The American military historical literature on the conflict in Korea created the following picture of events, which became widely known: the few American pilots of the F-86 were opposed by hordes of MiGs, and for every downed Saber there were 15 Soviet planes. As with any propaganda, it had, as a rule, a very distant relation to the truth. It is known that Soviet aircraft often reigned supreme in the air above the MiG Alley. The ratio of their victories to losses was 2-3 to 1 with the numerical superiority of the US aviation, the pilots of which, realizing who they had to deal with, and deservedly awarded their Soviet colleagues the nickname "honcho", meaning in its original "commander" (Japanese). The article below tells about the arrival of the "red commanders" in Korea.
The emergence of state-of-the-art MiGs in the Korean skies had the effect of a bomb exploding in the corridors of the US Air Force High Command. The "high ranks" rightly feared, first, of losing their superiority over the entire Korean territory and, second, of being thrown into the sea due to the massive arrival of Chinese troops in North Korea from Manchuria. The most modern combat aircraft, which the Americans had at their disposal: F-86A Saber (4th Fighter Wing) and F-84E Thunderjet (27th escort wing), were instantly deployed to the combat zone. During the first battles, which took place on December 17, 22 and 24, 1950, the parties lost three (USSR) and two (USA) fighters: the de facto communists lost their initial air superiority.
During January-February 1951, the activity of Sabers on the territory of the MiG Alley (a conventional name meaning the area between the Yalujiang River, the Yellow Sea and an imaginary line passing between the cities of Pyongyang and Wonsan) was zero, because American airbases near Seoul were captured by Chinese troops. The erroneous statement by Soviet pilots about eleven of their victories over the F-86 led to the fact that the Soviet command misinterpreted the absence of enemy aircraft in the air (as if the enemy silently admitted defeat) and made the mistake of recalling both formations from the front (29th Guards Fighter Aviation regiment (GIAP) and the 177th Fighter Aviation Regiment (IAP) of the 50th Fighter Aviation Division (IAD). So, Soviet aviation in its fight against "Sabers" in the theater of operations was now represented only by newcomers of the 28th and 72nd GIAP 151st IAD.
It is reliably known that these regiments brilliantly intercepted eighteen four-engine B-29 bombers (98th Bomber Wing, marching without cover, and caused serious damage to nine of them (three aircraft crashed on the territory of Daegu airbase, making an emergency landing); however, in subsequent battles (12 and 17 March) Soviet pilots failed in an attempt to intercept the F-80S Shooting Star, a model that was by no means the latest advancement in military technology. 80. In the second battle, the only victory of the Soviet side was the MiG ram of Lieutenant Vasily Dubrovin F-80S, also piloted by Lieutenant Howard Landry (both pilots were killed.) After such events, it is not surprising that at the end of March, after the invasion of F-86, the Soviet side was missing three their planes - the Americans themselves did not suffer a single loss.
There are several reasons for such a mediocre debut: it was mainly a lack of experience among the young pilots from the said regiments. However, there is also the fact of post-war cuts in defense spending: Soviet air regiments stationed in the Far East carried out only the minimum required number of training flights. An important factor that affected, as we will see in this a little later, and more experienced aviation units, was the order to communicate by radio exclusively in Korean or Chinese; one can easily imagine the consequences that this command had, especially during the air combat itself.
Bad start
At that time, two new regiments were transferred to the Chinese airfields in the rear (Anshan and Liaoshu): the 176th GIAP and the 196th IAP of the 324th IAD. The best Soviet pilots of that time served in these units, in addition, under the command of Colonel I. N. Kozhedub - ace "number one" of the Great Patriotic War, three times Hero of the Soviet Union (the highest Soviet military award). However, the combat debut of the new arrivals left, to put it mildly, much to be desired: on April 3, the Sabers shot down 3 MiGs (176th regiment); even the victory won by Captain Ivan Yablokov over the Saber piloted by Major Ronald Shirlow was very weak consolation. The American pilot, in turn, managed to successfully land near the village of Fenian, despite the fact that the fuel tanks of his plane were pierced. Both the pilot and his aircraft were captured. However, the plane was destroyed during the F-84 Thunderjet raid. By the way, the US Air Force still officially ascribes this loss to "malfunctions in the fuel system", while the Yablokov photo-machine gun leaves no doubt about the reason for this "malfunction" - an impact flurry of 23mm shells (!). The next day, Lieutenant Fedor Akimovich Shebanov managed to take partial revenge by shooting down the second F-86A. The Americans still do not recognize the losses they suffered that day, but Shebanov's victory is indisputable, since a group of Soviet technicians under the leadership of Major VP Zhuchenko managed to find the wreckage of the crashed Saber exactly at the location indicated by the young pilot.
The reason for such insignificance of achievements was the same order, which forbade the pilots to negotiate in Russian during the battle. But this time the cup of patience was overflowing and the commanders of both regiments (Evgeny Pepelyaev and A. S. Belov will not cancel this order. Belov, who was on the verge of deciding to dismiss both daredevils, had to surrender when their protest was supported by Colonel Kozhedub, who, in addition, wanted to send a letter justifying the entire absurdity of the order to Stalin. His intervention played a major role in resolving this issue, and Belov canceled the order the very next day.
Changing the course of events that has become habitual
Immediately after that, fortune finally smiled on the Soviet pilots. On April 7, 1951, a group of 16 B-29 bombers (307th BK), accompanied by 48 Thunderjet aircraft (27th combat escort wing (BCS)) and 16 F-80S (designed for destruction of the Chinese air defense), attacked the bridges over Yalujiang in Wujiu, just a few kilometers from the main Soviet airfield, located in Andung. To intercept them, 30 MiGs of the 176th GIAP climbed. Despite the numerical superiority of the Americans (due to escort aircraft), several MiGs easily managed to break through the defenses from the F-84, after which one of the bombers was shot down by Captain Ivan Suchkov. His comrade-in-arms, Lieutenant Boris Aleksandrovich Obraztsov, in turn, shot down one of the F-80s, and his pilot John Thompson died. According to the US Air Force, this plane fell victim to the Chinese air defense.
