[mayfair35]

Juha: You are absolutely right. Just because all the '39s scrambled at once did not confirm they were without radios. I forgot for the moment that we were talking about a RUSSIAN operation. As I think back , if they did have radios, the airfield controller was probably shouting for them to take off immediately as they were supposed to provide top cover while we landed. I wish I had been there to have given a first hand account but the stories when the Group returned were eye-openers to say the least. With our birds down to 10 to 15 gals of fuel remaining, it was imperative that they land ASAP. Their stories of '39s coming at them from all angles was hilarious...but could have been disastrous. I was told that the Russians were the ones who showed us what they had done to their birds to make them competitive with '109s up to 12,000 feet. Those in the know could not believe a P-39 could compete with a Me-109.

Franek: I had never thought about what you said concerning the individual modifications made to a bird when someone, not the primary pilot was assigned to fly it. In reality the mods made to the '51 were not really that important, I guess. When I think of the convergence point, I am not sure it made a great deal of difference as with the vibrations of the bird, and firing from positions with varying degrees of banks and different G forces, the actual aiming point would be difficult to pinpoint. When we used to view gun camera film and somebody, with the upper left tit indicating he was firing, was missing completely, it was hard to determine exactly what he was doing wrong. Now if we had the ball part of the ball and turn indicator somehow in the picture, I am sure it would have shown a lack of proper trim. I can say that with some authority, as it happened to me. Coming in on a '109, I did not realize his engine was not turning over until too late, and I was closing too fast. I pulled the throttle off and my bird went completely out of trim. However, I did not notice this as I was firing and taking a lead. I NEVER SAW ONE SHOT HIT HIS BIRD EVEN THOUGH I ALMOST RAN INTO HIM TRYING TO GET SOME HITS. But my apologies, that had nothing to do with mods.

I suspect that our '51 mods had little to do with any observable differences in flying qualities. After flying the P-51D, I would have objected to being required to fly a mission in the P-51C again. That wasn't a mod but of course a different model of airplane. In the '47, our possible mods probably made more of a difference as different ammo loads certainly contributed to different flying characteristics due to having 8 guns or perhaps 6 guns if modified.

Keep up the good work, you gentlemen are doing a great job.

Cordially, Art Fiedler