First Flight of the La-5
On March 21st, 1942 the La-5, a Soviet fighter aircraft designed by Semyon Lavochkin, made its maiden flight. It was an evolution of LaGG-3 that replaced an inline engine with the stronger and more widely available Shvetsov ASh-82 radial engine; that allowed the USSR to quickly produce a huge number of new fighters. In the skies La-5 was a strong competitor to the German Bf 109, and its modifications were used until the end of the War.
To commemorate this day, from March 21st (14:00 GMT) until March 24th (12:00 GMT) La-5FN from the German research tree will be available for purchase for Golden Eagles.