The LaGG-3 piston-engine pursuit fighter (the LaGG in the designation coming from "Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Goudkov") was one of the earlier successes of modern aircraft design for the Soviet Union in World War 2. Basically an improved version of the LaGG-1, the LaGG-3 went on to secure success at a time when the Soviet Union needed a versatile and robust performer out of the gates. The aircraft would appear in the thousands by the end of the war but was ultimately superceded by more capable designs in line with the changing battlefield requirements and of lessons learned.
Development of the LaGG-3 series culminated with the arrival of the I-301 prototype. The new improved design became the production LaGG-3. Once at the front lines, the LaGG-3 performed admirably well, charged with the primary task of providing escort defense for their Ilyushin Il-2 Shturmovik close-support aircraft. The LaGG-3 proved itself a fighter with good performance, improved controls and the ability to withstand a good deal of structural damage before failing.
Visual features of the LaGG-3 design were consistent with what would be termed "modern" aircraft of the time. In fact, the LaGG-3 shared some outward similarities to the French-made Dewoitine D.520 series of pursuit fighter with the major similarity being in the placement of the cockpit and the long-area frontal fuselage. Wings were low-mounted monoplane with the cockpit seating area located just above and behind the installation. A generally pleasing design, the LaGG-3 system was built for speed. Armament consisted of a 20mm propeller-hub firing cannon of ShVAK type and 2 x machine guns in the forward upper front of the fuselage, just forward of the cockpit and behind the propeller. This armament consisted of either a set of 12.7mm heavy machine guns or a pair of 7.62mm machine guns. Landing gear were fully retractable (including the tail wheel).
The LaGG-3 featured a constantspeed propeller and improved rudderbalancing, and was popular in service;it proved very robust and was capable of sustaining considerable battle damage,though it soon became apparent that the design was not the complete answer and new attempts were being drawn up after some 6,400 had been produced. The LaGG-3 was, however, a capable design in its own right and well-liked by her pilots and ground crew alike. Production of the LaGG-3 was completed in the late summer of 1942 with a total of 6,528 built.
Specification
WEIGHTS
Take-off weight 3190 kg 7033 lb
Empty weight 2620 kg 5776 lb
DIMENSIONS
Wingspan 9.8 m 32 ft 2 in
Length 8.9 m 29 ft 2 in
Wing area 17.5 m2 188.37 sq ft
PERFORMANCE
Max. speed 570 km/h 354 mph
Cruise speed 450 km/h 280 mph
Ceiling 9700 m 31800 ft
Range 800 km 497 miles
Installation:
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-Unzip "Lagg-3" into a temporary file and move the "Lagg-3" folder into the main Aircraft directory.
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-Read instructions carefully when installing the gauges, say YES...when asked if the gauges sources should be trusted. If you say no....some of the gauges are not going to work !
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-Leave the "instruments_Russ" map in your panel folder.
-Copy the effects into the Microsoft Games\Flight Simulator X\effects folder and the 20can.wave in the Microsoft Games\Flight Simulator X\sound folder.
ATTENTION :
-For FS2004, change the FS9_Wing_Guns.fx into FX_Wing_Guns
-For FSX change the FSX_Wing_Guns.fx into FX_Wing_Guns
-The plane is converted from cfs2. In virtual cockpit view you may get some mirror problems and the gunsight may not be transparant all the time.
NOTE: If you have trouble with the canopy and prop transparancies when flying with Acceleration, replace the the glass.bmp and prop_b.bmp with those in the "acceleration map".
Effects
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-On startup there is automatic engine smoke.
-Then follow the exhaust flames with smoke.
-Wing vortex effect appears by default at 2.5g or quick roll rate.
-Continuous blue flames with smoke if engine is running .
-Wing cannon with flash, smoke and falling cartridges can be triggered with the standard Strobe key (O). Remember this key is aliased to the lights key.
It is much nicer however if you put the FS2004 standard Strobe key (O) to the trigger from your joystick.You can change this in the Key menu.
It is a good idea if you replace the standard (L) key for lights by the L+CTRL, (normaly activating the landing lights only). This avoids you having to have all lights on when pulling the trigger.
-The sound is aliased to the Douglas_DC3 and can easily be replaced by the one of your choice.
Flying the model
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This plane is a non critical but powerful and precise flying machine.It is sensitive to torque and trim settings.
-CTRL+E opens the canopy
TAKE-OFF :if you have manual rudder enabled, be ready to apply rudder and brake when you hit the throttle !
Better apply throttle proportionaly and slowly at first.
1.Parking brake on, start engine, 1/4 flaps
2.Disengage parking brake
3.Hold enough LEFT rudder, brake to keep the aircraft straight.
4.Take off at about 85 Knots, wheels and flaps up at 110 Knots.
5.To fire guns activate O-key or trigger.
6.Approach at 25% flaps, wheels down at 120 Knots.
7.Touchdown at 80-85 Knots.
LEGAL:
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This project is released as freeware. You may modify it and repaint it. You may upload this file to another website as long as it is not for profit. You need the written permission of the original authors to use any of these files for commercial purposes, otherwise a simple credit would be nice. This file should not cause any problems with your computer, but I accept no responsibility if you think it does.
Happy Landings!!
A.F.Scrub
February 2009
Email: af_scrubbypc@hotmail.com
