Airacobras in Tunisia

[Christer Bergström]

Gielle, I don't have the impression that Soviet pilots in general liked the Airacobra. For instance, Arkadiy Kovachevich - who commanded the Airacobra-equipped 9 GIAP at one stage - said that he found it to be a cumbersome machine, quite inferior to the Bf 109s. He said that the only chance the Airacobra pilots had was to climb to a very high altitude before combat, and then make one diving attack against German fighters below. Kovachevich also said that he liked the comfort of the space in the cockpit, but he had to evaluate the aircraft from other angles too. . .

Golodnikov's statements are typical for a fighter pilot with a high self esteem who attains success on a fighter plane and because of that comes to love it. You can find people saying the same about most fighter planes. Read through the entire interview, and you will find that he claims that the The I-16 types -28 and -29 were superior to the Bf-109E; that the I-16 was not outclassed as a fighter until the end of 1942; that the I-16 type-28 and -29 were arguably equal to the Bf-109F; and that the P-40 could contend on an equal footing with all the types of Messerschmitt 109s, almost to the end of 1943.

Of course a skilful pilot can outweigh tecnical inequality between two fighters - just like some of the German veterans managed to do when they fought Mustangs with their Bf 109 G-6s. However, I don't think it is a coincidence that so many first-line pilots expressed their dislike for the Airacobra.

I don't either think that the Airacobra was particularly successful in Soviet service. (I have examined the claims made by a certain Soviet Airacobra unit, and I can tell you that they are not impressive when one examines the actual number of German aircraft shot down by this unit's Airacobras.) The example which I gave of a Soviet success was not typical, but I felt that I had to mention it before anyone would come and ask me why I only described cases when Soviet Airacobra units were badly beaten. (Hence my remark: "However, to be fair. . .") Still, the clashes between German fighters and Airacobras generally ended to the German favour - regardless if the Aircobras were piloted by Americans or Soviets. I will provide evidence of that elsewhere.

I'm not sure the Korean air war can provide us with many valuable conclusions regarding the efficiency of the Soviet air force in the defence of the motherland in 1941 - 1945. I think that those German airmen who faced both the VVS and the USAAF/RAF are the best to judge. My posting was not aimed at proving that either of the Allied air forces was better than the other; rather, I wrote that in early 1943 the differences were not that large as sometimes is assumed - "the Luftwaffe Eastern Front veterans repeated in Tunisia what they previously had accomplished on the Eastern Front against the same kind of fighters."

Anyway, to return to the Airacobra, I don't think that there is any other WW II fighter plane which has been so critisised by its pilots as the Airacobra. Is there any other WW II fighter plane which is so broadly rejected by the men who had to fly it? When I pointed out that in one of my books, I thought it was quite uncontroversial, but since then I have learned that there are some Airacobra fans out there.

Personally, I have one favourite machine - the Mitsubishi. That is natural because I know it better than any other type, and I feel that I can do almost anything with it. I would be prepared to say that it is better than most other types. Of course I'm talking about my Mitsubishi Colt.