My article about the P-39 Airacobra in Soviet service in Issue 30 of The Aviation Historian

[Håkan]

Nice article!

The use of the Airacobra in the VVS is interesting.

It's fascinating that two of the fighters (Buffalo and Airacobra) that's regarded as the "worst" in the west was quite successful in the east!

//Håkan

[Dan History]

Originally Posted by Håkan

It's fascinating that two of the fighters (Buffalo and Airacobra) that's regarded as the "worst" in the west was quite successful in the east!

Thank you, Håkan!

It is interesting that you mentioned the Finnish air force use of the American Buffalo fighter in the context of Soviet employment of the Airacobra. The common thread is that both types were considered inferior by their country of origin, and for good reason, their performance was limited when compared with later fighters. However, their histories are very different.

The story of the four dozen Buffaloes in Finnish service is one of a triumph of a small group of very experienced pilots flying an inferior aircraft against largely superior types, but ones flown by under-trained opponents and often employing inferior tactics. By comparison, the story of the more than four thousand Airacobras which served with the air arms of the Soviet Union is one of a technical revolution, when the technically inferior Soviet military received an aircraft with powerful armament and good radio equipment, and hence obtained capabilities which it did not have. These capabilities were then put to good use in air combat both by experienced veterans, the most famous of whom is Alexander Pokryshkin; but also by novice pilots, a few among whom became famous aces exclusively flying the Airacobra. The stories of the Buffalo and the Airacobra both reflect in different ways the great weight of U.S. technology and productive capacity in the Second World War, especially in the relatively low-technology context of the air war on the Eastern front.

Dan

[Larry deZeng]

C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S, Dan!

L.