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Jurgis had a unique opportunity to fly La-9 (Lavochkin 9) 2010-04-07

After demonstration flights with Polikarpov airplanes in Warbirds over Wanaka 2008, Today Jurgis had a unique opportunity to fly La-9 (Lavochkin 9). This La-9 is the only flying airplane o this kind in the world. This airplane was designed in Russia at the end of second world war and was the fastest warbird at that time. 1850 hp radial engine demonstrates its power by a huge grumble! This was a great gift for an amazing show performance.

During Jurgis aviation studies he started to be interested in warbirds. This was an old dream fulfillment to try flying La-9 (Lavochkin).

La-9 Plane development
La-9 represents further development of the Lavochkin La-126 prototype. The first prototype, designated La-130 was finished in 1946. Similarity to the famous Lavochkin La-7 was only superficial – the new fighter had all-metal construction and a laminar flow wing. Weight savings due to elimination of wood from the airframe allowed for greatly improved fuel capacity and four-cannon armament. Mock combat demonstrated that La-130 was evenly matched with La-7 but was inferior to Yakovlev Yak-3 in both horizontal and vertical planes. The new fighter, officially designated La-9, entered production in August 1946. A total of 1,559 aircraft were built by the end of production in 1948.

Only one La-9 remains in airworthy condition today, ZK-LIX (pictured above at Warbirds Over Wanaka) in Wanaka, New Zealand, having been restored by Pioneer Aero Restoration and AVspecs between 2001 and '03. A handful of others remain in museums in China and Korea.
2010-04-07
2010-04-07 Wanaka Jurgis flies La-9 (Lavochkin 9)
© Jurgis Kairys,
Tel.: +370 699 25 325, Fax.: +370 52 73 73 41, E-mail: kairys@zebra.lt