Over 2,200 Modifications To Be Mediocre: Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LaGG-3

In this video, we talk about the Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LaGG-3, a Soviet aircraft, with a name that's way too long, from World War 2 designed and built in an effort to modernize the Soviet Air Forces and increase the number of aircraft they had. We first talk about the concept behind the plane, in being made mostly of wood with chemically reinforced wood supporting the normal wood, and how such a concept would make it easy for the Soviet Union to rapidly build up their arsenal. We talk about the early stages of the LaGG-3 in the I-301 prototype and the LaGG-1 precursor. We talk about the surprising performance of the I-301 prototype and how that rapidly led to the LaGG-3 being produced.
We then talk about the LaGG-3's inferior performance and all of the problems the more mass produced models began to have; over 2,200 problems, to be specific. We talk about how the plane performed against the aircraft of Nazi Germany, like the Bf 109, and how it performed in other areas, like ground attacking and intercepting bombers. We go over the progression of how the Russians tried to remedy the manufacturing and engine power problems the plane was experiencing, and how a last ditch attempt to save the design actually worked rather well and led to much better aircraft like the La-5 and La-7.
Link to the Rex's Hangar video mentioned: • A Bomber So Bad It Too...

Пікірлер: 71

  • @sakkra93
    @sakkra933 ай бұрын

    2,200 modifications? You could say, that this aircraft's perfection was really LaGGing behind!

  • @jonathanhudak2059

    @jonathanhudak2059

    2 ай бұрын

    LMAO!! 😂

  • @sakkra93

    @sakkra93

    2 ай бұрын

    @@jonathanhudak2059 Couldn't resist, lol.

  • @jonathanhudak2059

    @jonathanhudak2059

    2 ай бұрын

    @@sakkra93 good one that cracked me up! 🤣🤣

  • @DIREWOLFx75
    @DIREWOLFx758 ай бұрын

    The LaGG-3 is one of those weird beasts... It was never good, it was even on the edge of outright bad much of the time, and yet it still managed to be just successful enough to make a noticeable and important contribution to the war.

  • @FifingFossil

    @FifingFossil

    8 ай бұрын

    I think that they fly so bad because of cast iron balls of its pilots

  • @DIREWOLFx75

    @DIREWOLFx75

    8 ай бұрын

    @@FifingFossil *lol* They certainly need them!

  • @radosaworman7628

    @radosaworman7628

    8 ай бұрын

    Lagg-3 is like t-34. Decent design, no quality control. It was additionally screwd by rare technology of construction, that unlike wellington, was never possible to implement in retarded country that was soviet onyo.

  • @schabanow

    @schabanow

    8 ай бұрын

    No "noticeable contribution" to the War has been made from behalf of this airplane. Nothing of the kind.

  • @DIREWOLFx75

    @DIREWOLFx75

    8 ай бұрын

    @@schabanow You clearly have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. A better aircraft would have been immensely valuable. But the LaGG-3 did the job. Barely adequately, but without it, USSR airforce would have been in even more dire straits.

  • @pawepluta4883
    @pawepluta48838 ай бұрын

    "OKB" is a general Soviet acronym of the name of a design bureau, not a particular Lavochkin bureau name as it might seem. There were other OKBs. BTW, Lavochkin logo shown consists of Cyryllic letters "L" (which looks like "/|") and "a".

  • @oscrthgrch7
    @oscrthgrch78 ай бұрын

    When I used to play Il2 1946, if I joined a server that had an early Russian Front map I would always fly the P-40 or P-39 rather than the LaGG when available. The LaGG-3 was terrible in that game, so I guess the flight and damage model was fairly accurate.

  • @adamrodaway1074
    @adamrodaway10748 ай бұрын

    I am loving this channel, and your dry wit. Very cool of you to link to the equally wonderful Rex’s Hangar. While it may not have been the best fighter, the use of wood probably meant it didn’t impact too much on the production of other types. And sometimes a plane (albeit mediocre) is better than no plane.

  • @jpgabobo
    @jpgabobo8 ай бұрын

    Love your channel, and knew this would be a slog, yet it is still a good looking aircraft.

  • @Rafael-nz6pp
    @Rafael-nz6pp8 ай бұрын

    Thank you for the videos and great content.

  • @MrDdaland
    @MrDdaland8 ай бұрын

    Overall, a fairly decent evaluation of the LAGG-3. A coupke of things worth noting- Almost all of the factories initially producing the LAGG-3 had to be relocated away from the frontlines, and the design team broken up to head up the assorted factories. Semyon Lavochkin suppossedly worked in a unheated workshop to design the original La-5, his Original co-designer Mikhail Gudkov took the same basic Idea and produced a slightly inferior aircraft. Yakovlev had a advantage Lavochkin didnt have- Yakovlev was the head of aircraft production in the USSR, therefor his design OKB tended to get the best people and materials

  • @Cuccos19
    @Cuccos198 ай бұрын

    There was a pilot whose personal sign was a lionhead in a red heart. I think he was called 'Yurii Shchipov' and he could get some success with this 'varnished coffin'. He finished the war with 24 victories, yet I don't know how many was bagged flying the LaGG-3.

