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Originally Posted by Franek Grabowski
The question is if records of VA level are accurate enough. Personally I doubt it and would not draw any definite conclusions without checking documents of eg. AP level.
I would just sort all the claims as single and twin engined. It makes life much simplier.
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I agree here with Franek.
Based on excerpts from the VVS' 5th Air Army documents I received, the amount of detail included in them is not enough for an accurate individual breakdown of victories and losses.
Also, the enemy airplane recognition skills of many Axis (and Allied, for that matter) pilots was rather questionable, so I would also stick to: single engine fighter/fighter bomber, twin engine bomber/reconnaissance, etc. categories.
Claims of historians that a certain pilot X who claimed Y number of Z type of aircraft and there was none of those lost that day in that area thus pilot X was lying is not scholarly enough (moreover, it gives a feeling that that particular author did
not actually want to find a possible match for the researched pilot's claims)...