AIRCRAFT OF THE ACES No 74 SOVIET LEND-LEASE FIGHTER ACES

By the end of 1941 the Soviet Union was near collapse and its air force almost annihilated, leaving large numbers of surviving pilots with no aircraft to fly. To help prevent the collapse the United Kingdom eventually supplied a total of 4,300 Hurricanes and Spitfires to Russia. After the United States entered the war, the Americans extended Lend-Lease to include direct supply to the Soviets as well as the British, and among the aircraft sent were almost ten thousand fighters. Although the aircraft were outdated and often unsuitable to Russian conditions, they served when they were needed, and a number of Russian pilots became Heroes of the Soviet Union flying Lend-Lease aircraft. The Soviets tried to conceal or minimise the importance of Lend-Lease fighters well into the 1980s, and the pilots who flew them were discriminated against as "foreigners". Only in recent years have these pilots felt free to admit what they flew, and now the fascinating story of these men can emerge. Features illustrations of the aircraft of prominent aces as well as some lesser known individuals who flew a variety of types including Hurricanes, Tomahawks, Kittyhawks and Airacobras. Colour artwork by Jim Laurier.