Lavochkin La-9 at Warbirds over Wanaka 2004

The only airworthy example of the awesome Lavochkin La-9 post-World War Two fighter, displayed at Warbirds Over Wanaka 2004 by John Lamont. On the Saturday the display was cut short due to a rudder issue which almost forced Lamont to bail out, but he was able to return to the airfield and land safely. Engineers worked through the night to fix the problem and as a result a full display was flown the following day. The aircraft was owned at the time by Ray Hanna and Garth Hogan, but was later sold to Jerry Yagen and now resides in the USA. Please forgive the video quality as I was sixteen at the time, excitedly attending my first Wanaka show, using a second-hand camcorder. Then the footage was dubbed to VHS and then transferred to digital. Fortunately the gorgeous sound of the Shvetsov ASh-82 radial comes through loud and strong in this footage! Thumbnail photo by my father David Yates.