Bell P-39 top ten ace list

[SteveR]

No P-39s in the Philippines.

[bearoutwest]

Frank,
Hello. I'm fascinated - which unit/pilot scored with a P-39 in 1944? Was it one of the last Fighter Groups in New Guinea?

Michael/knusel,
Hi. 5 P-39/P-400 kills in CBI - could this refer to a small number of kills by Russian P-39/P-63 units over Manchuria in August 1945?

Regards,
...geoff

[knusel]

Good evening Geoff,

hmm...I know of only one Bell kill by the Russians in the Soviet-Japan War 1945:
http://www.aces.safarikovi.org/victo...apan.1945.html
May it be that the Aleutian kills of the P-39 have sneaked into the CBI statistics because of the vicinity of Alaska to Asia ?

Cheers,

Michael

[Frank Olynyk]

Of the 40 claims by the USAAF (which happens to include one RCAF claim), the totals by type are:

P-38 -- 20 and 1 probable
P-39 -- 11 and two unclaimed (Gerry Johnson, later P-38 ace in SW Pacific)
P-40 -- 9

Geoff:
I misread my screen (tired, old eyes). The July 1944 note was a misread of July 1943. But the actual last P-39 claim in the Pacific was on Feb 15, 1944, by 68 FS, a Tony probable and a Val damaged. Last destroyed claim was on Feb 10, for a bomber by the 82nd Recon Sqn. I think the 82nd Recon Sqn continue to fly the P-39 for a while longer, but no air combats with it.

Enjoy!

Frank.

[bearoutwest]

Frank,
Thanks. Just one more reason why my wife thinks that my "crazy internet-friends" are wonderful in aiding and abetting my interest in lost causes....P-39s, Brewster Buffalos, Wirraways, Fairey Battles, Bristol Blenheims....ahhh, the list is endless...

Michael,
Yes, the Aleutians was my first thought - way back in thread #16, that in compiling a mammoth list of all lists, the originator parked the small number of Aleutians P-39 claims in with CBI (and perhaps hasn't gotten back to update it).
Though as Frank says....campaign-wise, it was totally different, and as Frank's data above indicates - 5 is too small a number for Aleutians P-39 claims.
Its only recently that I pondered the Soviet P-63s and the Manchuria campaign of 1945, and looking back at old posts, way back in post #30 alfred.Monzat was of a similar opinion.
Its all theory and supposition, though, as to what the original compiler of the list you're referring to, actually intended. Perhaps, if you are in contact with him, you could ask? I have Tomas Polak's "Stalin's Falcons" but it's not a practical task to look through the entries (done in a Shores' Aces High style) for specific P-63 claims in Manchuria August 1945.


Regards,
...geoff

[Stig1207]

Originally Posted by knusel

Hello Stig,

maybe the differences are partly based on inclusion or non-inclusion of AVG kills.
But this deserves a separate thread.
Do you think that the P-39 ever scored an aerial kill over the continent of Asia ?
(A kill over the Phillipines would suffice for my statistics.)

Have a nice evening,

Michael

Yes, I have considered the AVG claims; that might explain the differences to USAF85, but not to AAF Statistical digest, but I agree, this deserves a different thread. One day I may even get around to starting it

However, in regards to your statitistics, the list you linked to is just one source, and another, Ray Wagner's American Combat Aircraft grants the P-39 14 victories in ht ETO/ MTO, half the 27.5 in your list.

[knusel]

Originally Posted by Frank Olynyk

...

P-38 -- 20 and 1 probable
P-39 -- 11 and two unclaimed (Gerry Johnson, later P-38 ace in SW Pacific)
P-40 -- 9

....

Good evening dear Frank,

can you tell me the top scorer for each type over Alaska ?

Have a good start into a delightful weekend,

Michael

[knusel]

Good evening Gentlemen,

I was endowed with the P-39 volume of OSPREY's Aircraft of the Aces series:
https://www.amazon.de/P-39-Airacobra...8008670&sr=8-1
I worked through the US forces chapters and found no trace of a P-39 kill over Asia. No Western New Guinea kills, no Phillipines kills and no CBI kills were mentioned.
Furthermore, the number of MTO kills of the Airacobra was indicated as 14-20, not 25 as indicated here:
http://www.warbirdsandairshows.com/a...torieswwii.htm
Hugh Dow scored one kill over Tunisia and one kill over Italy.

The Soviet forces chapter is well-written but nothing extraordinarily new. The top Airacobra pilots were:
1. Grigorii Rechkalov (Речкалов Григорий Андреевич) = 54,17 [53+3]
2. Aleksandr Pokryshkin (Покрышкин Александр Иванович) = 40 [40+0]
3. Dimitrii Glinka (Глинка Дмитрий Борисович) = 39 [39+0]
4. Nikolai Gulayev (Гулаев Николай Дмитриевич) = 38,33 [37+3]
5. Ivan Babak (Бабак Иван Ильич) = 37,5 [35+5]
6. Mikhail Komelkov (Комельков Михаил Сергеевич) = 35,48 [33+7]
7. Aleksei Smirnov (Смирнов Алексей Семёнович) = 34,5 [34+1] + 1 balloon
8. Boris Glinka (Глинка Борис Борисович) = 28 [27+2]
9. Aleksandr Klubov (Клубов Александр Фёдорович) = 28 [28+0]
10.Aleksei Yegorov (Егоров Алексей Александрович) = 25 [25+0]
11. Pavel Kamozin (Камозин Павел Михайлович) = 25 [23+4]

Did the Russian ever score with the P-400 ?

Have a nice evening,

Michael

[knusel]

Good afternoon,

had anybody ever tried to estimate how many kills all Soviet P-39's scored combined ?

Cheers,

Michael