P-39 Airacobras over Roumania and Captures, Info on Airacobras

Again I must ask that you post sources for the photos.

its says september 1943

Reshkalow in 1944 from Russian book " A Handful of Aces "

This post has been edited by alexkdl on January 08, 2005 01:09 am

Attached Image

Iama's "Sternflug"...

Were this "lang nasse" better than P-39 Q ???



Iama

Edit: - Yes, you are right! They flew over the Windows wallpaper (+ some filters)

This post has been edited by Iamandi on January 09, 2005 01:56 pm

Attached Image

Fine! Iama - an artist!!!

Iama

Hmmmm! Lets see what we have here... Aha! 37 mil... armour piercing... oh! this is another source (i dont find the original one) but is ok:

"A fifth mission for the P-39 was ground attack, primarily of soft targets such as troop concentrations, road convoys or trains, and airfields. Contrary to popular myth, the P-39 was not employed as a "tank-buster" for two very good reasons: the M4 37mm cannon was slow-firing and only had 30 rounds of ammunition, and the Soviets never received M80 Armor Piercing Shot ammunition for this cannon through Lend-Lease. (Even had they received AP ammo, it was only capable of penetrating 1.0 inches of armor at 500 yards. After 1943 there weren't many German tanks that vulnerable, especially from the top quadrant.) Our government did deliver approximately 1.2 million M54 High Explosive shells, however, and Soviet P-39 aces put them to good use against both air and soft ground targets. "

source: http://www.acepilots.com/planes/p39_airacobra.html

and for sure is not the only one source - one who i never find again was based on lend lease thing.

Iama

Rechkalow had a confirmed victory over a Romanian Airforce flying boat "Savoi Marchetti" over the black Sea in 1944. The crew had no time to put on their parachutes.

As for this cobra plane, well the Russian pilots liked it and they adapted it to their tactics of low level. It scored well but it was also easy to shoot down.
The engine was behind the pilot seat, ! ~ not in the nose as one would expect.
A russian guy named Oleg tells me that because of this the plane was easy to bring down.

+ I posted about Aicrobra before on this site, - there is a list there of the top 10 Aircobra aces of the USSR.

This post has been edited by Der Maresal on January 14, 2005 04:25 pm

I have the exact photograph in COLOR, crystal clear you would think it's made today..
let me find it

It would be fantastic if you can post it Maresal

ALex

This post has been edited by alexkdl on January 14, 2005 06:15 pm

A Romanian encounter with Airacobras

In early 1944, a Romanian bomber formation (15 Ju88), based at the Dalnic airfield near Odessa, was sent to bomb a Soviet village. The fighter cover was to be provided by German fighters. After take-off, the bomber crews saw that there were only 6 Me109's, far less than the number of German fighters usually assigned to these missions. Then, the crews saw over 30 P-39's coming at them from the airfields below and the German fighters dissapeared. The Romanians believed that they fled, being so heavily outnumbered.
The bombers went on and destroyed the target and on the way back noticed a swarm of fighters, the 6 Messerschmits engaged in a fierce fight with the Airacobras. The bomber crews counted 8 Soviet fighters burning in the air.
After returning to the airfield they found out that the Germans had 11 confirmed kills for no loss and that the pilots were all holders of the Knight's Cross, just arrived from the Mediteranean front.

Source: Ioan Mogaldea, “Un aviator roman pe frontul de est”, ed. Majadahonda, 1999

Drogos thank you for sharing the story, is very interesting I have no way from Switzerland in obtaining such books and I was not aware about this specific event...is there any way you could post photos from this books should there be any ?

izi Mulzumesc

Al

I'll look through my books for that color aircobra photo and others like it.
For now look at some pictures that will certainly interest you!
They are some of the best color images in my collection.
Enjoy.
http://www.worldwar2.ro/forum/index.php?showtopic=1736

See!...the Germans knew what they were doing.

they did not run away.

This post has been edited by Der Maresal on January 15, 2005 12:45 am

The only photo is one with the author, on the rear cover.

Sehr geehrter Herr Maresal sehr gut, ausgezeichnet viellen Dank Kamarad ,,,,,many thanks....I left Boucharest 1963....I remember Ambasadorul and Athene Palace...I used to go there often to the cinema near hotel ambasador...I was 9 years old and I remember it like it's today, stunning photos....as a matter of fact i never saw coloured photos from that time nor German soldiers having a great time in Bucharest...so undoubtedly they knew what hey have lost .The photo at night looks like the Brroadway on the 40's....man what has been done to this country face....it was once Paris of Eastern Europe...nevertheless mate many thanks and lets stay in contact....izi doresc o Duminica placuta

Alex

This post has been edited by alexkdl on January 15, 2005 03:59 pm