Hi Roger, I thought they had plenty (well, nobody had ‘plenty’) of IL2s for that role. Still, the MkIID’s looked pretty formidable!

Supply of Hurricanes outstripped the number of available pilots in the BoB as well as later in the war. That is why Hurricanes were able to be exported. It was a surplus resource we could share with our Allies, despite being in a difficult spot. Supply of Spitfires was limited. Were Hurricanes useless? They shot down more German aircraft than everything else did in the BoB… Russians are known to be whiners. Pick a topic, they will whine about it. They didn’t like Spitfires either, as they were a tricky on the ground.

You’re welcome.

All good points, Allen. TY 🙂

It is not surprising the Soviet pilots had these opinions, by the end of the Battle of Britain the .303 as an aerial weapon had seen its day, and that is evidenced by the absurdity of twelve of them in the Hurricane. They were also doing their fighting at lower altitudes than was happening over Germany and France so a thoroughly adequate aircraft for the RAF might not be useful for the Soviets. “Usefulness” is should always be taken into consideration, the same P39 that the Soviets put to good use was a poor performer in the Pacific. The Fins did pretty well with the universally reviled Brewster Buffalo. That said, most pilots especially line pilots are prone to measure other aircraft with the yardstick of the type they’re most familiar and satisfied with. They’ll see them through the prism of their prejudices. Most German pilots who flew the Hurricane and Spitfire were disappointed with their dive capabilities. British pilots didn’t like how the 109 wasn’t as maneuverable as the Spit. Germans used to the snug cockpit of the 109 found the size of the P47 cockpit disconcerting. The Germans generally liked the P51 but thought it’s cockpit was unnecessarily complicated with too many levers and switches.

Yes, that makes sense. Bakelite would be marginally tougher for armour.

i believe the term plastic was actually bakealite (i may not have the spelling) as it was available during ww2 , being a mix of rubber and a type of ceramic.

“Yefimov, our Commissar, got it right: ‘The aircraft is fine; it’s metal, so it won’t catch fire. You can shoot from it. But instead of manoeuvrability and speed – you’ll have to use your Russian wits!’”

Yefimov obviously didn’ t do his research. The Hurri was far from a metal aeroplane!

Totally agree, could have been me writing. Hurricanes forever!