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RE: Mustangs vs Il-10s, Yaks and MiG-15s
1800
rounds may have been fired. I bet most
missed....
One
bullet hitting a Blade will cause some major engine
stresses.
That
many bullets would have to hit something.
If all 1800 hit that plane would definately
fall.
D
I think
what Ron means is that the pilots did not measure up to the qualities of the
aircraft. That's not quite true, as one of the main problems the Russians
point out is that without G suits they could not use all of the potential
performance of the aircraft.
Also, the first five regiments in the
324th and 303rd IAD were crack pilots and vets of WWII. They were not slouches
and were the ones dubbed "honchos" by USAF pilots. The ones from later units,
like the hapless 190th IAD, were rookies and it showed.
As for guns
being lousy, not quite true. Soviet military science figured that in jet
combat you may not get to hit the other fellow with many bullets, but those
that do hit better count. They figured 1-2 37mm rounds or 10-12 23mm would
blow a Sabre away, and reality tends to support their thinking. Most of the
static shots of "37mm hits" on Sabres were more likely 23mm, as every aircraft
the Soviets knew was hit by a 37mm bought it. (They tended to keep them for
bombers, however, and just use the 23mm on fighters as the cannon were faster
firing.)
The best example of Sabre gunnery was one MiG with something
like 275 hits from .50 calibers. Note that this aircraft survived and was
rebuilt to fly again. (Also recall that the Sabre carried something like 1,800
rounds so figure the hit percentages from that as it was a one on one fight,
possibly with Gabreski.)
Cookie Sewell
AMPS