Ricky
31st May 2006, 01:15
The Gudkov Gu-82 was an attempt by Mikhail Ivanovich Gudkov (the second ‘G’ in LaGG - Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov) to improve the LaGG-3 by replacing the Klimov M-105P, 1050hp inline engine with the Shvetsov M-82 1,450 hp air-cooled radial.
http://www.pioneeraero.co.nz/lav%202.jpg
S. A. Lavochkin,
http://www.pioneeraero.co.nz/gudkov%202.jpg
Mikhail Ivanovich Gudkov
http://www.pioneeraero.co.nz/gorb%202.jpg
V. P. Gorbunov
The LaGG-3 itself was a lightened and up-engined LaGG-1, a plane that suffered from being chronically underpowered, but apparently the alterations were not sufficient, and more power was needed - the LaGG-3 was apparently having problems during take-off.
http://www.pioneeraero.co.nz/RUSlavochin%202%201.jpg
LaGG-3
Gudkov was the first of the three designers to address this problem (as he had been the first to update the armament of the LaGG-3).
It is often said that he used the cowling from an Su-2 bomber aircraft, but this is not confirmed.
The installation was as follows:
The cowling consisted of 4 parts, connected by ramrods, On the cowling were front folding louvers. Cowling skirts were used to regulate the flow of air to the engine. The Carburetor intake was mounted at the top of the cowling, and had a rectangular cross section. Oil tanks were kept in the same location as on the LaGG-3, but the oil radiator was moved to the position of the now unnecsseary water radiator, and its intake was regulated by a throttle plate.
Armament was two synchronous BS machine guns and two synchronous ShcKas - Shpital'nyy-Komarnitskiy 7.62 mm rapid-fire aircraft machine guns.
On the second copy it was planned to upgrade the armament by replacing the BS machine guns with SHVAK guns, and the ShcKas with SHPITAL'NYY-KOMARNITSKIY 7.62 mm rapid-fire aircraft machine guns.
http://www.airwar.ru/image/idop/fww2/gu82/gu82-1.jpg
Gu-82
On 25 August 1941 the prototype was ready for its flight tests, and on 11th September 1941 it received the officil designation Gu-82. During the flight tests it showed a top speed of 573 kmh, which was no better than the LaGG-3, although its range was considerably higher. 12 test flights were carried out by 24 September, by test pilot A.I. Nikashin.
On 11th September, Gudkov reported to Stalin that the Gu-82 had a maximum speed of 580km/h at 6,400m, and could climb to 5,000m in 7-7.5 minutes, giving it a 25km/h speed advantage and cutting 1 – 1.5 minutes off the climb time compared to the LaGG-3. He also noted that ‘stock’ LaGG-3 planes manufactured at the Gorky plant were so badly made that they were 45-55km/h slower than the LaGG-3 prototype – this would mean that the Gu-82 could, in theory, reach a speed of 615-620km/h, if the production problems were ironed out. He further promised that he could further develop the Gu-82 to reach speeds of 600km/h, regardless of manufacturing defects.
He also waxed lyrical about the increased survivability afforded by using an air-cooled engine, as opposed to a water-cooled engine, but all this was just smoothing the way for his big proposal - asking that production of the LaGG-3 be turned over immediately to the Gu-82, rather than wait for the Gu-82 to complete its full course of testing.
No response was forthcoming, and it seems that Gudkov managed to get involved in a row with Lavochkin, which was unwise as Lavochkin had many friends in influential places. It seems that the dispute had to do with the Gu-82, or rather with the successor aircraft to the LaGG-3, as the row was partially solved in January 1942, when it was propsed to Stalin that a small number of Gu-82 be produced for combat tests.
It is unclear whether any extra models were built, but the tests do seem to have gone ahead in March 1942 (after bing frustrated several times by officialdom), and the performance of the GU-82 seems to have been found to be better than the figures indicated in the 1941 tests – top speed was recorded as 27km/h higher, for example.
http://www.airwar.ru/image/idop/fww2/gu82/gu82-2.jpg
Gu-82 after the alterations – not sure what the alterations were or when /why they were made, but it looks as though it is just the deletion of the guns in the nose, and the addition of a bulge there...
