(Caudillo de España, por la gracia de Dios).

(Caudillo de España, por la gracia de Dios).

Due to a type mismatch i send my draft, in place of the final text.

Some precisions:

"The I-15 "Chato" were not brand new". No they were weared and used before in soviet service. It wad delivered from october 36 until summer of 1937.

"So for the R-Zet" production stopped in 1936, no other commands for 1937. But deliveries because of the industrial inertia were to continue in the beginning of 1937.

"Some 90 in august": I meant some 90 I-16 tip 10 "SuperMoscas" delivered from french frontier in August 1938

"for the remaining 93 ones" 62 I-16 tip 5 from may to june 1937 deliveries. The take over 10 republican pilots lives due to crashes, before faulty wings were reinforced, and some other unknown number before and during Brunete battle, during accidents occured in front line units in operations and erroneouesly classified as combat losses.

And 31 first I-16 tip 10 new generation 4 guns fighters in march 1938, that had 2 more guns in fuselage, provinding jums. New M-25V engine overheating problems and once again some wing loosing cases.

"The last complete order of battle maid in the very end of 1939" 1938 of course

Regards

Yes yes, of course. German fighter pilots shot down 409 aircrafts, the Flak 59 others.

Spanish franquists destroyed some 295 others
Italian Volunteers 943, some 40 of the on the ground. (The gap from different publications goes from 703 confirmed + 173 unconfirmed italian kills, up to 1 100).

If i'm not wront it arleady makes 1756, no?

I don't know how many kills are claiming altogether nationalist (spanish + italian + german) bombers, reconnaissance and assault planes, and floatplanes crews. Also for the rest of the anti aircraft artillery both on groud and sea…I bet i would be some "hundreds" with infantry guns, so it should make no less than 2000 claims!

Right?

The problem is that the republican airforce recieved never more than 750 "valuable" planes from outside (1).

(1) 648 from soviet union.
131 I-15, 276 I-16, 92 SB, 93 R-Zet, 31 R-5SSS, 4 Uti.*

*Crossover verified both from soviet marine and republican service of the material accounts, each side.

In detail:

21 I -15 bis in 1939 that had virtually no time to serve.

The I-15 "Chato" were not brand new, but used and weared since the plane was no longer produced since the end of 1935. So for the R-Zet, that encountered so much technical problems in soviet service that Markov, the chief engeener of the program was awarded by a ticket to the goulag.

The R-5 SSS provided reliable but useless; -it was produced since 1928, and officially considered as absolete from 1932! It was unsurprisingly to slow and vulnerable for its assault mission and quikcly withdrawn from day to night missions.

The modern SB was suffering some from teething troubles and some manufacture quality problems.

The worst situation was encountered with the I-16. From the total number only 31 I-16 than went in Spain in november 1936 and 62 others in august 1937 could be honestly considered as "operationnal".
Some 90 in august others should be considered due to severe technical problems as half -operational, or totaly defective and dangerous to fly for the remaining 93 ones.

The most tragical situation occured in may -june 1937 batches that were 100% industrial wreckages, serialy loosing wings and stucking engines.

From France went less than 50 combat planes:
14 to 26 D-371 and D-372
5 Loire 46
2 D-510 airframes, without their canon-engines, those being considered as secret was taken back by french authorities. The same secret Hispano engine was on the same time used by soviet SB bombers flying in spain and by the Polikarpov experimental I-17 fighter that was exposed in Paris aviation show…
Some 14 and might be 18 or 20 (or might not) famous Malraux's Potez 54 bombers.
6 ex US civilian modified Vultee V-1.
2 Holland's Fokker D-21 homebuid kits, "do it by yourself" without engine. Some 28 Koolhoven trainers 51, desesperatly used for front line duties…
Some 7 Tchekh Aero and 17 Letov planes.

Of course 34 ex-canadian GE-23 Grumman biplane biplanes fighters…

I won't extend myself on poor french GL-32 1925's "fighters" recovered from armée de l'air plane's cimitery and other museum "stars".

Despite on that du to some superior soviet planes conception (not manufacturing standards), republican faught back well.

The last complete order of battle maid in the very end of 1939 was still comprising 289 combat plaines.

Some others were lost until the beginning of february in the air, but i swear it was far from 1476 (1756 -289), moreover some served in the postwar Franco's air force.

On the other side german lost 19 pilots , so ( 20 -30? ) planes in the action, italian (12 -15 ?) franquists (4 -10 ?) keeping the same accuracy as in this previous rewiew.

If we consider some 36 -55 planes only lost, why not?

Now if we consider the nationalist air force order of balle of the 23.12.38 we can see 485 planes.

The franquist side recieved about from1350 planes related from various western sources and up to 1650 from soviet NKVD records.