April 10 was an outstanding day for the pilots of the 196th IAP: during the battle, Lieutenant Shebanov attacked the F-86A N49-1093 and inflicted such serious damage on it that even though the pilot who had piloted it (who remained unknown) managed to reach Kimpo, the plane - as absolutely beyond repair - was written off. An hour later, Captain Alexander Fedorovich Vasko (veteran of the Great Patriotic War) and his wingman Anatoly Gogolev "cleared the sky" from two more F-80S piloted by Robert Lemke (captured) and Edward Alpern (died), respectively. And finally, some time later, Captain Viktor Aleksandrovich Nazarkin riddled the third Shooting Star, piloted by Douglas Mateson, which crashed just two and a half kilometers from his base in Taegu (the pilot was killed). On that day, the Soviet side suffered no losses.
The case for a test of strength fell to the pilots on April 12, 1951. On that day, American aircraft launched a large-scale attack on the railway and conventional bridges that crossed Yalujiang in the Wujiu region. The raid was attended by 48 B-29A bombers (from the 19th, 98th and 307th BK), accompanied by 18 Sabers (4th Fighter Wing), 34 F-84E (27th BKS) and, in addition, also 24 F-80S, whose task was to destroy the air defense. Against this air group, which consisted of 124 aircraft, the Soviet side was able to deploy only 44 MiG-17s from the 176th and 196th regiments (by no means 75, as American sources of that time assured). Thus, the numerical ratio of American and Soviet aircraft in the air was practically 3 to 1, respectively. However, both Koshel and Pepeliaev were well aware that, nevertheless, there was an advantage on their side: acting as escort aircraft, US aircraft (mainly Sabers) were traveling at a speed not exceeding the speed of the leisurely B-29 - 700 km / h, and at an altitude of 7000 meters. Knowing this, they gave their pilots the appropriate instructions: to wait at an altitude of 10,000 meters for the appearance of the formation of American aircraft and, when it appeared, at a speed of 900 km / h, dive from different directions on them - whether they were bombers or their escorts (the Sabers did not possess neither maneuverability, nor the ability to gain altitude and stop the MiG). Thus, at 9:37 in the morning, with the appearance of American aircraft in the air, a real phantasmagoria began: Soviet pilots intercepted the fifth wave of bombers, the escort group of which was actually unable to prevent this in any way. In less than 10 minutes (from 9:37 to 9:44), ten V-29A and three F-80S either fell into the sea, engulfed in flames, or retired, having received such serious damage that they were forced to make an emergency landing in the South Korea (while the B-29 base was located on the island of Okinawa in Japan).
One of the "Superfortress" (B-29A N42-65369, 93rd bomber squadron, attacked by Milaushkin, was forced to make an emergency landing in Kadena; the plane crashed, and the subsequent fire destroyed it completely. But Kramarenko's victim was not really F -84, and F-80C N49-1842 (35th squadron of fighter bombers of the 8th Bomber Wing), designed to destroy air defense.
Both Kramarenko and Milaushkin were from the 176th GIAP, which, without suffering a single loss, gathered the richest harvest in the air that day: 7 out of 10 B-29s and 3 F-80Ss. The 196th IAP accounts for three remaining bombers and one lost MiG, most likely shot down by Captain James Jabara, who was piloting the Saber. The results of that battle were exaggerated by both sides. The Americans did everything possible to reduce the scale of their defeat - for this purpose they attributed to themselves several more fictitious victories: 4 MiGs - allegedly shot down by F-86 pilots, and 6 - B-29 victims who fell victims (we repeat, that day only one MiG). The Soviet side, intoxicated by the taste of victory, announced the destruction of 12 V-29s, 4 F-80s and 2 F-86s. The destruction of a dozen Superfortresses and three Shooting Stars and, at the same time, only the only loss on their part, is undoubtedly an epoch-making achievement, especially considering both the professionalism of the enemy and his numerical superiority. From that day on, the Americans began to pay tribute to their opponents - and the Soviet pilots received the nickname "commanders".
I must say that the Americans were not mistaken: the number of US aircraft (LA) that were damaged or shot down by the Soviet side in April was 25, of which only 4 F-86, while the number of MiGs shot down during this period was only 8 It is obvious that from that time on, air combat acquired the character of an exam that was not passed on time for Soviet pilots; it should be noted that in the future they had, in spite of everything, his worthy surrender.
Clash of the titans I
After a massacre of this scale, B-29s stopped raiding the Alley territory for a whole month and a half. The remainder of April and most of May saw, in general, a very small number of air battles. This respite ended abruptly: on May 20, 1951, a battle took place between 28 Sabers (from the 334th and 336th BEI) and 30 MiGs from the 196th IAP (by no means the 50th, as the American sources).
During the battle, despite an unsuccessful attempt to dump the fuel tank, Captain James Jabara made the decision not to leave the line. During his first attack, Jabara suddenly appeared behind Captain Nazarkin's MiG and, despite the latter's desperate attempts to evade, flashed his plane with several bursts of 12.7mm machine guns, thus forcing the Soviet pilot to abandon his MiG. Driven by the "hunter's instinct", Jabara launched an attack on the second MiG, which he also managed to knock out. When the outcome of the duel was already almost obvious, the American had to experience the greatest disappointment in his life:
Captain James J. Jabara: “Suddenly I heard a sound that seemed to be making some kind of popcorn machine working in the cockpit itself. In the whirlpool around me, I noticed two MiGs shooting at me, and both were in an advantageous position! Camp [Camp - slave narrator. - Author's note] tried to approach me from the side, but was attacked by another pair of MiGs, so he was, to put it mildly, not up to me. Damn difficult situation! …"
Jabara, who died in a car accident in 1966, was never destined to find out that the MiG that attacked him was piloted by Vladimir Alfeev, who, in turn, reported the following after the battle:
Lieutenant Vladimir Alfeev: "… In an air battle on May 20, 1951, during the time period 15.06-15.50 (16: 06-16: 50) in the Tetsuzan area (now Cholsan - Ed. Ed.), I shot down one enemy aircraft of the F-86 type After 4 rounds from a distance of 600-300m under a 0/4 angle, the enemy aircraft, which had one outboard tank, began to fall, poorly controlled …"
Jabara was on the verge of complete defeat; he was saved only by the fact that two other F-86s came to his aid, one of which was piloted by Rudolf Hawley:
Captain James J. Jabara: "A helping hand was given to me by two F-86s, who left the battle and hurried to the rescue. My God, how handsome they seemed to me then! One of the MiGs, seeing that one of the F-86s was already on the way to us, retreated, but the second continued to shoot at me. However, he came into the field of view of Holly, the pilot of one of these F-86s, who were going to help, who opened fire on him …"
Lieutenant Vladimir Alfeev: "… At the time of the attack, I was attacked by an F-86 enemy aircraft, at which my wingman Senior Lieutenant Shebanov was firing, and I left the attack to the right upwards and did not observe the exact place, I did not see the fall."