However, the GU-82 now had a rival, a plane designed by Lavochkin that was also made by mating the LaGG-3 with the M-82 engine, but with a different engine cowling. This plane apparently had better performance than the GU-82 and went on to become the LaGG-5. The GU-82 sank into obsurity.
Gudkov’s fate was not too different from that of his plane. He disappeared.
He had not only got himself into Lavochkin’s bad books, and designed an inferior successor to the LaGG-3, but he had also designed the GU-1 (also called the GU-37), a single-seat fighter similar to the P-39, with the engine behind the pilot. On its first flight this plane crashed, killing the test pilot A.I. Nikashin – the same pilot who had tested the GU-82. After July 1943 he is seldom heard of, and is recorded as having ‘finished’ his work as an aircraft designer by 1944 (along with Gorbunov). It is highly probable that as far as Stalin was concerned Gudkov had had too many failures, and he was quietly removed.
Gudkov GU-82.
Span: 9.80 m
Length: 8.71 m
Height: 2.54 m
Wing Area: 17.5 sq. m
Engine: Shvetsov M-82 of 1,450 hp.
Range: 1.8hrs – 680km
Weight:
empty 2,700kg
takeoff 3,000kg
Maximum speed: 580km/h
Maximum rate of climb: 878 m per minute
The service ceiling: 9,600m
Crew: 1
Armament: two 20- mm of gun SHVAK, two 12.7- mm of machine gun BS
All pictures and information taken from:
http://www.csd.uwo.ca/~pettypi/elevon/gustin_military/db/sov/GU82GUDK.html
http://wp.scn.ru/forum/viewtopic.php?p=827&sid=c8207d81e1999b4fec2d87def26b64d3
http://www.airwar.ru/enc/fww2/gu82.html
http://www.tgplanes.com/Public/snitz/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=148&whichpage=3
(topic ‘The Weird and Wonderful’, posted by by James)
http://www.pioneeraero.co.nz/lagg-3_lavochkin.htm
http://www.pioneeraero.co.nz/lav%202.jpg
S. A. Lavochkin,
http://www.pioneeraero.co.nz/gudkov%202.jpg
Mikhail Ivanovich Gudkov
http://www.pioneeraero.co.nz/gorb%202.jpg
V. P. Gorbunov
The LaGG-3 itself was a lightened and up-engined LaGG-1, a plane that suffered from being chronically underpowered, but apparently the alterations were not sufficient, and more power was needed - the LaGG-3 was apparently having problems during take-off.
http://www.pioneeraero.co.nz/RUSlavochin%202%201.jpg
LaGG-3
Gudkov was the first of the three designers to address this problem (as he had been the first to update the armament of the LaGG-3).
It is often said that he used the cowling from an Su-2 bomber aircraft, but this is not confirmed.
The installation was as follows:
The cowling consisted of 4 parts, connected by ramrods, On the cowling were front folding louvers. Cowling skirts were used to regulate the flow of air to the engine. The Carburetor intake was mounted at the top of the cowling, and had a rectangular cross section. Oil tanks were kept in the same location as on the LaGG-3, but the oil radiator was moved to the position of the now unnecsseary water radiator, and its intake was regulated by a throttle plate.
Armament was two synchronous BS machine guns and two synchronous ShcKas - Shpital'nyy-Komarnitskiy 7.62 mm rapid-fire aircraft machine guns.
On the second copy it was planned to upgrade the armament by replacing the BS machine guns with SHVAK guns, and the ShcKas with SHPITAL'NYY-KOMARNITSKIY 7.62 mm rapid-fire aircraft machine guns.
http://www.airwar.ru/image/idop/fww2/gu82/gu82-1.jpg
Gu-82
On 25 August 1941 the prototype was ready for its flight tests, and on 11th September 1941 it received the officil designation Gu-82. During the flight tests it showed a top speed of 573 kmh, which was no better than the LaGG-3, although its range was considerably higher. 12 test flights were carried out by 24 September, by test pilot A.I. Nikashin.
