Difference between revisions of "La-15"

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(Added basic information and tables.)
(Added more expert tactics from my experience and mastery of the plane, deleted all the older tactics that don't work and replaced them with better ones.)
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The '''La-15''' is a Rank V Soviet jet fighter with a battle rating 8.0. It was introduced in Update 1.39.  
 
The '''La-15''' is a Rank V Soviet jet fighter with a battle rating 8.0. It was introduced in Update 1.39.  
  
Due to it being one of the fastest jets at its battle rating, the La-15 should apply boom and zoom tactics. Gain altitude (and thus energy), and use this energy to execute hit-and-runs on opposing aircraft. Your powerful 23 mm NR-23 cannons will help you kill targets in minimal time. Though it is not the worst jet at turning, it suffers from the issue of having incredibly weak wings, and they will likely snap if you attempt to turn fight other jets at high speed. However, if it needs to turn, it can hold its energy for an extended period of time and come out of a turn at a higher speed than most opponents.  
+
The La-15 is a special jet, it lies somewhere in the middle of the 8.0 jets due to it's wings being incredibly weak for the engine it possesses, and is possibly one of the only planes that can break it's wings clean off in level flight. However, due to the battle rating and the speeds that jet combat is usually fought at, you shouldn't need to rely on your top speed: The La-15 can be classed as an underestimated jet, relying on it's performance at slow speeds (700 kph - 300 kph) to win battles of maneuverability.  
 
== General info ==
 
== General info ==
 
=== Flight Performance ===
 
=== Flight Performance ===
 
<!--''Describe how the aircraft behaves in the air. Maximum speed, maneuverability, speed and allowable loads - these are the most important characteristics of the vehicle.''-->
 
<!--''Describe how the aircraft behaves in the air. Maximum speed, maneuverability, speed and allowable loads - these are the most important characteristics of the vehicle.''-->
 +
 
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
 
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
 
|-
 
|-
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=== Survivability and armour ===
 
=== Survivability and armour ===
 
<!--''Examine the survivability of the aircraft. Note how vulnerable the structure is and how secure the pilot is, whether the fuel tanks are armoured. Describe the armour, if there is any, also mention the vulnerability of other critical aircraft systems.''-->
 
<!--''Examine the survivability of the aircraft. Note how vulnerable the structure is and how secure the pilot is, whether the fuel tanks are armoured. Describe the armour, if there is any, also mention the vulnerability of other critical aircraft systems.''-->
 +
 
* 105 mm Bulletproof glass in cockpit front
 
* 105 mm Bulletproof glass in cockpit front
 
* 8 mm Steel plate behind the pilot
 
* 8 mm Steel plate behind the pilot
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== Usage in the battles ==
 
== Usage in the battles ==
 
<!--''Describe the tactics of playing in an aircraft, the features of using vehicles in a team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view but give the reader food for thought. Examine the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).''-->
 
<!--''Describe the tactics of playing in an aircraft, the features of using vehicles in a team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view but give the reader food for thought. Examine the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).''-->
The La-15 is the second fastest jet at 8.0, with a top speed of 1,022 KPH achieved at 3000 meters using SPD/TAS. This aircraft has good energy retention, maneuverability and decent armament. When down-tiered, rushing is a very good tactic on Korea as no Allied fighter matches your high top speed. Take off from the very back then rush to the enemy airfield. This is a viable tactic because your aircraft is faster than all of them, potentially catching the enemy off-guard for easy kills. It is also possible to cause chaos throughout the enemy team - since all of them would be slow due to climbing, a fast-rushing enemy aircraft would cause them to scatter around and have little space to accelerate.  
+
The La-15 should be used in as an American Fighter when not in engagements (Straight Lines, Absolute minimal turning to retain speed) And as a "Jet Turnfighter" when in engagements.
  
When up-tiered to facing top tier jets, it is best to normally take off from the runway (not to takeoff from the back) and side climb to 3000 meters or so. Do not chase after top tier jets unless you find one without energy and you could take advantage of it otherwise your best bet is to go after 8.0 jets. The La-15's roll rate is good, making it a good aircraft at defensive flying in the right hands. At first, the guns are difficult to lead due to their placement under the fuselage - so if you think you're leading enough, lead a lot more. Despite having good maneuverability, this aircraft should be used as a Boom-And-Zoomer as it's not the best at turn fighting against everything.
+
There are the DON'Ts of the La-15...
 +
 
