Historic aviation's book of the month

Air Classics, Apr 2002 by Hulett, George

VARIETY Of NEW AVIATION HISTORY VOLUMES

During its titanic military struggle with Germany, the Soviet Union received a major boost with the arrival and deployment of nearly 5000 Bell P-39 Airacobra fighters - courtesy of America's Lend-Lease program. The impact was dramatic as the Soviets quickly adapted the planes into a devastatingly lethal force.

Dmitriy Loza's Attack of the Airacobras (University Press of Kansas, $34.95) vividly re-creates the battle campaigns of this odd coupling of capitalist planes and Marxist pilots and allows access to a little-known part of the air war of the Eastern Front. The book has been well-translated and edited by James Gebhardt.

The Airacobra proved to be the right plane at the right time for a beleaguered Red Air Force. With its Allison engine performing best at lower altitudes, the cannon-armed P-39 was ideal for the environment in which the Soviets were fighting the Luftwaffe and the Airacobras would eventually dominate the Luftwaffe from the Caucasus foothills to Berlin.

Focusing on the combat operations and daily life of one unit - the 9th Guards Fighter Division - Loza refutes the myth that the P-39 was used mainly as a tank buster or as flying artillery. Instead, its primary mission was to protect Red Army operations from aerial attacks by the enemy. So despite the occasional strafing of trains, truck convoys, and troops, most P-39 operations involved attacks on Luftwaffe bombers and dogfights with their escort fighters.

Forming the center part of this 400-page volume are the P-39 pilots and ground crews, including the remarkable Captain Aleksandr Pokryshkin and Major Gregoriy Rechkalov - two of the Soviets' top four aces. In addition, the author details the organization and operations of the unit's non-combat personnel who refueled and maintained the aircraft, cleaned and reloaded the guns, packed the parachutes, treated the wounded, guarded the airfields, and commanded the squadrons and regiments.

Based on interviews with Soviet veterans and extensive access to squadron histories and log books, the book provides a rare and insightful look at what it was like to live and fight in this victorious air unit. The highly recommended volume may be obtained by calling Historic Aviation at (800) 225-5575.