Even funnier is, that Karhila wrote a diary through the war. You can find a lot about his career and many combat stories in Tuomo Soiri's book Iskulaivue (unfortunately not translated.
In July 43, some 10km North of Lavansaari(Moshnay) Island where the Soviet 3. GvIAP was, he was surprised by an La-5, that stuck right in his tail. He made a "Hartmann escape" and then outturned the La-5 in nearly pure vertical fight, using full power, and no flaps - La-5 turned too tight initially, lost his energy and found itself in the 109's bravure area, low speed turn/climb and acceleration. Karhila's first burst cut the La-5 in half, and the kill had 2 confirmers. La-5 pilot bailed out and was picked up from the sea by a torpedo boat.
And yes, after I-16 and I-153 none of the Soviet fighters is really good at low speed, they dont have very good power-to-weight-to-wing area ratios. Jak-9 was considered even more dangerous than La-5 thanks to its high speed turn and especially roll. It could also follow the 109s longer in the dive, unlike La-5s that had to either break or fly to the sea, as happened a couple of times.
|
07-12-2010, 10:13 AM
Threaded Mode