Russian Aircraft of World War II (Technical Guides)

The Soviet Union during World War II produced a number of outstanding military aircraft that took on the German armed forces on the Eastern Front, including the Ilyushin Il-2 ground attack aircraft (which Stalin described as being 'as vital to the Red Army as air and bread'), Tupolev Tu-2 tactical bomber, Petlyakov Pe-2 dive bomber, Polikarpov Po-2 utility biplane, the Yakovlev Yak-1/3/7/9, Lavochkin LaGG-1/3 and La-5/7, Polikarpov I-15 and I-16, and Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3 air superiority fighters, and Petlyakov Pe-3 heavy fighter. However, these planes merely the tip of the iceberg in the development of Soviet aviation in World War II, because Soviet aircraft design bureaus also produced some unsung Soviet warplanes of the conflict, including flying boats, long-range bombers, gliders, and reconnaissance aircraft. This field guide documents the great panoply of Soviet aircraft built in World War II, including lesser-known types such as the BI-1 rocket fighter (the only rocket-powered combat plane built by any of the Allies in the war), MDR-4/MTB-1 and MTB-2 maritime patrol flying boats, Antonov A-7 glider, Yakovlev Yak-6 utiility aircraft, and Yermolayev Yer-2 long-range bomber. American and British aircraft supplied to the Red Air Force via Lend-Lease, like the P-39 Airacobra, P-63 Kingcobra, P-40 Warhawk, B-25 Mitchell, and Hawker Hurricane, and it should be noted that the Lisunov Li-2 was the Soviet-built version of the famed Douglas DC-3 airliner and that the Petlyakov Pe-8, the only Soviet bomber aircraft comparable to the B-17, B-24, Lancaster, Halifax, and Stirling in both size and range, was flown by Vyacheslav Molotov to the UK and US for talks with Cordell Hull and Anthony Eden on the Americans and British opening up a second front against Nazi Germany in western Europe. It is quite extraordinary to think that despite the Great Terror of the late 1930s resulting in many of the USSR's great aircraft designers being arrested (the designer of the Stal-7 airliner that formed the basis of the Yer-2, Roberto Bartini, was an Italian refugee from the regime of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, and Stalin had him jailed on false charges of spying for Italy) and also the pummeling of the Soviet armed forces in the early months of Operation Barbarossa, the Red Air Force would rise from the ashes of Operation Barbarossa like a phoenix to create formidable military aircraft that would lay the foundations for the beginning of the end of the Nazi tyranny by forcing the German armed forces to retreat from Eastern Europe, after which the US and Britain would finish the job of defeating the Nazis after invading the beaches of Normandy.

Loved it.

Nice color illustrations and descriptions of aircraft used by the Soviets. Includes some obscure types and lend lease planes as well.

Russian planes played a pivotal role in the personal 1v1 battles that most dofights devolved into. I mean, uh, that in air combat it don't matter how many of them are out there vrs how many of your guys. For ten seconds or so, at least until someone else jumps into the turn circle, it's a 1 v 1. No quarter asked, no quarter given. You better win.Ahh...war, sublime war.The art and photography world is the best place to escape when life got you down.These are my 3 favorite aviation art books on Amazon:- Aviation Art by Lou Drendel- Airflow by Philip Castle- Great Fighter Jets of the Galaxy 1 by Tim Gibson