In fact, Jabara's F-86 (N49-1318) never crashed - the pilot managed to masterfully reach the Suwon airfield. As the pilot's personal technician testifies, upon landing, the Saber looked so damaged by the heavy 37mm and 23mm shells that it did not even have a thought to try to repair it - so the plane was immediately decommissioned.
This is only the first victory of the Soviet pilots on that day; other F-86s were shot down by Russian MiGs, one of which was piloted by the commander of the 196th IAP, Colonel Yevgeny Georgievich Pepeliaev. The Saber downed by him was the first on the list of his 19 aerial victories:
Colonel Yevgeny Pepelyaev: "… on May 20, between 15.08-15.58 in an air battle with a group, F-86, I fired at the F-86 from a range of 500-600m. During the firing, I saw shell hits and their explosions on the wings and plane, after which the plane from the left bank made a right turn ".
The deadly 37mm shells fired by Pepeliaev hit not only the right wing of the F-86 (N49-1080), piloted by Captain Milton Nelson, but also the ammunition load, which caused the explosion and the consequent consequences, very sad for the Saber.
By some miracle, Nelson managed to reach the Yellow Sea on his ill-fated plane, where he ejected. On that day, Captain Max Weill shared his fate, the Saber was overtaken by MiG-15 shells piloted by Nikolai Konstantinovich Kirisov. Weill also made it to Suwon, but his plane was decommissioned virtually immediately after landing. These incidents, as well as the intervention of the commander of the 4th Fighter Group, Colonel Glenn Eagleston, caused the US Air Force to stop using 12.7mm M-23 rounds. They were replaced by others - less explosive in the event of an enemy shell hit.
Ironically, at the time this battle was hailed as a significant aerial victory for the United States Air Force, as a result of which the Sabers allegedly shot down three MiGs without suffering a single loss, while in fact the fight ended with a score of 3: 1 in favor of the Soviet pilots. In addition, Captain Jabara was mistakenly credited with two, instead of one, victories, and it was stipulated that these were the fifth and sixth victories of the pilot; at the same time, he was also proclaimed "the number one ace of the Korean War" (in fact, only four of his victories are confirmed in Soviet documents). It should be noted that both Alfeev and Jabara are now recognized aces, on account of which 7 and 15 aerial victories, respectively. Thus, this was the first Battle of the Titans - the aces of the two opposing sides and, undoubtedly, it was a victory for the Soviet side.
Power inequality
Both before and after 1992, American historians have always emphasized that in April-May 1951, about 200 Chinese MiGs were deployed on the territory of Manchuria (at that time, the mention of this country did not imply the participation of the Soviet Union in the conflict), against which they could put up only 48 F-86A: the ratio of forces in favor of the Chinese was, according to them, more than 4 to 1. This information is false: at that time there were only the mentioned Soviet 176th and 196th GIAPs in Manchuria, which had only 62 MiG-15. Taking into account the above figures, elementary mathematical calculations represent the ratio of 4 (USSR) to 3 (USA). In reality, taking into account the number of other UN aircraft models (F-84, F-80 and F-51 fighters, B-29 and B-26 bombers), and continuing the calculations, it turns out that the Soviet side was opposed by at least 700 LA. This changes the original ratio from 4 to 1 to almost 11 to 1, and … in favor of the Americans themselves! This state of affairs gave rise to the bitter commentary of Colonel Kozhedub: "There were only two regiments of us, and all imperialism was against us!"
More "commanders"
Kozhedub's request for reinforcements reached Stalin, and at the end of May, the 303rd division arrived at the rear Chinese airfields, which, unlike Kozhedub's division, had three regiments: the 17th and 523rd IAP, as well as the 18th GIAP. It is also very important that many of the newly arrived pilots were veterans of the Second World War (for example, Commander Georgy Ageevich Lobov had 19 downed fascist aircraft), as well as the fact that the rest of the pilots were real masters of flying - in their skills to the pilots The US Air Force was soon to be convinced by its own experience.
Then the commander-in-chief of the UN forces, General Ridgway, gave the order to launch a bombing campaign known as "Strangle" (Suppression). Its goal was to paralyze Chinese and North Korean supply lines by striking North Korean main bridges, railroad tracks and intersections of major roads. It goes without saying that by the time American bombers and fighter-bombers appeared on the Alley, the elite of the Soviet aviation prepared a warm welcome for them.
On June 1, 1951, ten MiG-15s of the 18th GIAP, headed by Captain Antonov, soared into the air. Their task was to intercept four B-29s and cover them in the same number of F-86s going to the railway bridge in Kwaksan. Lieutenant Evgeny Mikhailovich Stelmakh, who closed the group, was the only Soviet pilot in whose field of vision bombers fell, which he attacked after leaving the formation. At the same time, he tried to notify his comrades about this, but, apparently, his radio was working intermittently, tk. all MiGs continued to return home. Yevgeny Stelmakh opened fire from three cannons of his MiG-15bis at one of the Superfortresses (N44-86327) and the flames engulfed the plane, which entered its last, uncontrolled dive. Stelmakh also managed to inflict serious damage on another B-29 (N44-86335), which was forced to make an emergency landing in Daegu, after which it was decommissioned due to its absolute unsuitability. Apparently believing that he would be covered, the Soviet pilot was suddenly attacked by cover fighters. The plane of EM Stelmakh was shot down by Captain Richard Ransbottom, who was piloting the F-86A "Saber". Within a few minutes, the Soviet pilot was forced to eject. The worst thing is that this happened over the territory controlled by the UN, and immediately after landing on the Soviet pilot, a real hunt began. The pilot managed to avoid capture for several hours, but soon only a few cartridges remained in his pistol. Realizing that if he was captured, then it would become known about the participation of the Soviet Union in the conflict, Stelmakh committed suicide by shooting himself in the heart. As a result, the body of the pilot, whose self-sacrifice was marked at home by the posthumous conferment of the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, was returned to the Chinese.