  • @jonathanhudak2059
    @jonathanhudak20592 ай бұрын

    Cool looking early war Soviet aircraft as bare-bones and no frills as they come! As others have said in a similar vein and to that I'll chip in my own 2 cents, it certainly wasn't the best fighter but it was better than nothing. Something to hold the line so to speak until something better could come along like the La-5 and La-5Fn and eventually the La-7. Nice video though and thank you! 🙂👍

  • @Enegene_History
    @Enegene_History8 ай бұрын

    Nice thumbnail. I actually recognised it. It was hit by AA in the area of Nurmoila leading to a forced landing on the 6th of March 1942. It had a production number(?) 070171 on it.

  • @neves5083
    @neves50838 ай бұрын

    This channel is so underrated

  • @elennapointer701
    @elennapointer7018 ай бұрын

    The LaGG-3 belongs to that select club of planes that was either so challenging to fly. or just plain bad. that it acquired a lasting nickname. Just as US pilots named the Vought F4U Corsair the "Ensign Eliminator" and the Luftwaffe's He-177 Greif was the "Flaming Coffin", the LaGG-3, with its unusual wood(ish) construction was known by Soviet pilots as the "Guaranteed Varnished Coffin".

  • @Temeluchas

    @Temeluchas

    8 ай бұрын

    The entire "guaranteed varnished coffin" thing is most likely fiction: a) Such long-winded nicknames rarely stick in military circles. Usually, nicknames, especially derogatory ones, are short and sharp, not a mouthful. b) Production LaGGs, unlike the prototype, weren't varnished. c) Mentions of the nickname first appeared only in the late 50s. When, by strange coincidence, MiG and Tupolev (especially) design bureaus worked really hard on eliminating the Lavochkin design bureau as a competitor through intrigues. The nickname actually mentioned in contemporary sources isn't flattering either - "taranka" (a species of fish popular as a beer-snack)

  • @davefellhoelter1343
    @davefellhoelter13438 ай бұрын

    looks fast on the ground.

  • @Titus-as-the-Roman
    @Titus-as-the-Roman4 ай бұрын

    It's obvious to me that the wood technology they were using, while innovative at saving scarce resources and enabling them to produce much needed aircraft it was never going to supplant or even equal the newer Alloys without severe engineering. They continued to beat that dead horse long after they should have jumped ship.

  • @cykablyat123br9
    @cykablyat123br97 ай бұрын

    I love the yak's and la's... But lagg was just terrible when the mig 3 just was bad because it was hard to drive(required very well trained and experienced pilots on it) and it was not suitable for the characteristics of most air fights on the eastern front(low to mid altitudes), but he was very good to do what he was designed to do(high altitude interception). There was even a soviet mig 3 ace that called it a masterpiace when caling the yak 1 a trash lol.

  • @michaeltelson9798
    @michaeltelson97988 ай бұрын

    There was a negative nickname for this aircraft based on the designation. LAGG = certified flammable lacquered coffin

  • @luvr381
    @luvr3818 ай бұрын

    Subbed.

  • @jarikinnunen1718
    @jarikinnunen17188 ай бұрын

    I did look at Finnish air win/lost numbers (Wikipedia, lentolaivue 24). LaGG-3 appeared in 1942 and disappearet 1944. Not big numbers of them.

  • @LastGoatKnight
    @LastGoatKnight8 ай бұрын

    In my opinion the LaGG-3 is uncannily similar to the MiG-3, just with wooden design

  • @cykablyat123br9

    @cykablyat123br9

    7 ай бұрын

    lagg was just terrible when the mig 3 just was bad because it was hard to drive(required very well trained and experienced pilots on it) and it was not suitable for the characteristics of most air fights on the eastern front(low to mid altitudes), but he was good to do what he was designed to do(high altitude interception). There was even a soviet mig 3 ace that called it a masterpiace when caling the yak 1 a trash lol. And if you dont know all soviet planes used this wooden with mixture in some of their parts or on all of their structures.

  • @MiKeMiDNiTe-77
    @MiKeMiDNiTe-778 ай бұрын

    The LaGG 3 and later designs were very good looking aircraft, the LaGGs 3s difficult and problematic design and the problems associated with it made it more an interesting aircraft and ultimately every single LaGG 3 was needed.

  • @enscroggs
    @enscroggs7 ай бұрын

    LaGG, "guaranteed varnished coffin"

  • @user-jy6xx7kw5s
    @user-jy6xx7kw5sАй бұрын

    Was this the plane pilots referred to as the guaranteed varnished coffin?

  • @brealistic3542
    @brealistic35428 ай бұрын

    The Mig 3 was a very fast hi altitude fighter. It didn't perform at all well at the low altitude required of it.