On 11th September, Gudkov reported to Stalin that the Gu-82 had a maximum speed of 580km/h at 6,400m, and could climb to 5,000m in 7-7.5 minutes, giving it a 25km/h speed advantage and cutting 1 – 1.5 minutes off the climb time compared to the LaGG-3. He also noted that ‘stock’ LaGG-3 planes manufactured at the Gorky plant were so badly made that they were 45-55km/h slower than the LaGG-3 prototype – this would mean that the Gu-82 could, in theory, reach a speed of 615-620km/h, if the production problems were ironed out. He further promised that he could further develop the Gu-82 to reach speeds of 600km/h, regardless of manufacturing defects.
He also waxed lyrical about the increased survivability afforded by using an air-cooled engine, as opposed to a water-cooled engine, but all this was just smoothing the way for his big proposal - asking that production of the LaGG-3 be turned over immediately to the Gu-82, rather than wait for the Gu-82 to complete its full course of testing.
No response was forthcoming, and it seems that Gudkov managed to get involved in a row with Lavochkin, which was unwise as Lavochkin had many friends in influential places. It seems that the dispute had to do with the Gu-82, or rather with the successor aircraft to the LaGG-3, as the row was partially solved in January 1942, when it was propsed to Stalin that a small number of Gu-82 be produced for combat tests.
It is unclear whether any extra models were built, but the tests do seem to have gone ahead in March 1942 (after bing frustrated several times by officialdom), and the performance of the GU-82 seems to have been found to be better than the figures indicated in the 1941 tests – top speed was recorded as 27km/h higher, for example.
http://www.airwar.ru/image/idop/fww2/gu82/gu82-2.jpg
Gu-82 after the alterations – not sure what the alterations were or when /why they were made, but it looks as though it is just the deletion of the guns in the nose, and the addition of a bulge there...
However, the GU-82 now had a rival, a plane designed by Lavochkin that was also made by mating the LaGG-3 with the M-82 engine, but with a different engine cowling. This plane apparently had better performance than the GU-82 and went on to become the LaGG-5. The GU-82 sank into obsurity.
Gudkov’s fate was not too different from that of his plane. He disappeared.
He had not only got himself into Lavochkin’s bad books, and designed an inferior successor to the LaGG-3, but he had also designed the GU-1 (also called the GU-37), a single-seat fighter similar to the P-39, with the engine behind the pilot. On its first flight this plane crashed, killing the test pilot A.I. Nikashin – the same pilot who had tested the GU-82. After July 1943 he is seldom heard of, and is recorded as having ‘finished’ his work as an aircraft designer by 1944 (along with Gorbunov). It is highly probable that as far as Stalin was concerned Gudkov had had too many failures, and he was quietly removed.
Gudkov GU-82.
Span: 9.80 m
Length: 8.71 m
Height: 2.54 m
Wing Area: 17.5 sq. m
Engine: Shvetsov M-82 of 1,450 hp.
Range: 1.8hrs – 680km
Weight:
empty 2,700kg
takeoff 3,000kg
Maximum speed: 580km/h
Maximum rate of climb: 878 m per minute
The service ceiling: 9,600m
Crew: 1
Armament: two 20- mm of gun SHVAK, two 12.7- mm of machine gun BS
All pictures and information taken from:
http://www.csd.uwo.ca/~pettypi/elevon/gustin_military/db/sov/GU82GUDK.html
http://wp.scn.ru/forum/viewtopic.php?p=827&sid=c8207d81e1999b4fec2d87def26b64d3
http://www.airwar.ru/enc/fww2/gu82.html
http://www.tgplanes.com/Public/snitz/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=148&whichpage=3
(topic ‘The Weird and Wonderful’, posted by by James)
http://www.pioneeraero.co.nz/lagg-3_lavochkin.htm