Lavochkin La-11

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La-11
A La-11 mounted on a memorial in Zaporizhia, Ukraine.
General information
Type	Fighter
National origin	Soviet Union
Manufacturer	Lavochkin
Primary users	Soviet Air Force People's Liberation Army Air Force
Number built	1,232
History
Manufactured	1947-1951
Introduction date	April 1950
First flight	May 1947
Retired	1966 (PLAAF)
Developed from	Lavochkin La-130

The Lavochkin La-11 (NATO reporting name Fang) was an early post-World War II Soviet long-range piston-engined fighter aircraft. The design was essentially that of a Lavochkin La-9 with additional fuel tanks and the deletion of one of the four 23 mm Nudelman-Suranov NS-23 cannons. Like the La-9, the La-11 was designed to be a low to medium-altitude general-purpose fighter, although the additional fuel tanks were added with the intent of employing the La-11 in the escort fighter role.

In reality, the La-11 would go on to serve almost exclusively as an interceptor, with the majority of its engagements during the Korean War seeing it pitted against bomber and transport aircraft. While an improvement over earlier aircraft, the La-9 and La-11 retained the poor high-altitude performance that was common among many Soviet piston-engined airframes, with the La-11 enjoying only a 20 km/h (12 mph) advantage over the Boeing B-29 Superfortress at the latter’s cruising altitude. This relatively poor high-altitude performance combined with the arrival of the jet engine led swiftly to the La-11s (and La-9s) in most frontline Soviet Air Force (VVS) units being replaced with early Soviet jets such as the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15. While quickly ousted from service with the VVS, the La-9 and 11 would both see service well into the 1950s and 1960s with the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force and the North Korean People’s Army Air and Anti-Air Force, with the last La-11s being retired from the former in 1966.