I had to read it twice to digest it all.
Very interesting opinion he has regarding the Pe-2
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— What did you fly there?
In Mozdok, before the war ended, I flew sturmovik over Chechnya. When I was at the courses I flew torpedo bomber.
— What type?
Tu-2. It was a good plane, excellent one, but it came too late. If it would come one or two years earlier, the war might have ended several months sooner, because it was a mighty plane. Pe-2 was an absolute junk. It was created under impressions gained after the Germans started to dive at London and bombed precisely. And we hastily built this Pe-2 machine.
It had an ability to dive, but its bomb load was just 1000 kilograms. It dove rather poorly. It had two engines but no ability to fly on one engine. If one engine failed it couldn’t fly straight, it went with a descent. What kind of a plane is that? Two engine airplanes must have an ability to fly horizontally on one engine.
Our sturmovik Il-2 with a 1600 hp engine could lift 600 kilograms of bombs in overload.
— By the way, did you hang RSs when you took 600 kilograms of bombs?
Of course. Overload — 6 bombs and all the same. RSs and VYa 23mm cannons, 300 rounds per cannon, machine guns, 1500 rounds per barrel. Gunner also had large caliber machine gun with ammunition.
Pe-2 was an unsuccessful plane. Tu-2 had lower speed than dive bomber, but 2500 kilograms of bombs. And it had longer range. It was a great plane, it could fly on one engine.
But it came late, too late... There were not enough engines. This plane was designed by Tupolev in prison.