Re: Allied Opinion of IJN vs. IJA Fighter Pilots
I'm sidetracking a little from the original question, but heck – when it’s interesting, let’s go with the flow.
I think there’s a more fundamental reason for the Russian success with the P-39/P-400. They wanted to fly them! The USAAF in the Pacific, always operated P-39s under disadvantageous conditions – climbing to combat, bounced by endless numbers of Zeros, unable to reach the bombing altitudes of the G4Ms, suspicions about tumbling instability in manouevring flight, etc, etc. It’s not unnatural that they would wish to be flying something else…P-40, P-38, P-47, P-51….almost anything else.
The Soviet VVS considered the P-39 as an upgrade from their Polikarpovs and early MiG-3s. There are two biographies of Soviet Airacobra (*) pilots where it was said that the superb radio set up of the Airacobra was as much an advantage as flight performance and firepower. The way in which the Soviets used the P-39, was for mainly fighter sweeps, bomber escort or air interdiction over the battlefront. So they were able to put reasonable numbers of P-39s into the air at any time. They took heavy losses, but were able to inflict reasonable losses on the Luftwaffe. Over a length of time in an attrition battle, the P-39 Regiments (together with the modern Soviet Yaks, Lavochkins, etc) would eventually gain an upper hand.
...geoff
(*) Attack of the Airacobras is one book. I can’t think of the name of the second.
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- converting fuel into noise.
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