Lavochkin's Last Jets

Red Star Volume 32
By Yefim Gordon
Midland Publications, ©2007
ISBN 1-85780-253-5
Softbound, 128 Pages
Available from Specialty Press for $36.95

Reviewed by Chris Banyai-Riepl

The Lavochkin OKB produced what was arguably the best piston-engined fighter of the Second World War, the La-7. However, the transition to the jet age was not quite as stellar, with only a handful of designs built before Lavochkin gave up manned flight altogether. This latest title in the Red Star Series covers these last jets of Lavochkin, building on earlier volumes in the series (Volume 4 covered the early Lavochkin jets, the 150, 152, 156, and 174TK; and Volume 19 covered the last Lavochkin jet, the La-250 "Anaconda"). The remaining jets include the 160 and 168 aircraft, both of which did not enter production but gave Lavochkin some experience with swept wing designs. Following those came the production La-15, a contemporary of the MiG-15. Powered by a Rolls Royce Derwent copy, the La-15, while technologically advanced, was inferior to the Mikoyan product, and only 500 were produced.

Following the La-15 came the supersonic projects. By this time, Mikoyan and Sukhoi had stepped forward to dominate the jet fighter market, but Lavochkin still tried to come out with some successful designs. Both the Aircraft 176 and Aircraft 190 reached prototype stage, but no production orders arose. Lavochkin's penultimate jet fighter design, the Aircraft 200, tried to capture the all-weather fighter market, but the writing was on the wall and this design also failed. With the last gasp of the La-250, Lavochkin gave up on manned aircraft and went on to other interests.

This book does an excellent job in covering these many factory aircraft. As only the La-15 entered service, the vast majority of the photos presented here are factory photos, which means that the quality is very good. For the La-15, there are several stills, both in black and white and in color, of a well-known film showing a handful of red-nosed La-15s in operation. Complementing the excellent photos is the text, which does a beautiful job of describing not only the aircraft, but also the process of decline of the Lavochkin OKB.

This book fills some important gaps left by earlier Red Star titles, and we now have a complete history of the last aircraft designs of Lavochkin. My thanks to Specialty Press for the review copy.