 +
# DON'T Climb at the beginning of the match, use the beginning of the match to fly straight forward to the enemy, as low to the ground you can get.
 +
# DON'T Keep yourself on 100% throttle and never use the special 112% power that the La-15's engine gives you, the WEP, as one could call it, lasts for a long time, and when overheating, just simply turn it off for about 15 - 60 seconds, after which it can be turned on again
 +
# DON'T Headon Attack or turn after one, Your guns are hard to aim in the heat of a headon and it would be advised to break when closing in on a headon, allowing your enemy to miss his attack and keeping your speed and plane in one piece, your plane is bad at turning at higher speeds.
 +
# DON'T Get into an situation where you must fly at high speeds defensively, when an enemy shows up on your tail, if you have superior speed, outrun him, if he has superior speed, slow down to a point in which higher G turns don't G-lock you, and where you can take full advantage of an enemy fighter's higher speed to get behind them, and while they waste energy turning to get you, avoid their attacks and turn on flaps when you're slow enough.
 +
 
 +
However, DO the following.
 +
 
 +
# DO Go straight at the begging of the match, the La-15 still can reach a high enough speed where it can outrun planes that turn to get behind you
 +
# DO Bring 20 minutes of fuel at minimum, you'll have enough fuel to last you a usual jet battle's time with WEP on, and you won't catch on fire.
 +
# DO Keep going straight after you break from a head on attack or overshoot, you can win the acceleration battle with almost any American jet you face.
 +
# DO Slow down when an enemy plane that's faster than you is behind you, most enemy planes will try to keep their speed, which puts you in a situation to pull hard turns without G-locking, if you're fast, do some light horizontal turns, but don't turn into the vertical, most american fighters will beat you at energy retention at higher speeds, but have no acceleration when they stall, leading you to always be in front of their guns, if possible, keep rolling and spiraling, using your w a s d keys to dodge attacks, and then come out as the slower but still maneuverable plane when they try to dogfight you
  
 
====Specific enemies worth noting====
 
====Specific enemies worth noting====
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<!--What to expect, if it would be in command of the enemy and how to counter it. (i.e. They will most likely BnZ, etc.)-->
 
<!--What to expect, if it would be in command of the enemy and how to counter it. (i.e. They will most likely BnZ, etc.)-->
 
The La-15 has, at best, a speed limit of 1000 km/h. Be aware of this and, if possible, try to out dive or out run the La-15, as it can break it's wings easily in a dive and in level flight. It's airbrake is ineffective in a hard dive unless the engine is turned off, so turn on an afterburner and keep it on until you have gotten into level flight.
 
The La-15 has, at best, a speed limit of 1000 km/h. Be aware of this and, if possible, try to out dive or out run the La-15, as it can break it's wings easily in a dive and in level flight. It's airbrake is ineffective in a hard dive unless the engine is turned off, so turn on an afterburner and keep it on until you have gotten into level flight.
If you are slower than the La-15, '''Do not try to climb or use an airbrake''', the La-15 has very good energy retention in a climb and it's airbrake is more effective at level flight, so refrain from these types of defensive flying.
+
If you are slower than the La-15, '''Do not try to climb, break, or use an airbrake''', the La-15 has very good energy retention in a climb and it's airbrake very effective at level flight, so refrain from these types of defensive flying.
  
 
===Modules===
 
===Modules===
 
{| class="wikitable"
 
{| class="wikitable"
!colspan = "1"| Tier
+
! colspan="1" | Tier
!colspan = "2"| Flight performance
+
! colspan="2" | Flight performance
!colspan = "1"| Survivability
+
! colspan="1" | Survivability
!colspan = "1"| Weaponry
+
! colspan="1" | Weaponry
 
|-
 
|-
 
| I
 
| I
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'''Pros:'''
 
'''Pros:'''
 +
 
* Cannons have decent rate of fire and punch.
 
* Cannons have decent rate of fire and punch.
 
* Good energy retention.
 
* Good energy retention.
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'''Cons:'''
 
'''Cons:'''
 +
 
* Low top speed for a swept wing jet.
 
* Low top speed for a swept wing jet.
 
* Can rip its wings off in level flight (speed warning at approximately 945 kph/587 mph, wings rip at 955 kph/593 mph).  
 
* Can rip its wings off in level flight (speed warning at approximately 945 kph/587 mph, wings rip at 955 kph/593 mph).  
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== Read also ==
 
== Read also ==
 
''Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example,''
 
''Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example,''
 +
 
* ''reference to the series of the aircraft;''
 
* ''reference to the series of the aircraft;''
 
* ''links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.''
 
