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Russian panel stencils - the myth ?
An old retired AF maintenance tech told me a story recently of a tour he took around the museum at Nellis a few years after he retired from the service. As the tour guide showed them around the Russian cold war jets they had on display my buddy commented about how thorough USAF had been to add English stencilling under the Russian stencils on the aircraft access panels. The tour guide stopped and proceeded to tell the assembled group of old vets that USAF had not added the English text, it was put there by the Russians as it was part of their war plan to operate from captured bases in the west and use our aircraft technicians as slave labor. This always struck me as a myth intended to make a cool story - anyone know if there is any truth to it? |
Personal view? hahahahahahaha :D |
The examples in the museum were export variants obtain from countries like Egypt, and so had stencils in English as a “lingua Franca” |
Originally Posted by Timelord
(Post 10180859)
The examples in the museum were export variants obtain from countries like Egypt, and so had stencils in English as a “lingua Franca” |
But they were capable of using NATO connections for fuel.
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That was mentioned as well Pontius, apparently with a connection adapter that was widely available ?
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Slave labor line aircraft techs makes about as much sense as slave labor cooking your food in the kitchen.
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Yup, a little knowledge would ensure a one way trip for the said aircraft, oxygen in tyres, nuts and bolts down intakes, pipes loosened, seat oxygen serviced with nitrogen, seats disconnected, fuel contaminated... The list goes on.. I read an article on FW190 deliveries with slave labour built engines, quite a few strangely never made it Wasn't the old SLR musket incapable of firing Russain ammo, but the AK was capable of using ours? |
Originally Posted by NutLoose
(Post 10180959)
Wasn't the old SLR musket incapable of firing Russain ammo, but the AK was capable of using ours? Ours was 7.62x51 theirs 7.62x39 (well, I think 39 but it was definitely the shorter one). That x51 and x39 being the length of the cartridge in mm (so, not including the bullet), their chamber would have been shorter. Jamming our round in there would not have gone well. Very likely we could have chambered their rounds. Best regards, T. |
Originally Posted by Fonsini
(Post 10180920)
That was mentioned as well Pontius, apparently with a connection adapter that was widely available ?
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Originally Posted by air pig
(Post 10180980)
Were not some of the weapon shackels etc a common fit?
Not faint however is what my boss said about WE177. He reckoned about 30 minutes to break the electronics. I guess Judy rigging the control box from a Bucc or Jag would have been easy too. |
Originally Posted by Fonsini
(Post 10180851)
..... it was put there by the Russians as it was part of their war plan to operate from captured bases in the west and use our aircraft technicians as slave labor. This always struck me as a myth intended to make a cool story - anyone know if there is any truth to it? |
IRC their ground power connectors were also NATO compatible. MiG 21 stores attachments were different and not NATO 14 /30 inch compatible .
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Originally Posted by Timelord
(Post 10180859)
The examples in the museum were export variants obtain from countries like Egypt, and so had stencils in English as a “lingua Franca” Thus "lingua franca" - a Portuguese term, lifted by the Anglo-Saxons, describing French as a universal language |
Which is why English has le mot juste for every occasion. :ok:
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In order to make things work even without understanding any stenciled language they had colored positioning dots on every panel opening and on every screw to make sure everything gets set up and locked right. Soviet military conscripts were not necessarily from Russia but maybe from central asia back then.
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I've come across Russian kit in other fields and they really do think about who is going to be using it and in what conditions. To us it may look like a grossly over sized lever painted an awful colour - but if the guy operating it is in -20C with great big mits on and (as you say) may not be a fluent Russian speaker "always pull the big GREEN one -" has a lot of merit.......
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Originally Posted by Less Hair
(Post 10181333)
In order to make things work even without understanding any stenciled language they had colored positioning dots on every panel opening and on every screw to make sure everything gets set up and locked right.
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I don’t know about English stencilling, but I’ve always wondered why Russian / Soviet cockpits were all some gopping shade of blue? Is it supposed to be relaxing??!! |
You mean just like the US? |
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