La-5FN (Germany)

Description

The ▀La-5FN is a premium rank German fighter with a battle rating of (AB), (RB), and (SB). It has been in the game since the start of the Open Beta Test prior to Update 1.27 as an in-game premium vehicle purchasable with Golden Eagles , but was removed from in-game sale during the July 2021 Economy Update. It has since been made available for purchase with Golden Eagles during the 2023 "First Flight of the La-5" and the 2024 "Anniversary of the La-5’s First Flight!" flash sales.

General info

Flight performance

Details

Survivability and armour

• 75 mm bulletproof glass in the rear windshield
• 55 mm bulletproof glass in the front windshield
• 10 mm steel plate behind the pilot seat

Modifications and economy

Armaments

Offensive armament

The La-5FN (Germany) is armed with:

• 2 x 20 mm ShVAK cannons, nose-mounted (170 rpg = 340 total)

The ShVAK cannons are quite effective at this battle rating consisting of adequate damage output, a high rate of fire, and decent ammunition belts. However, they are crippled by mediocre damage per shot and by having close to the worst HEI round in the game, so one should focus on the critical components of a plane such as an engine and pilot. The cannons themselves are accurate, even in stock configuration and have the fastest rate of fire of any of its contemporaries (Hispano Mk.IIs/404s, MG 151s, Ho-5s, Type 98/99s).

Usage in battles

The La-5FN is the last of the La-5 modifications and is one of the best planes at its BR. Designed to be contemporary to the universally feared German Bf 109, it maintains excellent energy retention, adequate speed, brutal acceleration, and an amazing turn rate makes this a monster at its rank. If you made it this far in the Soviet tech tree, you should understand that all but 4 Soviet prop fighters are horrible above 4,000 m, where their engines that are tuned for low-altitude will asphyxiate above that altitude, so avoid high altitude fights at all costs.

A purebred energy fighter through and through, one should employ energy fighting tactics such as stall fighting, vertical scissors and others. However, due to its fantastic turn rate, you can outturn most German, American, Italian and French fighters. Never engage in a turn fight with the British Spitfires or most Japanese fighters, as they can turn on a dime and have a relatively powerful armament.

Some enemies to be considered:

• Spitfire: The legendary British fighter is the king of low altitude fighting. It can turn on a dime, has a decent top-end speed, but has a mediocre roll rate that only gets worse at higher speeds. Avoid them at all costs unless they are unaware of your presence. In which case, dive on it and aim for the pilot and wings, as your cannons will rip through them.
• C.205 serie 3 and G.55: These Italian menaces are heavily armed dogfighters that are effectively Bf 109s with more weapons. Their speed is almost unparalleled at this rank and excels at most fighting scenarios. If one forces a fight on you, attempt to turn fight, as when combined with combat flaps and the effective rudder, you outturn them by a decent margin.

Manual Engine Control

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Excellent low altitude performance
• Fantastic energy retention
• Competitive turn rate
• Adequate speed
• Cannons are fast-firing and accurate
• Leading-edge wing slats improve turn rate
• Responsive elevator authority
• Amazing acceleration turns brutal with WEP
• Good armour made better with upgrades

Cons:

• Engine asphyxiates at high altitudes
• Only two cannons can be inadequate against heavier fighters and bombers
• Lower dive speed compared to contemporaries
• Rudder locks up above 500 km/h IAS, which will sometimes lead to a crash especially in low altitude dives

History

In early 1942, Semyon Lavochkin's LaGG-3 fighter was under threat of having its production cancelled, having shown itself to be underpowered and overweight. At the same time, Arkady Shvetsov faced a lack of demand for his M-82 radial engine - another project also in danger of being cancelled - successfully used only by the Sukhoi OKB's Su-2 ground attack aircraft. The two designers met at a conference in Moscow, and Shvetsov agreed to help Lavochkin fit the M-82 engine to the LaGG-3 airframe. Mikhail Gudkov, one of the original designers of the LaGG-3, had already attempted to do the such a thing resulting in the Gu-82 fighter, but he had delayed getting the fighter into production for too long. By April 1942, Aleksander Yakovlev had succeeded in getting his Yak-7 fighter produced instead of the LaGG-3, effectively monopolising Soviet fighter aircraft production.

Lavochkin's OKB was, in the meantime, transferred to the backwaters of Tbilisi, Georgia, where he and his team had to work almost illegally and in harsh conditions to modify the LaGG-3 for the M-82 engine. The radial engine was physically wider than the LaGG-3 fuselage cross-section, meaning skirting was required to attach the larger engine to the fuselage. The M-82 also had no space for an engine-mounted cannon, unlike the Klimov M-105, and thus, the updated armament changed to two 20 mm ShVAK cannon mounted on top of the engine instead. The new LaGG-3 M-82 (also known as the Samolyot 37 (Aircraft 37) or the Type 37) was completed in February 1942 and underwent test flights, where problems with engine cooling, excessive control forces, oil leaks, and excessive weight were discovered. Despite these, the LaGG-3 M-82 achieved excellent test results - performing better than any Soviet fighter in service at the time - and its full-scale development began as the LaG-5, and the first fully operational LaG-5s was delivered on 20 June 1942.

Series LaG-5s suffered from poor quality, which reduced performance considerably. As was revealed in the test flights, pilots found it to be a more difficult aircraft to fly than the Yak-1 or LaGG-3 - but the radial engine enhanced protection during head-on attacks. Re-designated La-5 in September 1942, the new fighter faced its first field test during the battle of Stalingrad, where it proved insufficient to equal the Bf 109 F-4 and G-2 models, but was crucially also considered capable of further improvement through refinement. Continuous improvements to the La-5 would eventually lead to the La-5F, La-5FN, and finally the La-7 - notably being among some of the most excellent Soviet fighters of the Great Patriotic War.

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the La-5FN (Germany) from live.warthunder.com.

Videos

See also

Other German-captured Soviet aircraft

• IL-2 (1942) (Germany)
• Yak-1B (Germany)

External links

• Official data sheet - more details about the performance
• [Wikipedia] Lavochkin La-5
• [Air Vectors] Lavochkin Piston Fighters - LA-5, LA-5F & LA-5FN