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GAU-8 · 05-12-2008, 09:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 7thsfsniper

BTW, that was an interesting design.

It was an interesting design and has an interesting story. I learned quite a bit researching 7th's question. So let's stay with the P-39 for this question. This question is lifted from the mid section of an essay by an aviation writer. I'll paste his analysis to confirm the answer you guys come up with.

Hint: The ACM buffs on this WAB Military Aviation section will like this.

USAAF and RAF pilots hated the P-39's handling characteristics and performance. Except out of necessity of having nothing else, the design was shunned in the West. Yet due to war shortages, thousands were produced. Most were supplied to the USSR under the Lend Lease program.

The majority of the 4,600 P-39s shipped to the Soviet Union were the highly developed Q-models. Many of these, at Soviet request, lacked the two wing-mounted .50-caliber machine gun pods.

Several of the Red Air Force's ranking aces flew the P-39 for a major portion of their combat sorties. The top ace in the P-39 was Guards Major Gregoriy Rechkalov, who shot down 50 of his total 56 kills while flying a P-39. Guards Colonel Aleksandr Pokryshkin, reportedly flew the P-39 for 48 of his kills. Another high scorer in the P-39 was Guards Major Dmitriy Glinka, who destroyed 20 German aircraft in 40 aerial engagements in the summer of 1943, and finished the war with an even 50 kills, 41 of them while flying the P-39. Third-ranked Soviet ace Guards Major Nikolay Gulaev transitioned to the P-39 in early August 1943 with 16 individual and 2 shared kills.

Question:
Why was the P-39, which achieved so little air combat success in other theaters, so effective on the Eastern Front?