Soviet pilot-fighter WWII

Soviet aviation was not prepared for the beginning of the Great Patriotic War badly, but literally in the first months of active combat operations the skills of the pilots improved significantly. As with the defensive and offensive operations of the army, the fighter pilot is an indispensable figure. That's why we'll talk about the role of Soviet aviation in the victory over Germany.

Ivan Kozhedub - the most productive Soviet pilot of the Great Patriotic War

Ivan Kozhedub was born in 1920. The birthplace of the hero is the village of Obrazievka, Sumy region (Ukraine). Soviet pilot-fighter in his childhood and did not dream of doing aviation. After graduating from the school in 1934, Kozhedub entered the Shostka Chemical-Technological College. By the way, after moving to Shostka, Ivan begins to practice at the local flying club. He was drafted into the army in 1940, just before the war with fascist Germany began. In September 1940, Kozhedub, as part of the army service, completed training at the aviation school in Chuguyev.

In battles began to take part not immediately, because in July 1941 the school, where he had already worked as an instructor, was evacuated to the Kazakh city of Shymkent. Since November 1942 he moved to Ivanovo, where he is included in the newly formed regiment.

From 1943 to 1945, made 330 sorties, and in 120 cases Kozhedub entered into an air battle. Analyzing the statistics of many pilots of the Red Army, we see that such an indicator of effectiveness is not present at all. Well, what can we say about the rate of victories! In 120 air battles, the fighter pilot shot down 64 enemy aircraft. The effectiveness and success of personal fights three times Hero of the Soviet Union against enemy pilots amounted to more than 50%. For two years of participation in battles Kozhedub flew on airplanes of three models (LA-5, LA-5FN, LA-7).

The uniqueness of the history of this pilot is that he came to aviation literally a year before the outbreak of the war. In his assets there is not a single victory in the group. This indicates that he was the strongest individual pilot of the Red Army. Fighter pilots of the Second World War, the results of which are close to Kozhedub's indicators, all had experience of participating in aerial battles during the Civil War in Spain.

Skomorokhov Nikolai Mikhailovich - one of the highest scores in the number of combat sorties

Nikolai Mikhailovich - one-man Ivan Kozhedub. But this is only official. The fact that he really came into being in 1922, but he attributed himself two years - the practice in those years was widespread. The youth had no other choice, because most of the families lived poorly and it was necessary to go to work at the plant, so that the family had an extra penny. He was born in Saratov province (Lapot village).

Graduated from the school in 1935. Then he followed the usual path of the Soviet worker-he graduated from the FZU. Then he worked at the plant in Astrakhan. Like Kozhedub, he joined the army in 1940, however, a few months later. Aviation training, he, like many other military fighter pilots, was held at the Bataysk Aviation School.

The first combat mission Skomorokhov committed in December 1942. Victory way one of the record holders in the number of departures began with the airfield of the city of Adler. In terms of effectiveness (the number of downed enemy aircraft), its performance is worse than that of Kozhdub, but not in every battle is the pilot's task - to shoot down enemy units of equipment. And it was not in every sortie that the task was to engage in an air battle. For example, a fighter pilot could deliver some cargo to a hot spot.

So, let's analyze Skomorokhov's statistics. During the war he made 605 sorties. Took part in 143 battles with the enemy. 24% of the flights ended in battles with enemy aircraft. In them Nikolai Skomorokhov shot down 46 planes personally and 8 - in a group with other pilots. Total can be considered - 54 wins.

By the way, these are not all planes destroyed by Nikolai Mikhailovich. Yes, not only Soviet aircraft were destroyed without a fight, on the ground. In his active three such personal victories.

What do we know about the pilot Alexander Klubov?

A little, but we will try to correct this omission. The fact is that the earliest surnames of the most effective pilots were heard, but there were many other heroes who made a huge contribution to the victory of the Soviet Union over the Nazi army in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.

Kubov Alexander Fyodorovich, who perished in 1944, managed to make 457 sorties on I-153 "Chaika" and P39N "Aerocobra" planes. In his track record of 95 fights (in almost every fifth flight the fighter pilot came into conflict with the enemy). Has a lot of victories (31 personal and 19 in the group). One can only imagine how much more could this aircraft pilot shoot down if one of the fights was not the last for him.

Mikhail Baranov - one of the heroes of the war

Another Soviet ace died in 1943. It's about Mikhail Dmitrievich Baranov. Of its 285 sorties, 85 ended in a combat final. Agree, good statistics, especially if you consider the number of his victories. This fighter pilot officially recognized 24 personal victories, 28 productive battles in the group with other heroes of the sky. He also managed to destroy 6 enemy aircraft on the ground. His combat vehicle was a Yak-1.

Other heroes

The absolute record for the number of combat sorties belongs to Yakimenko Anton Dmitrievich. Official Soviet statistics of the war years says that this legendary Red Army pilot made 1055 sorties. In the battles, however, participated only 95 times. This indicates that he performed some other functions. He shot down 13 enemy planes personally and 35 in the group. Land victories have not.

It is worth paying tribute to the pilots, who absolutely deliberately went to their deaths. For example, Sytov Ivan Grigorievich. In his last air battle, a fighter pilot made an air ram of a fascist aircraft. In total, he has 250 sorties in his track record. Ivan Sytov took part in 100 battles. The percentage of the pilot's performance is also impressive. In these 100 battles, he shot down 26 enemy aircraft personally and 4 in the group.

Conclusion

The pilots-fighters of the Great Patriotic War made a huge contribution to the cause of the Great Victory over the fascist enemy. Many of them were awarded the title of "Hero of the Soviet Union". Unfortunately, many also received this posthumously. Their names and exploits will forever remain in the memory of our people as an example of inimitable patriotism, heroism.

They deserve such memory with their exploits!