* ''links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.''
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== Sources ==
 
== Sources ==
 
''Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:''
 
''Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:''
 +
 
* ''topic on the official game forum;''
 
* ''topic on the official game forum;''
 
* ''page on aircraft encyclopedia;''
 
* ''page on aircraft encyclopedia;''

Revision as of 15:33, 5 February 2019

La-15
la-15.png
La-15
AB RB SB
8.0 8.0 8.0
Research:61 000 Specs-Card-Exp.png
Purchase:340 000 Specs-Card-Lion.png
Show in game

Description

GarageImage La-15.jpg


The La-15 is a Rank V Soviet jet fighter with a battle rating 8.0. It was introduced in Update 1.39.

The La-15 is a special jet, it lies somewhere in the middle of the 8.0 jets due to it's wings being incredibly weak for the engine it possesses, and is possibly one of the only planes that can break it's wings clean off in level flight. However, due to the battle rating and the speeds that jet combat is usually fought at, you shouldn't need to rely on your top speed: The La-15 can be classed as an underestimated jet, relying on it's performance at slow speeds (700 kph - 300 kph) to win battles of maneuverability.

General info

Flight Performance

Characteristics
Stock
Max Speed
(km/h at 3,000 m)
Max altitude
(meters)
Turn time
(seconds)
Rate of climb
(meters/second)
Take-off run
(meters)
AB RB AB RB AB RB
999 971 13,500 24.0 25.2 25.6 23.9 650
Upgraded
Max Speed
(km/h at 3,000 m)
Max altitude (meters) Turn time (seconds) Rate of climb
(meters/second)
Take-off run (meters)
AB RB AB RB AB RB
1,037 1,022 13,500 23.2 23.5 38.4 31.7 650

Details

Features
Combat flap Take-off flap Landing flap Air brakes Arrestor gear
X X
Limits
Wing-break speed
(km/h)
Gear limit
(km/h)
Combat flap
(km/h)
Max Static G
+ -
945 450 520 ~25 ~12
Optimal velocities
Ailerons
(km/h)
Rudder
(km/h)
Elevators
(km/h)
Radiator
(km/h)
< 640 < 535 < 630 > 140
Compressor (RB/SB)
Setting 1
Optimal altitude 100% Engine power WEP Engine power
 ?,??? m  ??? hp  ?,??? hp

Survivability and armour

  • 105 mm Bulletproof glass in cockpit front
  • 8 mm Steel plate behind the pilot
  • 6 mm Steel plate in the nose

Armaments

Offensive armament

Main article: NR-23 (23 mm)

The La-15 is armed with:

  • 3 x 23 mm NR-23 cannon, chin-mounted (100 rpg = 300 total)

Usage in the battles

The La-15 should be used in as an American Fighter when not in engagements (Straight Lines, Absolute minimal turning to retain speed) And as a "Jet Turnfighter" when in engagements.

There are the DON'Ts of the La-15...

  1. DON'T Climb at the beginning of the match, use the beginning of the match to fly straight forward to the enemy, as low to the ground you can get.
  2. DON'T Keep yourself on 100% throttle and never use the special 112% power that the La-15's engine gives you, the WEP, as one could call it, lasts for a long time, and when overheating, just simply turn it off for about 15 - 60 seconds, after which it can be turned on again
  3. DON'T Headon Attack or turn after one, Your guns are hard to aim in the heat of a headon and it would be advised to break when closing in on a headon, allowing your enemy to miss his attack and keeping your speed and plane in one piece, your plane is bad at turning at higher speeds.
  4. DON'T Get into an situation where you must fly at high speeds defensively, when an enemy shows up on your tail, if you have superior speed, outrun him, if he has superior speed, slow down to a point in which higher G turns don't G-lock you, and where you can take full advantage of an enemy fighter's higher speed to get behind them, and while they waste energy turning to get you, avoid their attacks and turn on flaps when you're slow enough.

However, DO the following.

