The early air group is chosen for training and maintenance as much as combat. Stable piston fighters give new carrier pilots the easiest available aircraft to land, while a naval Il-10 derivative supplies torpedo attack, ground attack, and close support. Dive bombers are omitted because the speakers regard that delivery method as obsolete by the early 1950s. The Red Fleet then runs the ship hard in exercises and crew rotations while Soviet design bureaus work on reliable naval jets.
Notable Point · 29:00-36:28
The first air group favors rugged, easy-to-fly aircraft
Early Graf Zepplinski uses rugged piston aircraft to accumulate deck hours and train carrier pilots before reliable Soviet naval jets are ready.