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Also, good visibility - advanced solution, fighter had clear rear armor of armor glass.
Sorry I can't vote in your poll,I know nothing about the Soviet aircraft
Cheers
Steve
I maintain that the Soviets liked the P-39 because it reminded them of fierce hummingbirds - on the steppes
MM
Easy to fly.
Easy to operate from grass / dirt runways common in Russia.
Plenty of firepower and it's all mounted on the centerline for superior accuracy.
For the same reason every expert fighter pilot from every nation opted to shoot from close range. Until gyrostabilized gunsites were introduced you could not reliably hit a 300+ mph fighter aircraft from a distance greater then 200 meters.why Erich Hartmann thought it so necessary to get so close to the enemy
For the same reason every expert fighter pilot from every nation opted to shoot from close range. Until gyrostabilized gunsites were introduced you could not reliably hit a 300+ mph fighter aircraft from a distance greater then 200 meters.
Nobody really "liked" a single 20mm and a pair of 7.62-8mm mgs. But if that is what you had, that is what you fought with. While thousands of Russian planes carried the same basic armament, they were never happy with it and tried a number of times to change but being stuck with the VK-105 engine, increasing the weight of the armament often imposed either performance penalties or CG issues that were considered worse than the light armament. Many Russian aircraft swapped two 7.62 mgs for a single 12.7 MG. At times they did accept the performance "hit".
Another reason for sticking the nose in opponents cockpit was low muzzle velocities and different times of flight for the different caliber guns. Once the range starts to get into the 300yd and beyond area, different caliber guns need different leads or aiming points for defection shooting. Different rounds also bled speed at different rates so even a similar MV doesn't mean a similar flight time or trajectory.
I thought had a reputation of having exceptional long range firing skill. Then again, he probably had exceptional everything when it to piloting