The F2A did well when used by the Finns against the Russians because the Russians didn’t ever field their best forces against the Finns – simple as that. The Rusians were sensible enough to realise that the Germans were the problem, not the Finns who were always fighting a defensive holding campaign. So the Russian forces, military and material, were not of the calibre of those used against the Germans in the main campaigns.
Once the tide turned in the Russian campaign the Finns folded very quickly. Accordingly an aircraft like the F2A could operate in the fairly even combat climate that prevailed prior to 1943/44.
The P39’s main use by the Russians was as a ground attack aircraft – that cannon in the nose was deadly. In fighter v fighter combat it did not have the same track record as the Migs, Yaks and Lagg fighters.
Well, got to disagree.
I’d think Guards fighter and bomber regiments were best that VVS did field, and those did fight on the Finnish front. No second caliber units or equpment there.
I would also object to the “folding quickly”. If you look at the actual happenings, you’d notice that there was no holding. Soviet offensive at summer 1944 was stopped on all fronts, which lead to a ceace-fire and peace negotiations.
Hawkdriver05,
P-39 on the other hand, it was never used as ground attack plane in Soviet service. Any more than any other Soviet plane. They used it as a fighter. But all Soviet fighters did their share of ground support, too, as a tactical air force. The myth about P-39 about being a tank buster or ground attack plane is a western myth, which has no basis in actual history. P-39 just happened to be a good plane in the correct place: the aerial combats of eastern front happened mostly in low to medium altitudes, where the P-39 was on its best. In the Pacific or European theatres aerial combats took place higher, and P-39 just didn’t like to be high, its performance dropped badly there. So eastern front, in Russian hands, P-39 finally found its niche and performed very well as a fighter.
After all, the highest scoring Allied fighter aces flew P-39.
To the Brewsters,
The actual reasons for the B-239s success was quite simple. Excellent pilot training and tactics. The B-239 was also the best model of the Buffalo fighter, light, fast and nimble. FiAF had used the finger four / schwarm formation from the middle 30s, as the first air force in the world, and developed good battle tactics, that were proven to be correct in the Winter War. So when Brewsters arrived, it was in the hands of the best pilots of FiAF, those who had already proven themselves in the Fokker D.XXIs. Add to that the peace 1940-1941, which gave plenty time to practise, train new pilots and train on the new fighters.
Of course the Brewsters declined in efficiency as the war progressed and Soviet fighters were alread proving faster then the BWs in 1942, and in 1943 the Soviets already had much better planes in front line facing the BWs. The 109s from Germany helped to even the situation, but BWs still had to fight, so the BW squadron developed new tactics and flew in larger formations to counter the Soviet skills. The aerial battles were very hard during 1943 and the Finnish pilots have given high respects to the Soviet pilots for their skill and rocketing aggressiviness. But still the Brewsters had to fly and fight. Though, the Brewsters were still the 2nd best fighters of FiAF – even during 1943-1944. Other squadrons had to still fly their Fiat G.50s, Curtiss Hawk 75s and Morane-Saulnier 406/410s, and those guys had it even worse.
While Soviet equipment was, as I guess we all know, mostly somewhat lousy in the first phases of 1941, they did have modern planes as well and especially in the Eastern Karelia the Finnish pilots quickly stumbled into SOviet units with much better equipment – and more skilled Soviet pilots, that gave them very hard time. Also, the lend-lease planes from Murmansk were deployed in large numbers in the Karealia front, with various models of P-40s and Hurricanes encountered in increasing numbers during 1942. One flight of Brewsters had to be deployed to Tiiksjärvi base at one time, as the new Soviet fighters had wrestled the air superiority from the Moranes and Fokkers. It was the higher skill of Finnish pilots and their trust to their mount that allowed the Brewster pilots to deflect the Soviet blows away.
A fighter, that has a 32:1 victory ratio in aerial combat, whose top flier has 39 aerial victories in the type or when a single a/c has 41 confirmed victories on it, can’t be *that* bad, don’t you think? 🙂
Interviews of Finnish pilots, Brewster pilots included
http://www.virtualpilots.fi/hist/
Some BW pilots:
http://www.virtualpilots.fi/hist/WW2History-JoelSavonenEnglish.html
http://www.virtualpilots.fi/hist/WW2History-OlliSarantolaEnglish.html
http://www.virtualpilots.fi/hist/WW2History-PokelaEnglish.html
Other resoruces:
http://hkkk.fi/~yrjola/war/faf/brewster.html
http://www.geocities.com/ojoronen/BREWSTER.HTM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brewster_Buffalo
http://www.warbirdforum.com/buff.htm
http://www.saunalahti.fi/fta/history.htm#FINNISH%20FIGHTER%20TACTICS
http://www.saunalahti.fi/fta/finace01.htm
http://www.saunalahti.fi/fta/finace02.htm
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