Whilst browsing http://www.feldgrau.com the other night I came across a very interesting link to a collection of photos from the Eastern Front. It contained a number of photos of crashed Luftwaffe and Soviet aircraft. Photo nr.351, in batch #4, is particularly interesting but, like most of the shots is not captioned. Please be warned the shots reflect the savagery of war and some are pretty gruesome. The URL is:- http://community.webshots.com/album/550039145RJGGcH/6 It is of a Soviet Spitfire, a Mk.5, as far as I can see and is marked ’22’ just behind the cockpit . The a/c seems to have belly-landed upright but the entire tail section seems to have become detached. I wanted to bring this to the attention of any Spitfire buffs out there, as pics of Spitfires in Soviet service seem to be fairly rare. Does anyone know anything about the particular a/c?
Keith
By: FMK.6JOHN - 24th August 2006 at 14:25
The laGG-3 had two machine guns mounted above the engine firing through the propellor and one cannon firing through the propellor hub (like a 109). A quick ‘google’ brought these up………
Regards,
John.
By: one0nine - 23rd August 2006 at 21:13
Ah, but will it be at Le…**mmmph**
😀 😀 😀
Lynn
By: Keith Bryers - 23rd August 2006 at 20:40
Aaargh! I hadn’t noticed the centreline cannon! the embarrassment!! Of course it’s a LaGG-3. Sackcloth & ashes for me…
Well, at least it got you looking at this interesting site!
Keith
By: Jan - 18th August 2006 at 08:56
Although 6,258 LaGG-3s were produced during the war, the type remains rather unknown in the West. And yes, James, there was a LaGG-1 as well, albeit only 100 were produced. Later refinements of the basic design produced the Lavochkin LaG-5, La-5, La-7, La-9 and La-11 series.
The main differences between the LaGG-1 and -3 concerned the type of engine and arnament fitted. The LaGG-1 had a Klimov M-105P liquid-cooled in-line engine rated at 1,100 hp while the arnament consisted of two 7.62 mm ShKAS machine guns and one 20 mm ShVAK cannon. The LaGG-3 had a M-105PF engine rated at 1,260 hp and was equipped with two 12.7 mm Berezin machine guns and one 20 mm ShVAK cannon.
Incidentally, the LaGG designation was made up of the first letters of the three designer’s last names, Lavochkin, Gorbunov and Gudkov. But, Russian pilots calimed LaGG really meant Lakirovanny garantirovanny grob, i.e. Guaranteed varnished coffin!
More on the LaGG-3 can be found here: http://www.sovietwarplanes.com/mig3/lagg3/lagg3.html and, for what it’s worth the wikipedia entries for the LaGG-1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Goudkov_LaGG-1
and the LaGG-3 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Goudkov_LaGG-3
Regards,
Jan
By: JDK - 18th August 2006 at 06:42
Read carefully, and inwardly digst…
It is not a Spitfire, it is a LaGG-3. 😡 :rolleyes:
By: grounded - 18th August 2006 at 03:44
Russian Spitfire
This is definatly no Spitfire, though I hesitate to identyfy it. The cockpit area is all wrong, the leading edge appears to be to thick, even the cowlings don’t look right. :confused: Not me.
By: Niall - 18th August 2006 at 03:16
I agree with Dan and James, it is a LaGG-3, the LaGG-1 was never actually produced.
By: JDK - 18th August 2006 at 00:54
Nevr knew a spit with a centre mounted cannon, but you never know.
In this case we do know. It’s a LaGG-3 (or possibly a LaGG-1 – I’m not an expert). Not all W.W.II fighters are Spitfires, and there’s a lot of others out there that some of us clearly haven’t heard of. Exciting, isn’t it.
While I can see it looks vaguely like a Spitfire at a glance, nothing actually matches except the broad type description.
Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. 😉
By: cypherus - 18th August 2006 at 00:08
Nevr knew a spit with a centre mounted cannon, but you never know.
By: Ken812 - 17th August 2006 at 23:58
Definitly not a spit (although does bare some resemblance), just look at the front part of the canopy.
ken812.
By: Dan Hamblin - 17th August 2006 at 22:24
I think he means this one:
http://image58.webshots.com/158/3/72/88/2871372880089413999fSQIti_fs.jpg
Looks more like a LaGG-3 to me, but I can see the similarities without the tail section.
Regards,
Dan
By: DazDaMan - 17th August 2006 at 22:16
Can’t see it.
By: jbs - 17th August 2006 at 22:08
Keith,
That definately isn’t a Spitfire, with my limited Russian aircraft knowledge it looks more like a Lavockhin (sp?) to me, but I do not know if they had inline engines
There must be someone out there who can confirm the type
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August 17, 2006 at 10:02 pm
