La-152 took to the air for the first time on December 5th, 1946. The design netted itself a maximum speed of 520 miles per hour during its time aloft but was eventually lost in a crash on its eighth flight when attempting to land.
For the program, four total aircraft emerged as the La-152, La-154, La-156 and La-174TK which, save for slight engine differences, were largely faithful to one another in terms of design. The Lyulka TR-1 engine (2,800 pounds thrust) planned for La-154 was never fitted and the prototype never finished while La-156 graduated from an RD-10 to an RD-10F engine which included an afterburning capability. First flight of La-156 came during September of 1947 and this model managed a top speed of 562 miles per hour. The prototype also added lengthened wings, an ejection seat, a new canopy design and cockpit armoring to symbolize a truer fighter form. Maximum speed achieved was 562 miles per hour. This prototype was trialed by the Soviet Air Force but too many required changes doomed it in 1948 from being adopted for serious use.
La-174TK was largely an experimental version of the La-156 when it appeared in 1947. A thinner wing mainplane was fitted and the British Rolls-Royce Derwent V turbojet of 3,500 pounds thrust output was installed. The shift in engine forced the nose cannon armament to be relocated to the ventral section of the nose and the revised design managed a maximum speed of 600 miles per hour.
Like the others in the series, La-174 fell to naught as any further work on the program was halted due to the rise (and promised performance gains) of swept-wing jet fighters being worked on. Straight-winged jets held both performance and technological ceilings that could be largely overcome through swept wing surfaces and this work led to the classic designs of the period such as the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 and the North American F-86 Sabre of Korean War (1950-1953) fame.
La-152 was recognized by the USAF as "Type 4". This line of aircraft went on to influence the upcoming La-160 project which evolved the product line even further - this form becoming the "Type 6" in USAF nomenclature.
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