A little later on the same day, a battle took place between the MiG-15, belonging to the same unit, and the F-51D, accompanying the seaplanes that evacuated the crew of the bomber shot down by Stelmakh. As a result, one of the American aircraft fell victim to the MiG-15 of Lieutenant Lev Kirillovich Shchukin:
Lieutenant L. K. Shchukin: “We were walking from the sun, and the Mustangs were perfectly observed. I gave the command to the second pair to stay at the top, and I dived myself. This was my first attack. there is no more height. The handle on myself - I get out of the attack, the leader of the second pair, Lesha Sventitsky, approached the American and slashed so hard that - "Mustang" was already startled, began to turn towards the sea. I went into the second attack - I half-turned up to him about a hundred meters and gave from three points. He fell straight down and disappeared into the waves. That's all. And I "made" the second follower instantly - went into the tail and took off."
The victim of Shchukin was F-51 N44-74614 (67th BEB of the 18th BKB), piloted by Harry Moore, who, judging by the fact that the Soviet pilot did not see him leaving his plane, died. The second F-51D (N44-14930, 2nd South African Squadron) was shot down by one of Shchukin's comrades, Captain Alexei Kalyuzhny.
Soon, these four victories were followed by new ones: the F-86, shot down on June 2 by captain Sergei Makarovich Kramarenko (176th GIAP) (curious fact: the US Air Force confirmed the death of this aircraft "as a result of an accident" three days later; the tendency to announce combat losses as casualties as a result of the accident will become especially pronounced at the end of the war), as well as the second victory, which occurred on June 6, when Lieutenant Shchukin shot down an F-80S N49-737 three kilometers northwest of Seongcheon. This time the American pilot managed to eject; he was later evacuated. All this cost the Soviet side no losses. However, new, more significant achievements were next in line.
Clash of the Titans II
June 17, 1951, from the very early morning, became a "black" day for American aviation - at 2:00 the North Korean biplane Polikarpov Po-2 "visited" the Suwon airbase, dropped a bomb that hit the F-86, which seriously damaged four other "Sabers" ", as well as inflicting damage of lesser severity to four more (all" Sabers "were from the 335th BEI). This was the first night attack - the so-called "Bed Check Charlie", the Chinese retaliatory strike on "Strangle", which lasted for the rest of the war, inflicted significant losses on the enemy and caused severe headaches for UN commanders.
At 8:50 the same day, 16 F-86 of the 335th BEI took a fight with the same number of MiG-15s from the 18th GIAP; considering that Shchukin shot down one of the enemy planes, the results of the battle were disappointing for the Americans.
Lieutenant L. K. Shchukin: “We were raised that day with the task of cutting off the Sabers from the main group, which was preparing to launch a massive bomb-assault strike. Our squadron had a special specificity - it fought only with fighters. Fight bombers and stormtroopers should have been others. There was no particular desire to fight that day, they wanted to twist around, not leading to shooting. But they did not evade the fight. And we accepted it. In that battle there were more "Sabers" than us. they come in, already the "beaks" are visible - the plastic-covered antenna of the radar sight. I turned around - the "beak" was nearby, a sheaf of fire went towards me. The American stretched, pulled after me, and then could not resist - "pecked" down. I put the plane on my back - after him - and covered with all the guns. plume."
It should be noted that Shchukin was very lucky: given that the F-86 was superior to the MiG-15 in diving, the American - be he a little more persistent - could easily cause a lot of trouble for the Soviet pilot, which, however, did not happen. Such a successful outcome provided Shchukin with a huge advantage and, being a real hunter in his essence, the Soviet pilot used the opportunity that fell to him and counterattacked. Later, he watched as his victim (F-86 N49-1335) fell, engulfed in flames, into the Yellow Sea near Seongcheon, where he crashed. However, a few minutes later, fortune turned away from him too - according to the pilot himself:
Lieutenant L. K. Shchukin: “In a terrible whirlwind, Ostapovsky broke away from me, and I went home alone. Suddenly I heard a blow on the plane, as if with a stone, and then a hail of bullets. - stuck. The splinter cut my face, the wound was such that, I apologize for the details, I reached up to my tongue with my finger through my nose. I ejected, opened my parachute. When I was hanging, they shot at me - four Sabers made two rounds …"
The man who caught Shchukin by surprise was Captain Samuel Pesakreta. The Soviet pilot had to spend about a month in the hospital, so he returned to service only at the end of August. Thus, the first clash of the parties that day ended in a draw. However, it was nothing more than an appetizer to the main course.
Approximately at 11:25 in the sky over Sensen there was a meeting of 6 MiG-15 (176th GIAP), headed by Sergei Kramarenko, and 12 F-86 (336th BEI); Considering the numerical superiority of the enemy (2 to 1), the Soviet pilots, without hesitation, dived and attacked the American fighters. In the confusion of the first seconds of the battle, both the Soviet pilots and the "Uncle Sam" pilots dispersed, and Captain Kramarenko suddenly discovered that, in addition to being left without his wingmen, he was also being attacked by three Sabers. As the pilot himself recalls:
Captain S. M. Kramarenko: "But I will return to the dive. I knew that the Saber is heavier, and therefore dives better than the MiG. Therefore, it was impossible to dive for a long time. They would catch up and shoot me. But then I saw right in front of me. cumulus clouds. I had only to direct my plane into one of them. Jumping into the cloud, I sharply turned my plane to the left by 90 degrees and after exiting the cloud I took the plane out of the dive and began to turn to the right, because I assumed that the leader " Sabrov "thinks that the MiG will dive in a straight line without turning and fly straight. And so it turned out. Below me I saw this troika, which was looking for me in vain below. Without wasting a second, I rushed at them from above. The roles have changed. Now I attacked.
But they noticed me and immediately separated: the leader with the left wingman began to turn with a decrease to the left, and the right wingman began to turn with a climb to the right. Apparently, this maneuver was worked out by them in advance. Its purpose was clear to me: it was a trap. […]
True, there were three of them, but it did not bother me then, I believed in myself and in my MiG. But I urgently had to decide who to attack. If the bottom pair, then the right wingman from above immediately attacks and knocks me down. Therefore, I chose it. He was closer to me and walked in a right turn with a climb. I dived, quickly went into its tail, took aim and opened fire from a distance of about 600 meters. It was impossible to hesitate and get closer: there were a couple of Sabers in the back. Shells hit the Saber. Apparently, one shell hit the turbine, because blue smoke escaped from the plane. The Saber banked and descended, then dived."