  1. DO Go straight at the begging of the match, the La-15 still can reach a high enough speed where it can outrun planes that turn to get behind you
  2. DO Bring 20 minutes of fuel at minimum, you'll have enough fuel to last you a usual jet battle's time with WEP on, and you won't catch on fire.
  3. DO Keep going straight after you break from a head on attack or overshoot, you can win the acceleration battle with almost any American jet you face.
  4. DO Slow down when an enemy plane that's faster than you is behind you, most enemy planes will try to keep their speed, which puts you in a situation to pull hard turns without G-locking, if you're fast, do some light horizontal turns, but don't turn into the vertical, most american fighters will beat you at energy retention at higher speeds, but have no acceleration when they stall, leading you to always be in front of their guns, if possible, keep rolling and spiraling, using your w a s d keys to dodge attacks, and then come out as the slower but still maneuverable plane when they try to dogfight you

Specific enemies worth noting

F-86 Sabre/CL-13A Sabre:

The F-86 Sabre is the one of the main rivals of the La-15 if up-teired and facing allied teams. The Sabre can easily out maneuver, out run, and out climb the La-15. The best way to counter the Sabre is to attack it when it is at its most vulnerable position (low on energy, or damaged) or force it into a low speed maneuvering fight. Do not try to engage a F-86/CL-13A Sabre in any high speed maneuvers or any high speed dog fighting in general as the Sabre will come out on top. In any low speed manoeuvers, the Sabre will lose to the La-15 in any manoeuvering engagements.

Meteor:

The Meteor is another main rival of the La-15 as the La-15 can meet the Meteor at any time from being down-teired to up-tiered. While the La-15 can out run and out climb early variants of the Meteors, the later variants are far harder to out run and out climb as they can easily catch the La-15. The best way to deal with Meteors is to apply boom and zoom tactics, but do remember a skilled Meteor pilot will have no issue avoiding a La-15 that is attacking with boom and zoom tactics. Avoid any maneuvering fights with any variant of the Meteor as they will out maneuver you with no issues at all.

Counter-tactics

The La-15 has, at best, a speed limit of 1000 km/h. Be aware of this and, if possible, try to out dive or out run the La-15, as it can break it's wings easily in a dive and in level flight. It's airbrake is ineffective in a hard dive unless the engine is turned off, so turn on an afterburner and keep it on until you have gotten into level flight. If you are slower than the La-15, Do not try to climb, break, or use an airbrake, the La-15 has very good energy retention in a climb and it's airbrake very effective at level flight, so refrain from these types of defensive flying.

Modules

Tier Flight performance Survivability Weaponry
I Fuselage Repair Compressor Offensive 23 mm
II New Boosters Airframe
III Wings Repair New 23 mm Cannons
IV Engine Cover

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Cannons have decent rate of fire and punch.
  • Good energy retention.
  • Decent acceleration.
  • Cockpit visibility is above average.
  • Decent maneuverability around 500-700 kph/310-435 mph.
  • Good roll rate.
  • good top speed for its rank

Cons:

  • Low top speed for a swept wing jet.
  • Can rip its wings off in level flight (speed warning at approximately 945 kph/587 mph, wings rip at 955 kph/593 mph).
  • Ineffective airbrake.
  • Guns have poor accuracy and very low muzzle velocity. Hitting a target can be difficult.
  • Ammunition is limited, restricted to firing short accurate bursts from close range.
  • Doesn’t take battle damage very well especially to the wings of the aircraft.

History

Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the aircraft in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too big, take it to a separate article, taking a link to an article about the vehicle and adding a block "/ historical reference" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/Name-vehicles/historical reference) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to include links to sources at the end of the article.

Media

An excellent addition to the article will be video guides, as well as screenshots from the game and photos.

Read also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example,

  • reference to the series of the aircraft;
  • links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

Sources

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

  • topic on the official game forum;
  • page on aircraft encyclopedia;
  • other literature.


USSR jet aircraft
Bereznyak-Isayev  BI
Yakovlev  Yak-15 · Yak-15P · Yak-17 · Yak-23 · Yak-28B · Yak-30D · Yak-38 · Yak-38M · Yak-141
Mikoyan-Gurevich  MiG-9 · MiG-9 (l) · MiG-15 · MiG-15bis · MiG-15bis ISh · MiG-17 · MiG-17AS · MiG-19PT
  MiG-21F-13 · MiG-21PFM · MiG-21S (R-13-300) · MiG-21SMT · MiG-21bis
  MiG-23M · MiG-23ML · MiG-23MLD · MiG-27M · MiG-27K
  MiG-29 · MiG-29SMT
Lavochkin  La-174 · La-15 · La-200
Sukhoi  Su-9 · Su-11
  Su-7B · Su-7BKL · Su-7BMK · Su-17M2 · Su-17M4 · Su-22M3
  Su-24M
  Su-25 · Su-25BM · Su-25K · Su-25T · Su-25SM3 · Su-39
  Su-27 · Su-27SM
  Su-34
Ilyushin  IL-28 · IL-28Sh
Tupolev  Tu-14T