.

Ultimately, this led to the installation of an upgraded RD-10F that included an afterburner feature that provided the required propulsion and could deliver up to 2,580 pounds of thrust. The first flight finally took place on July 23, 1947, and subsequent tests showed a night dive speed of 659 miles per hour.

This promising start was followed by a public unveiling during Tushino Aviation Day 1947.

However, the La-160 never went beyond its role as a data collector, joining the many other Lavochkin jet-powered forms handed down by Soviet authorities. It proved valuable to the company's future work as well as to Soviet aviation, but little emphasis was placed on this type as a front-line fighter when considering more advanced forms.

The only prototype was eventually lost when it disintegrated in mid-air - a testament to the perilous research involved in high-speed flight and advanced aerodynamics. The reason was put down to the flapping of the wings.

In aviation history, the La-160 received the unofficial name "Stelka", meaning "arrow", for its sharp-edged main wing. The La-168 owes much to the work and data collected on the La-160 and emerges through an entirely new design that makes more use of the swept airfoil (including the tail).

When completed, the La-160 will have a length of 10 meters, a wingspan of 8.95 meters and a height of 4 meters. It has a curb weight of 6,035 pounds and a maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) of 8,950 pounds. Recorded performance specs include a top speed of 602 mph, a range of up to 620 miles and a service ceiling of 40,000 feet.

The rate of climb was observed to be 3,905 feet per minute.

Specification

Basic

Production

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Dimensions

Weight

Performance

Performance

Armor

Changes