The commander of the 336th BEI, Lieutenant Colonel Bruce Hinton (the one who shot down the first MiG recorded on the Saber account exactly six months earlier), had the honor to watch this attack:
Lieutenant Colonel Bruce Hinton: "June 17 [1951] was a sunny day. […] My partner and I were walking about 25,000 feet [9,000 meters] above the MiG Alley. There were a lot of them on both sides, and soon I saw a lone MiG making a maneuver. Suddenly it pulled out and headed north. I began to approach, closing the distance to about 1500 feet [500 meters]. With its tail in my scope, I was ready to destroy it.
At the very moment when I started to press the trigger, between me and the MiG, whose fate hung in the balance, a Saber appeared, walking at an angle of 90 degrees relative to me and … it was not the only one! … Behind - about 500 feet [165 meters] - MiG was walking, with a red nose and stripes on the fuselage. It was Casey Jones firing a cannon at the Saber! […] While both aircraft were passing in front of me, I could see both the firing MiG, and the shells that hit the Saber, as well as fire and sparks marking the hit points on its fuselage. F-86 debris flew in the air, and some of them reached impressive sizes. Our basic rule was that no MiG was worth such a sacrifice as the F-86 pilot. "Saber" was already on fire and in order to try to save it from death, I sacrificed my indisputable victory. I had no idea who was piloting the Saber, but it was obvious that he was in very big problems.
I turned as fast as I could and headed towards them. When I finished turning, both were about 1000 feet [300 meters] lower. The MiG, overtaking its victim, quickly gained altitude, changing the direction of the turn, and was already returning to complete what it had begun. "Saber" was barely going, it seemed that he froze in anticipation of the inevitable."
Captain S. M. Kramarenko: “It was impossible to look further behind his fall - looking back, I saw that a pair of Sabers was already 500 meters behind. A little more, and both Sabers would open fire on me from 12 machine guns.
And here I, apparently, made a mistake. It was simply necessary to increase the climb angle and go up, pulling them to a great height, where the MiG has an advantage over the Sabers. But I came to this conclusion much later. Then I again made a coup under the Sabers and on a dive, directing the plane into the cloud, made a right turn in it and, coming out of the cloud, began a left combat turn. But I saw the Sabers not at the bottom, but at the back left.
Lieutenant Colonel Bruce Hinton: "Suddenly the MiG began to turn towards us. He noticed that I was approaching and began to go in my forehead. He walked very close to me - only 50 feet [16.5 meters] […] I still wonder the question: how did we manage not to collide? In those seconds we were both going to use everything possible and impossible to achieve at least some advantage over each other. We were involved in the Luftberry circle, being in which, I still achieved one small advantage, which, however, was not enough to take a position favorable for the shot."
Captain S. M. Kramarenko: "The second time my trick failed. The Sabers walked around the cloud and immediately followed me. Due to their better maneuverability, they quickly caught up with me and immediately opened fire. The routes stretched to my plane. I had to again move away from the tracks by a coup. The Sabers followed me, diving catching up. Again an ascending oblique loop. At the top of the loop, the Sabers, as more maneuverable, cut off the radius, catch up with me and open fire. The tracks pass next to mine again. A new coup, a dive. Everything is repeated from the beginning, but each time the Sabers are getting closer and closer to me and the tracks almost touch the plane. Apparently, the end is coming."
Lieutenant Colonel Bruce Hinton: “I did a vertical yo-yo [roll and dive at the top of the Luftberry circle to reduce the turning radius - a maneuver that Captain Kramarenko observed] with a slight decrease in speed to increase the turning radius. I began to move in. The gravitational forces of the maneuver were outrageous - excessive for my partner, who later informed me that he had nearly passed out.
At that moment, I decided to give a turn at an angle of deflection. I then had a slight advantage - "Casey" walked in front of me at an angle of about 60-70 degrees. As I neared the end of the circle, I looked at the edge of my wing, expecting it to appear. When that happened, I squeezed everything I could out of the control stick to raise my nose and aim. When he passed against me, I pulled the trigger and gave a burst. On the next visit, I did the same. This time he was supposed to fly in a straight line across the line of fire of six of my fifties [12, 7mm / 50 caliber machine guns]."
Captain S. M. Kramarenko: "The last time I was throwing the plane into a dive, but instead of abruptly shifting to a set, I began to slowly shift the plane into a gentle dive. The Sabers, not expecting this, turned out to be higher, but far behind …"
Lieutenant Colonel Bruce Hinton: "He quickly reacted to my second turn and suddenly dived towards Yalujiang, easily breaking away from me."
Captain S. M. Kramarenko: "… and they began to chase me. What to do? You can't go up. The Sabers will quickly close the distance and open fire. I continue to descend at the maximum possible speed. At an altitude of about 7000 meters (speed is more than 1000 km / h) the "windfall" began: the plane flips over, the rudders do not help. By releasing the air brakes, I decrease the speed a little. The plane straightens, but the Sabers use my speed reduction and approach quickly. But I dived in the direction of the Yalujian hydroelectric power station. This is a huge reservoir. The dam is 300 meters in height and a power plant that supplied electricity to almost half of Korea and the whole of northeastern China. It was she who was the main object that we had to protect. In addition to us, it was protected by dozens of anti-aircraft guns, which opened fire on any aircraft approaching the dam. In my heart I hoped that the anti-aircraft gunners would help me and beat off the Sabers that were pursuing me. But the anti-aircraft gunners strictly followed the order to open fire on any aircraft, and a huge cloud of anti-aircraft shells exploded in front of me. "Sabers", taking a shortcut at the U-turn, would have gone to the distance of defeat and would have shot me down. Therefore, it seemed to me the best to die from my anti-aircraft guns, but not from the bullets of the Sabers, and I sent the plane to the very center of the cloud. The plane jumped into the cloud and from the explosions of shells I was immediately thrown from side to side, up and down. Clutching the handle, I was numb. The impression was that the wings were about to fall off. But several tens of seconds passed, and the sun shone again. The plane jumped out of the black cloud. At the bottom behind was a reservoir with a dam. In the distance to the left, the departing Sabers were visible, having lost me in this cloud and, apparently, who considered me dead. It was already useless for me to pursue them, the sea was close, and I did not want a new battle, since I was too exhausted by wild overloads. […]
I made a couple of circles over the airfield, sat down and, having taxied into the parking lot, saw my wingmen. […]
On the developed film, the hits to the Saber were clearly visible. The ground crew reported his fall."
