Lend Lease

[JG52Uther]

From what I have heard Avro the Soviets were the same,denying the amount of help they received from the western allies!Thats why these sort of figures are interesting.
Good to see you here by the way! we need some of your interesting topics here!

[FPSOlkor]

The point was not in denying LL, point was in complaining about poor quality of supplied machinery. For example Hurricanes were universally hated in VVS, M3 tanks were considered as "unfit for fighting". Even Shermans were not liked too much by their crews. One of a few rare examples of good attitude were Cobras. Once again, the point was not in getting the supply of not particularly the best machinery, but getting it when it was needed.

[JG52Uther]

Interesting Solkor! i always thought the VVs quite liked the Hurricane,but were not very happy with the Spitfires they received.

[brando]

"...Even Shermans were not liked too much by their crews."

I think that opinion was shared on both major fronts, east and west. My father spent his time in North Africa and after D day in Europe in a battlefield tank-rescue unit. I recall him saying how the Sherman crews feared getting hit by the heavier German tanks' armament as they "brewed-up" quite rapidly after sustaining damage, making escape or crew recovery more difficult.

There's no doubt that there would be some enmity towards 'foreign aid' both from the government and the men & women on the sharp end. Similar I guess to the rise of the Japanese motorcycle industry after the war, remembering the reaction of British bike-owners to the newcomers.

Getting used to different controls and gauges, as well as the differing intentions of the designers as regards use and maintenance, is always difficult. Dropping back to bikes for a moment I find the example of which side the kickstarter and gearshift pedal go on. These positions were reversed on Japanese machines sold here, and this change was a large part of why we Brits hated the new interloper. Eventually we got used to the new configuration and slowly started to like the various features that were there. But it took years for our cynicism to wear off.

B

[FPSOlkor]

Originally Posted by JG52Uther

Interesting Solkor! i always thought the VVs quite liked the Hurricane,but were not very happy with the Spitfires they received.

"A Hurricane had an aerodynamics of a pterodactil - it would loose speed in a climb drasticaly, and it won't gain speed in a dive... A trully unique airplane..."
Just one of the opinions. It was loved by reconaissance pilots for it's stability and good view, but fighter pilots hated it for sluggishness, poor flight characteristics and weak armament. Good point was rather good visibility, but for example radio on all Brittish planes (including first Airacobras) was considered as "by no means better then Russian analog".