mselby

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I just started building a Don Smith Lavochkin LA-7. I would like to know if anyone else has built one, and what engine they used?
Any other helpful comments would be appreciated.
Thanks
Mike

Pyolet

Here's my LA-7 done up in Ivan Kozhedub's livery. I got the kit from Larry Katona at Precision Cut Kits...very complete wood package per plans with only a few mis-fits from the plan. Got the cowl and canopy from Don. Power is a SuperTigre 4500 converted to gas/spark and Air Hobbies muffler mount exhausting out the sides. 22X6/12 prop. Gear and wheels from Century Jets. Only mods to Don's plans were addition of CF tape to top and bottom of spars prior to sheeting and some kevlar mat to the wheel wells to strenghen that area a bit. Flies great and plenty of power/speed. ST mill a bit difficult to set up...on hind sight should've gone with a Sachs 3.2 to minimize headaches. Best of luck with your project. W.H.

Chad Veich

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Nice bird Pyolet. I've got the plans but have not built the airplane as I'm a bit leery of the Century Jet gear. How are yours holding up?

F4u5

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Very nice!

Oryx

Beautiful bird, Pyolet. That is Major Ivan Khozedub's La-7 now standing in the Monino museum - top-scoring allied ace with 62 victories! The La-5 and La-7 are some of my favorite warbirds. Actually, I think Soviet warbirds are not modeled nearly often enough - I am hoping to possibly do a LaGG-3 after my current project (Bf-109E).

Excellent job!

Pyolet

Wow! Great interest in the Lavochkin series, eh?
Chad ...the Century Jet gear are very strong and therefore a little on the heavy side, but I haven't been disappointed. They work perfectly and are true to scale.
F4u5 ...Thanks for the complement.
Oryx ...Thanks too. The LA-7, in my humble, ex-USAF fighter pilot opinion, has the most incredible fighter profile and beautiful wing plan form of any fighter ever built. It's anyone's guess how the Soviets could have fared if this aircraft could have been flown by the best of the best, as it only appeared in combat in the waning years of the contest when the experience of the Soviet pilot ranks had been severely thinned.
The model is a definite crowd pleaser, and as Ivan K. could attest, the real thing was a very formidable foe, when flown by a competent pilot. I did several years of research before choosing Ivan's livery. He was, after all, the Allies' leading ace. I got many detail photos from Monino Museum shots and chose his winter paint scheme from Osprey Aircraft of the Aces - 15 Soviet Aces of World War 2 by Hugh Morgan, page 22. Great text, photos and plates if anyone is interested in modeling WW2 Soviet fighters. Aloha. WH.

Pyolet

Here's another shot of the LA-7 from the nose. Enjoy.

Pyolet

One more picture and then I promise to quit posting until someone emails me for more info.
This was just b4 applying decals. Is the Lavochkin oil cooler the sexiest on the planet or what?
Paint is latex house paint thinned with denatured alcohol and airbrushed on. Highly recommended as it's quick drying, quick clean up, and fuel proof.
Decals were later done on my PC with Adobe Photshop and printed with an inkjet printer on Papilio Aqua-slide paper...applied on top of white Monocote where required. What a dream if you can do the layout or download the images off the web. I'm sold.
Aloha, WH.

Chad Veich

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Thanks for the info Pyolet, fantastic airplane.

mselby

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Nice looking plane pyolet. I am about 60 percent done with framing mine. I also got the wood from Larry. The stab tips are cut wrong.
What weight did your plane come in at? Did you find it tail heavy?
Did you have to re-angle the main gear to match the three view?
What system did you use for the rudder hookup, and did you use Don's torque rod on the elevators? Hope I am not hitting you with too many questions.
Thanks
Mike

Pyolet

Mike,
Weight ended up around 18 pounds. CG dead on. I think the latex paint (one thin coat) kept the weight down alot. I used a pull-pull on the rudder and Century Jets tailwheel using kevlar cord from Sullivan. Single servo to a tiller bar. I did not use the torque rods on the elevators. Glued in birch into the LE of stabs and connected separate servos via carbon push rods to Robart horns. Very solid. I did use torque rods on the flaps and one giant servo. As planned those huge flaps don't come down all the way (30 degrees) until it slows below around 60 or so...no pitch trim change at all and it slows down great. BTW I covered the control surfaces with 20th Century fabric. Looks authentic. Hope this helps. Email me if you have any more questions. Cheers. WH.

Oryx

Yes, I just love the Osprey series on the aces. Not only for the good color plates and high-quality photo's, but the text is also very well written. I have the same one you have on Soviet aces - there are a lot of really nice color plates for different Soviet aircraft in there. The other books I have in the series are all of similar quality.

If you like East Front WWII aviation, there is of course La-5/7 Fighters in Action by Squadron/Signal, as well as LaGG fighters in action, Polikarpov Fighters in Action (two parts) and Yak fighters in action (out of print and a bit out dated in its info, although the pictures and plates are quite useful). I have all of these, but I prefer the Osprey books over the Squadron/Signal ones.