Lieutenant Colonel Bruce Hinton: "I stopped pursuing the MiG and, starting to search for the defeated F-86, I found it barely walking at an altitude of 20,000 feet [6,700 meters]. The fire went out, but there were huge damage-stripes on the fuselage, the rear of the aircraft was all riddled bullets and the machine-gun nest on his left side completely disappeared. The machine guns took over the bulk of the projectile's force and thus saved the pilot's life. I tried to contact him, but his radio was disabled by another projectile. Our speed was approaching to the speed of sound (70% of this): we squeezed out 840 km / h, constantly losing altitude. I settled down to the side of him and, finally, attracted the attention of the pilot, showing him with signs to go to the Yellow Sea and prepare for the ejection. that in response, the pilot shook his head violently - “No!” I was sure that he was one of my new inexperienced lieutenants, but I could not understand his disobedience to an order that could save his life. […] I called checkpoint K-13 [Kimpo Air Base] and informed them that I was driving a seriously damaged aircraft. They had to clear the runway and bring fire trucks to it. As far as I could tell, this should have been a belly fit, since MiG smashed to smithereens and control of the landing lever.
Flying in the same formation with the F-86 close to the accident, I never left the airfield. The plane slowly settled over the runway and finally touched the ground. The concussion was such that I saw the pilot's head shaking from side to side as his plane rolled along the runway. Finally, the Saber came to a stop at the end of the line, surrounded by a huge cloud of dust.
I landed and stopped at the side of him. The plane was already a real scrap metal. It was not only the turbine that was destroyed, the power management was also distorted beyond recognition. The left side of the fuselage is a sieve, with several huge holes gaping around the cockpit. It was only when I landed that it finally dawned on me that the pilot of this Saber was none other than my close friend Glenn Eagleston."
Colonel Glenn Todd Eagleston was at that time the commander of the 4th IS (combat formation of the 4th Wing) - the owner of an impressive list of aerial victories (18) over Luftwaffe pilots. Six months before being shot down himself, he also shot down two MiGs (one of these victories is unconditionally confirmed by the data of the Soviet archives). Lieutenant Colonel Hinton immediately realized that a pilot who shot down an experienced pilot like his friend must be outstanding, and spoke of him as follows:
Lieutenant Colonel Bruce Hinton: "The pilot of this MiG was a master, a REAL MASTER. He waited, watching the battle between MiGs and Sabers from above, it was well known that this tactic was used by the only pilot of the MiG, whom we gave the nickname" CASEY JONES ". "Casey" was an exceptional pilot, so he was certainly not Chinese. The sequence of his actions consisted of a lightning strike from a height, diving on any F-86, which separated from the rest during the battle. Very similar to the tactics once used. von Richthofen."
Surely Captain Kramarenko would feel flattered if he had a chance to hear from Hinton these words that pay tribute to his skill (through the authors of this article, the American's review nevertheless reached its addressee: it happened a year ago). In any case, the following is indisputable: Sergei Kramarenko, an honored veteran of the Great Patriotic War, behind whom there were two victories over German aircraft, and a future ace, who will be credited with a total of 13 victories over American aircraft, hit the F-86A N49-1281 piloted American pilot - Colonel Glenn Eagleston, on account of which, in total, 20 victories in the Second World War and the Korean War. There is no doubt that this was the second Battle of the Titans, which ended in a new victory for the Soviet side.
The Saber Killers
The next day, history repeated itself: over the Yalu River, a battle again took place between 40 MiG-15 and 32 F-86. Captain Serafim Pavlovich Subbotin was leading a group of eight MiGs when he discovered that he was in an excellent position for attack (altitude - 12,000 meters, location - from the sun, which made it difficult for the enemy to detect). Then, at full speed, he led his group to the last, closing the four, F-86. The explosion of the American plane in the air turned him into a target for a counterattack.
Captain S. P. Subbotin: “I noticed that two enemy planes landed on the tail of my partner [Anatoly] Golovachev. But the target of fire was my plane and they hooked me: the engine lost power, the cockpit was filled with smoke … and the fuel splashed me from head to toe. I could barely see the dashboard and floor. It became clear that if I did not leave the plane, I would never return home. With great difficulty I got out of the fire lane and released the aerodynamic brakes. The speed was rapidly decreasing, and in This very moment the plane shook violently from behind. The thought that it might be an explosion contributed a lot to the fact that I ejected … I had enough strength to successfully make the jump - I just hit my forehead, landing.
The wreckage of two planes and an ejection seat were scattered around me … Later we found an open parachute of an American pilot, his pistol and documents. The poor guy jumped out too late. It was a mid-air collision."
The plane that collided with Subbotin's MiG was the F-86 N49-1307, while the pilot who died was Captain William Crone. Despite the fact that Subbotin always spoke about the unintentional nature of his collision with the Saber, official Soviet sources asserted the opposite: in accordance with them, he deliberately directed his plane to the American one. As a result of this battle, Serafim Subbotin received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. His plane was the only loss of the Soviet side that day, while the US Air Force announced five downed MiGs (and the loss of the Krona plane as a result of the collision was silent).
On June 19, 1951, four F-86 "Saber" (336th BEI), led by Lieutenant Colonel Francis Gabreschi, suddenly tried to attack the four MiGs, but in the process of the hunt, the roles changed: American aircraft were attacked by another four MiG-15bis, headed by Nikolai Vasilievich Sutyagin (17th IAP of the 303rd IAD):
Captain N. V. Sutyagin: “In the morning at 7.45 am, 10 crews took off to cover the Andung Bridge. The combat formation consisted of a strike echelon led by the regiment commander Major Pulov, then a cover echelon went under the command of Captain Artemchenko, who was on the right above and a pair of senior lieutenant Perepyolkin was behind, 1000 meters higher. I walked in a cover link with led senior lieutenant Shulev. At the moment of a left turn in the Sensen area, I lagged behind a pair of Captain Artemchenko at a distance of 400-500 meters. Turning 50-60 degrees to the left, I noticed that at the bottom left, from under the leading link, a pair of F-86 comes into the "tail" of us. a pair of F-86. On the second "oblique loop", the wingman and I were already in the "tail" of the "Sabers", and in the upper position I gave two short bursts at the wingman "Saber." guy with the flight. I then decided to come closer to the enemy. The Sabers, sensing danger, went into a dive, hoping to get away from us at speed. My wingman and I followed them. After exiting the dive, a pair of F-86 made a turn to the right, and then to the left with a climb. Due to this lapel, the distance between us and the Sabers has decreased to 200-300 meters. Noticing this, the enemy made a coup. After releasing the brakes, we followed the F-86 at an angle of 70-75 degrees towards the sea, where our pursued tried to leave. Having approached a distance of 150-200 meters, I opened fire on the slave Saber and shot it down."