So where the hell went away the others 1295 (1350 -55) to 1614 (1650 -36) franquist planes? Taken over by green martiens in twilight zone?

Once that said, i will add that despite inferior numbers and harsh maintenance problems it seems that republican air force fought by well.
Once well builded, the I-16 was more than a match for german and italian fighters. It was globally as fast as the bf 109 B, C, D but much more nimble, and could outurn and generaly outfought them with ease. It's why german's were obliged to use onlt "boom and zoom" tactics to overcome this plane.
It was outperforming the Fiat CR-32 by full 120 km/h (450 to 330 in soviet trials) and still stay in a dogfight with it do to it short time of turn (15 secunds for a full tirning circle) virtually equivalent to the Fiat's one (13.5s). The sole better narrow margin for the Fiat, was it shorter radius of turn. But the italian plane was hugely beaten in vertical figures.

The I-15 was as fast as the Fiat, but outurned (8.5s the 360° circle), and outclimbed it with ease.

The He-51in turn was weaker than the Italian plane, and being no match for soviet fighters.

A well-working SB-2, with no engine bugs, was difficult to intercept due to it's high speed (406 to 435 km/h) even for Messerschmitts ( 465* to 420**)

465* german data
420** soviet NII-VVS real trials (430 from combat reports).

By the way to M. Jairo Fernandez Fernandez, all french planes wen in spain without guns and synchronisers. Bot some aviation guns joined later by smuggling…

German fighter Staffeln in Spain lost 19 pilots killed in action,

Other left wing political parties reached much better results and most of them were very, very, very moderate. If the socialists – a non communist workers party – got 88 MPs , the liberals did even better all together : the republican left got 79 MPs, the republican Union -By the way, a centrist party- got 34 MPs and the Catalonian left got 22 MPs… All of them were members of the Popular Front. ¡ALL OF THEM! They joined each other because the most important objective for them was to safeguard our first democratic regime ever, and it was menaced by those in front including the bulk of the army. To obtain that they were voted by 4.654.116 Spaniards.

It is also shocking to read how you give so much relevance to the Communist Party because it was not present at the resulting government.,not even the socialists were. There was not a single communist or socialist Minister or Secretary It. Yes, there was a republican government but made of republicans which means democratic liberals -Their political Philosophy was the same than the british liberals- that didn't want a monarchy in Spain. And, yes, supported some kind social reform .

At that time there were only 30.000 communist militants and the didn't hold a single power porition not even a regional or local one at least in the mayor cities and towns and in most of the small villages. They only became powerful during the war when the western democracies INCLUDING YOURS denied any kind of real help, and declined even to sell weapons to the republican side , Weapons that Spain could pay,- WE ASKED YOU FIRST AND HAVE LOTS OF DOCUMENTS ABOUT THAT-. At the end only the Soviet Union sold a sufficient amount of weaponry and equipment. So Many people first felt betrayed an afterwards… You can imagine… Do you Know that Franklin D Roosvelt, Your president at the momment thought he committed and error not supporting the republican side? The papers are in your country you should know…

The acusation of being communists was only a part of the narrative of those opposed to the democratic regime in Spain and any suggestion or misconception in that sense is propaganda made by those who were supported by Fascist Italia an Nazi Germany. By those – members of Franco's dictatorship- that afterwards supported Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany in World war Two. The same Nazis that committed Valmy Massacre on American soldiers. Don't you remenber Valmy ? Do you like those who did it? We suffered that for decades.

Cold War is over and fortunately, you won. So, please stop doing that. Spanish exilees fought side by side with you everywere in Europe. They organised the first resistance movement in France, It was a republican Spaniard who killed the first german during the ocupation. It happened in Parisand the dead was a captain of the Wermacht. At the end 1 in Four members of the maquis were republican Spaniards so we prepared the way for Normandy. We also suffered and fought the holocaust: the Spanish republican inmates were exterminated at Gusen -2.000- and liberated Mauthausen Concentration Camp by rebelling just before your troops arrived…. Even more, the photographs taken by the Spaniard Francisco Boix at that concentration camp were used to condem Nazi criminals at the Nuremberg proccess – He proved that Speer had beebn there- ….I would only ask you to treat us differently, because we were forgotten and despised allies.
You always say you freed Europe but you did not free Spain. At the moment we owe you nothing.

By the way the Dewoitine D.372 arrived to Spain without a single machine gun. ¡Very useful help!

72 aircraft by direct enemy action and 160 through accidents. In terms of lives, 298 Luftwaffe personell was KIA. Republican sources claims even higher losses until the Arrival of the bf-109D in 38.

The Legion shot down 386 enemy aircraft, of which 59 were downed by the anti-aircraft batteries

It seems that this article is based Moelders book, and other third reich sources.