Looking for book on Soviet aces
 

A while ago I got a tips regarding a relatively new book about Soviet aces (I think in 2 volumes) written in Russian but with listings on all claims (in "Aces High" style). However, I have mislaid this tip.
Is there anyone who can verify this and help me where I can obtain this (preferably from a site where they speak English since my Russian is non-existing and that I can pay with Pay-Pal)?

Best wishes/Håkan

Re: Looking for book on Soviet aces
 

You probably mean the book by Mikhail Bykov.
A very comprehensive reference book.

I have two copies of the book. If interested, I can offer you one of them for regular store price what I paid.

Re: Looking for book on Soviet aces
 

Gents, Greetings!

Mikhail is planning now highly improved and corrected (adding more that 1500 pilot with pers.+shared claims total as 5+) as digital project (as pdf file or media libruary, on DVD, with probable support english variant) and asking for community - is it worth to be made? Will it have ab interest among community?

Approx cost will be ~10 E.

Re: Looking for book on Soviet aces
 

Hello,

Evgeny - I for one would be most interested!

Dénes - I'll contact you off board!

Best wishes/Håkan

Re: Looking for book on Soviet aces
 

I'd certainly be interested in an English version.

Re: Looking for book on Soviet aces
 

I would be interested in any updated version, and English notes to guide my understanding would be great.

Even of more interest, would be a version including the Spanish Civil War, Nomohan/Khalkan Gol (1938-39), Winter War (1940), Manchuria (1945), and Korea. Maybe this is the *next* next version. Although apparently Mikhail has done some research in the Korean War claims.

Speaking of Korea, why are there no grupi (sp?) (shared) claims? Is this the reason for the apparent high overclaiming? All shared claims became full credit? Look at the second volume Mikhail did (which completely supercedes the first one) and there are a very large number of shared claims. But none in Korea.

In any case, looking forward to the DVD. If the loading instructions for the DVD are in Russian, an English translation of that would be useful. I just got the CD of Czech awards (noted here a few months ago), and I can't load it because I won't click on the buttons without knowing what they do. *sigh*

Frank.

Re: Looking for book on Soviet aces
 

Hello Evgeny
I would also be interested in.

Juha

Re: Looking for book on Soviet aces
 

Definitely interested in an English version.

Re: Looking for book on Soviet aces
 

One for me please :)

Re: Looking for book on Soviet aces
 

Gents:

-Installation instructions e.t.c. will be in in Eng. also, but

- Main content will be in Russian.

This is an answer of author.

Re: Looking for book on Soviet aces
 

then no interest..I have the book on paper in russian :( it si a pitty

Re: Looking for book on Soviet aces
 

Re: Looking for book on Soviet aces
 

Hello!

Do I understand right that the data will be provided in Excel-format? That would be an excellent tool for sorting units, periods of time etc. For ten euros it would be bargain. Only problem is the payment (method).

Regards,
Kari

Re: Looking for book on Soviet aces
 

I would also ceryainly be interested in a copy. English would be ideal, but Russian would be good, too.

Tables in MS Access format would even be better. The main issue is that the tables should be able to be sorted accoring to date, aircraft type, location, etc.

Payment via PayPal OK?

Re: Looking for book on Soviet aces
 

Gents - as far as I understand, Mikhail is going to do it as PDF file.

I dont know the things going, but some of You could go in contact with Mikhail, and try to transliterate names/places to Roman, may be using some software (if some of You are familiar with programming).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ALA-LC_...on_for_Russian

And "Roman"/English version of files (together with translated list of fighter regiments from this page of Mikhail) could be published on DVD...

Re: Looking for book on Soviet aces
 

That's not very promising, as searching would be very hard without a tabular form that can be sorted.

Please ask him to do it at least in a searchable PDF format...

Re: Looking for book on Soviet aces
 

It will be done so.

Re: Looking for book on Soviet aces
 

Great news!
I agree that some MS format (Excel, Access) would be much more comfortable but for the proposed price it is a bargain anyway. In the bookshop nearby Seidl´s Stalin´s Eagles are offered for almost 100 euros..

I would prefer English but would buy a Russin version as well.

Jan

Re: Looking for book on Soviet aces
 

Frank,
I don't know the origins of change in that policy, but as you say published (and archival, that I know of) sources about Soviet victory credits in Korea do not seem to feature the concept of shared victories. The victory totals for units in periods of time are the simple sum of those awarded to individuals, by and large it would seem.

Duplication of claims in connection with real US losses is surely a major category of overclaims for the Soviets in Korea. Almost all US air combat losses were suffered in combats at the same general place and time of day, recorded by both sides (exceptions are a few night disappearances and combats with Chinese or NK units without Soviet ones also around in same general area and time window). Most Soviet victory credits are in bunches of a few to low single digits in combats or time windows where a single US a/c was lost. I would say these outnumber the credits related to combats both sides recognize but where no US a/c were lost, though the latter were also common. Multiple US losses in a single combat/time window also occurred but weren't that common, and again Soviet victory credits in combats the US didn't record at all are virtually unheard of.

The question you ponder is part of a more fundamental one about Soviet credits in Korea. To what extent did the crediting authorities realize in real time how excessive those credits were, by most WWII standards of overclaiming? I'm not speaking now of intel gatherers on Soviet side who found info suggesting the credits were excessive, which happened, but of the people actually putting in for credits and those saying yes or no. 'Shared' as well as fractional destroyed, official 'probable' and 'damaged' credits* I would view all as ways to knock down claims of a/c 'destroyed' to (what intelligence or past experience says is) a more realistic level while still psychologically 'compensating' pilots for their efforts and risks. The 64th Fighter Corps and its divisions and regiments didn't want to do that apparently. There are suggestions why this might have been so (monetary compensation per victory for the 'volunteers' is one) but AFAIK there's no analytical study of it. Of course to study the reasons first you have to recognize the overclaim rate for what it was, which the research community on this still does not fully. We still see in print 'USAF only admitted' such and such loss in a particular combat, although this can seen as a euphemism for 'losses claimed did not occur by any evidence' in the great majority of cases, studying the individual combats case by case from both sides.

*Real MiG losses were a reasonably high % of US 'destroyed' credits in Korea (by fighters, not B-29's) by WWII standards, but of course the % would drop if you added in 50%+ of official 'probables' and some % of 'damaged' credits (as it also would in WWII cases where those categories were officially used). But probable/damage did in fact represent some of the real enemy losses.

Joe

Re: Looking for book on Soviet aces
 

No interest here if in any digital format, regardless of language. Personally I find these formats far too cumbersome as I cannot read them where I do most of my reading.