The history of the creation of La-5 is dramatic and paradoxical. This is the story of the miraculous transformation of a frankly unsuccessful machine, nicknamed by the pilots “the varnished guaranteed coffin,” into one of the best fighters of the Second World War. The installation of a new powerful engine on the overweight and clumsy LaGG-3 literally transformed this heavy, slow-moving aircraft into the magnificent La-5, fast, torquey, maneuverable, and in no way inferior to the best Luftwaffe fighters. And the modernized La-5FN not only caught up, but also surpassed the latest modifications of the Fokkers and Messers, providing our aviation with air supremacy. It was on the Lavochkins that two of the five best Soviet aces fought - the unsurpassed Ivan Kozhedub, whose combat record 63 victories, and Kirill Evstigneev, who shot down 56 enemy aircraft. The Soviet government highly appreciated the work of the creators of the famous fighter. In 1943, Chief Designer S.A. Lavochkin was awarded the high title of Hero of Socialist Labor.