LEE MANAGED TO BUY THIS LOVELY BIRD OFF EBAY VERY LUCKY AS THE YT INTERNATIONAL / ESM COMPANY NO LONGER PRODUCE / SELL THESE AIRCRAFT HERE IN THE UK, SO THERES NOT MANY OF THEM AROUND !

LEE TEST FLEW HER IN THE MORNING THEN HAD A SECOND FLIGHT AFTER MINOR
ADJUSTMENTS BUT WAS HAVING TROUBLE SLOWING HER DOWN WITH NO HEADWIND,

AFTER LOOKING AT THE FLAPS WE NOTICED THE BUILDER HAD USED VERY SHORT HORNS (PROBABLY THE AILERON HORNS) AND THE SERVOS WERE NOT GETTING ENOUGH TRAVEL AND COULD NOT HOLD THE FLAPS DOWN AGAINST THE AIRFLOW SORT THAT OUT ANOTHER TIME,

THIS WAS HER THIRD FLIGHT AND DEANO CHECKED HER OUT WITH SLOW FLYING AND A STALL TEST NO PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED THERE,
NO TIP STALLING ENCOUNTERED ON LANDINGS EITHER SO LONG AS YOU KEEP A STEADY AIRSPEED UP ON APPROACH,

MOST OF THIS FLIGHT WAS DONE ON HALF POWER EXCEPT AEROBATICS FULL POWER ON VERTICAL MANOUVRES ONLY PEEPS !

The Lavochkin La7 was a pistonengined singleseat Soviet fighter aircraft developed during World War II by the Lavochkin Design Bureau. It was a development and refinement of the Lavochkin La5, and the last in a family of aircraft that had begun with the LaGG1 in 1938.

Top speed: 661 km/h
Weight: 2,638 kg
Cruise speed: 450 km/h
Range: 635 km
Engine type: Shvetsov ASh82
Designer: Semyon Lavochkin

Its first flight was in early 1944 and it entered service with the Soviet Air Forces later in the year. A small batch of La7s was given to the Czechoslovak Air Force the following year, but it was otherwise not exported. Armed with two or three 20 mm (0.8 in) cannon, it had a top speed of 661 kilometers per hour (411 mph). The La7 was felt by its pilots to be at least the equal of any German pistonengined fighter. It was phased out in 1947 by the Soviet Air Force, but served until 1950 with the Czechoslovak Air Force.

The 63rd Guard Fighter Aviation Corps began combat trials of the La7 in midSeptember 1944 in support of the 1st Baltic Front. Thirty aircraft were provided for the trials, which lasted one month. During this time the new fighters made 462 individual sorties and claimed 55 aerial victories while losing four aircraft in combat. Four other La7s were lost to noncombat causes, mostly related to engine problems. A total of three pilots were killed during the trials to all causes.

One regimental commander, Colonel Ye. Gorbatyuk, a Hero of the Soviet Union, commented: "The La7 exhibited unquestionable advantages over German aircraft in multiple air combats. In addition to fighter tasks, photo reconnaissance and bombing were undertaken with success. The aircraft surpasses the La5FN in speed, manoeuvrability, and, especially, in the landing characteristics. It requires changes in its armament, and urgent fixing of its engine." The twin ShVAK armament inherited from the La5 was no longer powerful enough to bring down later, more heavily armored German fighters, especially the FockeWulf Fw 190, in a single burst, even when Soviet pilots opened fire at ranges of only 50–100 meters (160–330 ft).

The 156th Fighter Air Corps of the 4th Air Army was the next unit to receive the La7 in October 1944. At one point during the month, they had fourteen aircraft simultaneously unserviceable with engine failures. By 1 January 1945 there were 398 La7s in frontline service of which 107 were unserviceable. By 9 May 1945 this had increased to 967 aircraft, of which only 169 were unserviceable. For the invasion of Japanese Manchuria, 313 La7s were assigned and only 28 of these were unserviceable on 9 August 1945.

The La7 was flown by the top Soviet ace of the war, Ivan Nikitovich Kozhedub. Kozhedub, nicknamed "Ivan the Terrible", a threetime Hero of Soviet Union, scored his last 17 air victories in 1945 in the La7 numbered 27, which is now preserved in the Central Air Force Museum at Monino on the outskirts of Moscow.

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