The victim of Sutyagin was Gabreski's partner, Lieutenant Robert Layer, who died in the cab of his Saber as a result of being hit by shells; the plane itself crashed south of Yalujiang. Sutyagin's partner, Lieutenant Vasily Shulev, also reaped the fruits of victory. he managed to riddle the F-86A N49-1171, the unknown pilot of which managed to reach Kimpo, but the plane received such serious damage that it was written off for scrap. The loss of two aircraft in thirty seconds affected the morale of the remaining Sabers so much that they retreated, leaving the MiG Alley at the full disposal of Soviet pilots. Lieutenan Layer was to become the first of 21 victories of Captain Sutyagin, who would later become the Soviet "ace number one" of the war in Korea (thus surpassing the main "Korean" US ace - Joseph McConnell, who had only 16 aerial victories).
In those days, not only American aircraft were crushed to smithereens: on June 20, during a South Korean ground attack (from the coastal island of Simni-do), two squadrons of F-51D Mustang piston fighters (18th US Air Wing) intercepted several aircraft Ilyushin (Il-10) and Yak-9, piloted by inexperienced North Korean pilots. The leader - Lieutenant James Harrison - shot down one Yak, and his wingmen (as they later stated) - one Il-10 each. The state of affairs for the North Korean pilots, who got into serious trouble, became altogether threatening, tk. Squadron F4U-4 Corsair was raised from the aircraft carrier Princeton (821st Fighter Squadron (IE)). However, with the sudden appearance of twelve MiG-15bis (176th GIAP), the feast ended. Half of them grappled with F4U and, in one blink of an eye, two "Corsairs" became victims of the new regiment commander - Lieutenant Colonel Sergei Vishnyakov and his wingman Anatoly Golovachev; American planes were piloted respectively by Royce Carrot (killed) and John Moody (rescued).
The leader of the remaining six MiGs, Konstantin Sheberstov, smashed one of the Mustangs to pieces (the pilot, Lee Harper, died). A few seconds later, his wingman, Captain Grigory Ges, did the same with John Coleman's F-51D. The remaining fighters scattered in disarray. Ironically, at the time of the opening of the fire, Ges was so close to the enemy plane that his MiG-15bis (N0715385) was seriously damaged by debris. Taking into account the current situation, he was ordered to eject from the ground, but the pilot stubbornly refused to leave such an expensive aircraft and, using only the rudder and throttle (engine control stick), was able to reach Andung, where he landed safely. Later, his plane was restored, and wreckage of an American machine gun was found in the skin of the equipment. For courage and saving the plane, the pilot was presented by Colonel Kozhedub to the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, which he received on October 10, 1951.
On June 22, the MiGi-15 of the 176th GIAP thwarted the attack of the F-80 (accompanied by the F-86) on the North Korean Xinjiu airfield. During this battle, Soviet pilot Boris Obraztsov added a third to his victories (F-86, piloted by Howard Miller; captured). It should be noted that in battle one of the American pilots - Charles Reister - managed to shoot down the plane of Lieutenant Anatoly Plitkin.
Two days later, it was the turn of the F-80 to test the skills of the "commanders" on their own experience. Early in the morning (4:25 Beijing time, 5:25 Seoul), the entire 523rd IAP intercepted two F-80 Shooting Star squadrons, which were going unaccompanied by the Sabers, and in just five minutes the pilots shot down four F -80C. One of these aircraft was shot down by Lieutenant Colonel Anatoly Karasev, and the remaining three were shot down by Captains Stepan Bakhaev and Mikhail Ponomarev, as well as by Lieutenant German Shatalov (it should be noted that the remaining six Russian pilots also recorded victories over American aircraft, while in fact except for the four mentioned, the enemy did not suffer any losses). Five hours later, five MiG-15s (176th GIAP), led by Sergei Vishnyakov, discovered a lone F-80S conducting visual reconnaissance over Uiju. The meeting with him was the first victory of Vishnyakov's deputy, Lieutenant Nikolai Goncharov (the F-80S pilot was captured).
At noon on the 26th, 20 MiGbis-15 (17th IAP) intercepted a group of four B-29s, accompanied by twelve F-86s, four F-84s and the same number of F-80s. The deadly duo Nikolai Sutyagin - Vasily Shulev quickly neutralized the Sabers of the escort, shooting down one F-86A each (the Americans did not declare their losses in that battle; both of these victories were confirmed by the wreckage discovered by the Chinese troops). In addition, Lieutenant G. T. Fokin inflicted serious damage on one Superfortress. When the F-80 escort aircraft tried to attack Fokin, the wingman who defended him, Lieutenant Yevgeny Agranovich, was nearby, who instantly shot down the F-80S (pilot Bob Lotherback was killed). Unfortunately, Eugene's comrades could not come to his aid when he, in turn, was attacked by a pair of F-84Es. The Soviet pilot shared the fate of his recent victim. In general, the Soviet pilots ended the month with another victory: on June 28, the 523rd IAP intercepted a formation of enemy aircraft, consisting of US Air Force and Navy aircraft. In just a few minutes, Lieutenant German Shatalov shot down one AD-4 (55th Assault Squadron of the US Navy) and one of the F4U-4s that followed, and his comrade Lieutenant N. I. Razorvin inflicted serious damage to the F-51D. operated by Captain Charles Sumner.