  • @aabumble9954
    @aabumble99548 ай бұрын

    Could your next video be the Vickers victory bomber or the Blackburn Beverly? Why is your channel called IHYLS?

  • @red1246

    @red1246

    8 ай бұрын

    It's the acronym for "I Hope You Learned Something"

  • @aabumble9954

    @aabumble9954

    8 ай бұрын

    @@red1246 Thanks.

  • @jerry250ify
    @jerry250ify8 ай бұрын

    Wish my girlfriends showed the level of commitment of the soviets trying to make the LaGG work

  • @mannywilliams6409
    @mannywilliams64097 ай бұрын

    What's the saying? Perfection is the enemy of good enough.

  • @charlesseitz1591
    @charlesseitz15918 ай бұрын

    First and your channel is the best

  • @Duececoupe
    @DuececoupeАй бұрын

    Something is wrong here, only 26K, should be 260K! Well, how long do we have to wait for until the MiG-3? 😉

  • @hairydonuts6024
    @hairydonuts60248 ай бұрын

    You should mention the much-improved La-5FN. This had the M-82 with direct fuel injection (hence FN) & various structural & aerodynamic improvements. It was viewed to be the first Soviet fighter to equal to German fighters at low-altitudes, though at height, it was a different story. The La-7 was, practically, a new design made out of metal, so to indirectly marry the LaGG-3 to it is very misleading.

  • @martindice5424
    @martindice54248 ай бұрын

    What’s the Russian for Per Ardua ad Astra? 🤔

  • @BobSmith-dk8nw

    @BobSmith-dk8nw

    8 ай бұрын

    According to Google Translate it's: К звездам .

  • @Temeluchas

    @Temeluchas

    8 ай бұрын

    Через тернии к звездам

  • @brealistic3542
    @brealistic35428 ай бұрын

    Russian pilots called it the.. " Guarantee Varnish Coffin"

  • @flutter8712
    @flutter87128 ай бұрын

    This plane served until 1944...

  • @George_M_
    @George_M_8 ай бұрын

    It looks like a worse P-40, and the P-40 was already a very compromised design literally holding back its own engine.

  • @floycewhite6991
    @floycewhite69918 ай бұрын

    If at first you don't succeed

  • @kidmohair8151
    @kidmohair81518 ай бұрын

    onward and upward! (if v e r y slow ly)

  • @mr_ThreeEight_1776
    @mr_ThreeEight_17767 ай бұрын

    Meanwhile at gaijon: make it premium, indestructible, fast, pull of stuka dives better than a stuka, out turn and climb most things. Yeah sure, warthunder is definitely realistic.

  • @sjoormen1
    @sjoormen18 ай бұрын

    lacquared guaranteed grave...

  • @cuddlepaws4423
    @cuddlepaws44238 ай бұрын

    Why was it called the LaGG ?? Because it lagged behind on engine power , handling , weight and anything else you can think of 😮‍💨😮‍💨

  • @johjoh978
    @johjoh9788 ай бұрын

    me irl

  • @Tempestzzzz
    @Tempestzzzz4 ай бұрын

    I hate this aircraft in il2 BoS. H A T E I T!

  • @comentedonakeyboard
    @comentedonakeyboard8 ай бұрын

    Cranking out mediocre products, rather then admiting a problem, makes "sense" within the soviet system, especialy under Stalin. The reason beeing that admiting failure would lead to acusations of sabotage, while any problems with the finished product could be explained away by other factors.

  • @robertkalinic335

    @robertkalinic335

    8 ай бұрын

    Can you maybe stop with speculation and think for a moment, there was a ton of successful designs with mistakes fixed later on. Denying problems will only get you killed after investigation is done, its the political scheming and favours that determined if your bs lies pass through or if you get blamed for mistakes of someone else cause they are more trusted than you by leadership.

  • @bobese5099
    @bobese50998 ай бұрын

    You are very disingenuous give information and disinformation at the same time. The lagg with the radial where given the designation LA 5 and it went on to be a very successful Soviet fighter of ww2 amassing 64 confirmed kills of all "allied" type fighters planes. Bad information shared here,

  • @oscrthgrch7

    @oscrthgrch7

    8 ай бұрын

    He clearly states this in the video, what are you talking about?

  • @808bigisland

    @808bigisland

    8 ай бұрын

    Axis-planes instead of “allies”?

  • @thanksskeletor4812

    @thanksskeletor4812

    8 ай бұрын

    Damn you shouldn't breed

  • @bobese5099

    @bobese5099

    8 ай бұрын

    @@808bigisland Are you aware that the Soviets and the United States, France and the UK were once allies during the world war 2? I bet you didn't.

  • @bobese5099

    @bobese5099

    8 ай бұрын

    @@oscrthgrch7 No he didn't. His research was ok, but he decided to be all so "expert" while talking about the lagg 3 even referring to the modified version as the lagg 5. My observation was that of bias, a partial assessment of the venerable lagg fighter and it's variants La 5,7, and 9.