[ARC5] OT - Soviets aren't stupid, (Was TU-4 vs. B-29 Radio Sets)

[D C -Mac- Macdonald]

Along those lines, I was still working at the FAA Center 
here in Oklahoma City when the Soviets brought their 
monster jumbo jet in for an air show. I didn't get a 
chance to board and have a peek (for various reasons). 
Some of the FAA engineering and inspection types did 
and stated that it appeared to be put together rather 
crudely. 
 
Whether it is engineering, manufacturing, poor quality 
of pilots or a combination of those factors, Russian 
aviation has an absolutely terrible safety record.
 
* * * * * * * * * * * 
* 73 - Mac, K2GKK/5 * 
* (Since 30 Nov 53) * 
* k2gkk at hotmail.com * 
* Oklahoma City, OK * 
* USAF & FAA (Ret.) * 
* * * * * * * * * * * 
 
 
 

 

> From: vk2bcu at operamail.com
> To: kk5f at arrl.net; arc5 at mailman.qth.net
> Date: Thu, 29 Nov 2012 07:30:35 +1100
> Subject: [ARC5] OT - Soviets aren't stupid, (Was TU-4 vs. B-29 Radio Sets)
> 
> 
> On Thu, Nov 29, 2012, at 4:04, Mike Morrow wrote:
> > > There are stories of how even repair patches to cover battle damage on the
> > > impounded B-29s were copied... as well as the interior paint job. Seems the
> > > factory had run out of green chromate primer, and painted part of the inside
> > > of one B-29 with white lead. Supposedly the insides of Tu-4s were 
> > > green-and-white, as a result.
> 
> > 
> > Yes, those stories have been around forever. I don't believe a bit of
> > it. The Soviets were not stupid, regardless of the desire of many in the USA to
> > believe that mythology.
> > 
> > Mike / KK5F
> 
> Yes, Mike. 
> I would like to change your "were not" to "are not" stupid. I once
> worked with a marine engineer who spent some time in Africa working on
> Russian-built locos. He told me that at first appearance the Russian
> locos appeared primative. After working on them he had great respect
> for the design. Every aspect of maintenance had been considered, and a
> Russian-built loco would last forever. The Russians, my friend said,
> were very clever.
> 
> The same appears in other designs. The T-34 was superior to the German
> Panzer Mk I to Mk 4, and when the Germans produced the super-heavy
> Tigers the Russians had already countered with the JS-II. At 2/3 the
> weight the JS-II can (or could) take a direct hit from a Tiger at 800m
> (and survive). That's impressive. Then (on the small scale) there
> was the Russian PPSh-41 machine pistol (or sub-machine gun); this was
> the second most-used machine pistol used by the German army. Search
> for PPSh-41 using Wikipedia. In the first photograph you will see a
> German soldier sitting in the ruins of Stalingrad - cradling a Russian
> PPSh-41 machine pistol. In the second photo you see a German soldier
> surrendering to a Russian - who carries as PPSh-41.
> 
> The Soviet (or Communist) system has flaws - the same flaws as we see in
> the democratic system. This is that we humans always grab power, use it
> for our own end, and won't give it up. The genius of the democratic
> system is a recognition of this tendancy. The democratic solution is a
> system that sees (or puts) power in the ballot box. To date the ballot
> box has always won over human nature, but I'm not sure it always will. 
> I'm OT, but I felt your observation that "Soviets are not stupid"
> deserves some support. 
> 
> Les
> 
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