Soviet planes had major problems during the war. Read Sebag Montefiore's "Stalin The Court of Red Tsar". Although it's not specifically about the Red Air Force, it contains some stunning revelations about it's war time record and leadership. His sources are the politburos own papers opened for examination after 91.
Basically in a nutshell, more than 50% total war time Russian built aircraft losses were due neither to combat nor pilot error. The Red Air Force literally was falling out of the skies. It's upper leadership was executed immediately after the war, just days after, all before the end of 45.
Also little known among aviation fans, Mikoyan's brother was a senior member of the Politburo and presidium, during the war he was in line to succeed Stalin. They were one of the most politically powerful families in the country, even though not ethnic Russians.
Some other interesting tidbits in the book, Stalin's son Vasily killed a HSU pilot while horsing around using BRS Rockets to fish during the war on one of his outings.
It was Vasily who also brought accusations against the top VVS leadership just prior to the war, helping his father eliminate the top echelon just weeks before the war kicked off.
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06-15-2010, 02:21 AM
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