A truly excellent book on Soviet aircraft of WWII is "Soviet Combat Aircraft of the Second World War: Single Engined fighters" by Gordon and Khazanov. This book has very high quality photographs and also a nice selection of color profiles. But what makes it truly outstanding is the depth of research in the text. Some of the older data in Western sources are very inaccurate due to the cold war secrecy, but Gordon and Khazanov seem to have done their homework very well.

Then of course there are the Black Cross/Red Star series on the East Front. Very good research in there also.

Anyway, I certainly like these less-often-modelled warbirds, and there are some very attractive designs around such as your La-7.

So many prototypes to model, so little time

Best regards,
Bennie

4Stroker

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What a great looking model, Pyolet! I have this kit as well and had a little trouble finding documentation for it. I bought the Squadron Signals book and a little plastic kit, then ran across a NICE book by MBI from the Czech Republic. The text is half-Czech and half-English but it is full of photos and has 6-8 color plates of different aircraft. It also has several color photos of the cockpit, I assume from the one in Monino near Moscow. There is a B&W photo of #77 from another museum in Prague. I'll check on the Osprey book you mentioned, I have a couple of those and they are nice. Can't have too much documentation! I also have the Century gear, the tail gear is very scale but pricey. BTW, I got the MBI book at a local hobby shop that sells mainly plastic kits and train stuff; I think they get most of their material from Squadron which is located here. You might check their web site. Hope this helps some of you that are (or will be) building this cool model.

mselby

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thanks for the info pyolet, much appreciated.
Mike

PittsM12

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Pyolet, Very nice aircraft!! Good to see something a little different! I was just curious, How does the Don Smith LA-7 fly?

Nate

LA7flier

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See my gallery for my second LA-7 at the Scale Master Chammpionships in 2001. I flew this plane for about two years prior to the champions where it crashed due to radio failure. Both planes flew with 3W 48 twin gassers on a 20x10 prop. They both had functional leading edge slats and fully deployed flaps(65 degrees). The plane is not for beginning warbird pilots as it flies on the prop, not the wing. If it snaps on a stall and spins...it's toast. The landings were ...interesting and awesome......the plane is very, very "draggy" with the big cowl, flaps, slats and gear down. I would come in on final at about 20 feet at 1/2 throttle and at the end of the runway, chop power. Despite appearing to be way too fast to land, the plane would slow and settle to the most beautiful three-point landings. Straight takeoffs were, on the other hand...tough as the really big rudder made the short-coupled fuselage "fishtail" very easily with the slightest correction. Both of mine weighed about 24 pounds all up and did not require any nose weight....good luck. If you spoke to Don Smith about his prototype, he'll tell you he crashed it on a stall during takeoff.....I believe the functional slats are a must and really allowed me to fly this airplane without serious problems.....

LA7flier

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As you can tell...I love talking LA-7's.....maybe I can help with some of your questions as I have built and flown 2 Don Smith LA-7's......I learned from the first plane and made the second plane with a fixed tailwheel..many references where the soviet mechanics locked the tailwheel down and riveted the doors closed. They then put a leather boot around the shaft. This was to keep mud, snow and debris out of the elevator area. The steerable tailwheel on the first was a real pain as the rudder was so big that even slight corrections caused the plane to fishtail...not good in competition. The fixed tailwheel on the second solved the problem. I made both of mine with leading edge slats that were functional...when the gear was out the slats were open. Getting the stance of the main gear was the biggest challenge. Don did a pretty good job of nailing the outline but his gear location was off....they need to cant forward more than what his plans show...also, getting the gear door outline correct was a challenge. I used pull/pull cables for rudder and elevators and had seperate servos driving each flap and aileron. Slats were air operated...see my comments to another poster regarding fly the plane....

hgiles

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First manufacturer to make a good ARF of the LA7 is going to sell a lot of planes. This thing looks great!

LA7flier

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Check my gallery for my LA-7 flown at the 2001 Scalemasters. This was the 2nd Smith LA-7 I built. Both had 3W 48 twin gassers turning 20x10 Medjlik props. About 24 pounds each and I ran Platt gears with my own struts and custom wheels. First plane had a retractable tailwheel....second had a fixed tailwheel. Interesting flying plane with landings that were really nice and fun. My 2nd LA was done in the livery of Col. Sergie Dolgushin

mihaj

Hi There,

We are on our way to come up with 66" WS LaGG-3 kit. Please visit our thread: http://www.rcscalebuilder.com/forum/...?TID=1887&PN=1

Anyway, GREAT SUBJECT GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hopefully we'll see more replicas of Russian warbirds flying in this part of the world.

JimA

Hi guys,

It has been a long time since I posted here. I am gathering parts to start my first Giant Scale plane the Don Smith LA7. I am putting the G62 in it and have in hand the Robart retracts made for Dons plans and custom main wheels and tail wheel from Glennis Aircraft in CA. They came out great.

I also got the cowl and canopy from Don Smith and kit cut by Larry at Precision. I can't wait to get started. Any pictures of yours flying in the air Pyolet? I was thinking of the same color scheme or something similar. Any close up shots of the museum birds?

Thanks,
Jim