Red commanders win
In total, in June, Soviet MiG-15 pilots shot down nine F-86A, six F-80S, five Mustangs, three Corsairs, two Superfortress and one Skyrider - a total of 27 confirmed aerial victories against only six losses: the ratio of victory / loss is 3 to 1. As a result, for the period from April to June, "Commanders" disabled 59 US aircraft (Table 1) and lost 19 MiGs (Table 2). An important fact is that in less than two weeks, Soviet pilots shot down eight F-86s - an indicator of losses unthinkable for the US Air Force, whose officers instructed their pilots to engage in combat with MiGs only when circumstances were favorable. During July and August 1951 - only a few UN planes were sent to the Yalu River zone - a silent confirmation that the Red Commanders reign supreme over their Alley.
D. Zampini expresses his gratitude:
Major General Sergei Kramarenko for providing a copy of his memoir "In the Sky of Two Wars" and his daughter Nadezhda Marinchuk for her help in translating some episodes of this book into English.
Senora Blas Villalba, my Russian teacher, who provided invaluable assistance in translating many other episodes [of the book].
To my Russian friend Vladislav Arkhipov, who helped translate the memoirs of other Soviet veterans from Russian into English.
To my Cuban friend Ruben Urribares, who provided me with invaluable information from his books and magazines (including for a large number of memoirs of Russian MiG-15 pilots who fought in Korea).
Stephen "Cook" Sewell and Joe Brennan, US citizens, for providing information; to my American friend Tom Blurton, who provided me with an invaluable copy of the book "Participation of the 4th Combat Fighter Wing in the Korean War", as well as directly to Colonel Bruce Hinton, who allowed me to publish the exact date, time and other information about the air battle on June 17, 1951.
Table 1: Confirmed victories of the "Commanders" in the period from April to June 1951
<table GIAP, 324 IAD
(*) = loss confirmed by the USAF, however not attributable to the actions of the MiG-15
(**) = Aircraft decommissioned due to excessive damage.
Table 2: Soviet MiG-15 losses between April and June 1951
<table of the downed plane
Subdivision
(*) = loss confirmed by the USSR but attributed to engine failure.
Undoubtedly, Weill had every reason to shoot down the MiG of the indicated pilot …
(**) = Aircraft decommissioned due to excessive damage.
Illustrations:
Some of the winning pilots (176th GIAP, 324th IAD) of the air battle that took place on April 12, 1951. In the top row, the sixth from the left is Grigory Ges, the tenth is Ivan Suchkov. In the bottom row, among others, the first from the left is Pavel Milaushkin, the second is Konstantin Sheberstov
Another photo of the pilots of the 176th GIAP. In the bottom row, second and third from the left - Grigory Ges and Sergey Vishnyakov (unit commander), respectively
Photo of Nikolai Sutyagin (17th IAP of the 303rd IAD) in 1951, kindly provided by his son Yuri Nikolaevich Sutyagin
G. P. Chumachenko (29th GIAP, 50th IAD). Preparing the MiG-15 for a combat mission.
Pilots of the 523rd IAP, 303rd IAD
Glenn Todd Eagleston examines the damage sustained by his F-86A BuNo 49-1281 in combat with Sergei Kramarenko's MiG-15. June 17, 1951
F-86 # 49-1281 Glenn Eagleston (Korea). On June 17, 1951, this aircraft will be virtually destroyed by ace Sergei Kramarenko
F-86A # 49-1089 of Senior Lieutenant Hitts, landing on the fuselage. The aircraft received this damage on May 9, 1951 in a battle with the MiG-15 by Alfey Mikhailovich Dostoevsky
Ivan Nikitovich Kozhedub is a great Soviet pilot, a veteran of the Great Patriotic War, on account of whom 62 victories (WWII). The brilliant commander of the 324th IAD in Korea
James Jabara (center) accepts congratulations from his comrades in arms (May 20, 1951) His victim was Viktor Nazarkin's plane, which had to be ejected. However, in the same battle, his F-86A? 49-1318 received irreparable damage (pilot V. I. Alfeev, 196th IAP).
Hero of the Soviet Union Sergei Kramarenko (Moninsky Museum, 2003). Photo courtesy of Milos Sediv (Czech Republic)
MiG-15bis '721' - an aircraft piloted by Sergei Kramarenko, incl. and in battle on June 17, 1951, which resulted in the downed F-86A by Glenn Eagleston
MiG-15bis '768' Evgenia Pepelyaeva (commander of the 196th IAP of the 324th IAD) on the very day (20.05.1951) when he shot down the F-86A? 49-1080, piloted by Milton Nelson
MiG-15bis. The arrival of these aircraft came as a bitter surprise to the US Air Force and Navy in Korea.
Milton Nelson (BEI 335). On May 20, 1951, his plane will be shot down by Evgeny Pepeliaev (commander of the 196th IAP). Later, two more Russian MiGs will be added to Nelson's account, incl. and Slave Pepelyaev - Ivan Larionov (died on July 11, 1951).
Bernard Moore demonstrates the damage received by his F-86A? 49-1227 on April 18, 1951 in a battle with F. A. Shebanov's MiG-15. This time the Saber was to be restored.
Captain Sergei Kramarenko (176th GIAP), who opened the score for his aerial victories in the skies of Korea on April 12, 1951, shooting down the F-80S? 49-1842. On June 2, 1951, he also shot down an F-86A, piloted by Thomas Hanson, and a little later, on June 17, he managed to inflict irreparable damage on the F-86A of World War II ace Glenn Eagleston. These are only the first three victories of Sergei Kramarenko, who will have to win a total of 13 aerial battles.
Georgy Shatalov (left) and Vladimir Surovkin (right) (523rd IAP). On June 24, 1951, Shatalov shot down an F-80S driven by Arthur Johnson and an AD-4 (pilot Harley Harris was killed). A few days later - on June 28 - another aircraft was added to the list of his victories - the F4U-4 (pilot - Oliver Draudge). September 10, 1951 Shatalov will shoot down the F-86A? 48-256 (pilot John Burke will be saved). November 28, 1951 Shatalov will die as a result of an air battle with the American ace Winton Marshall.
Briefing on maintaining the combat readiness of MiG-15 aircraft. (China, 1950)
Victory of Colonel Evgeny Pepelyaev (MiG-15bis? 1315325) over Captain Jill Garrett (F-86A? 49-1319) on October 6, 1951. Garrett was able to land his plane on the fuselage on the North Korean coast; as a result, the Saber was transported to the USSR. (Illustration by Yuri Tepsurkaev.)
Max Weill (left) and Arthur O'Connor (right) (335th BEI) congratulate each other on victories in aerial combat on April 9, 1951. Weill shot down V. F. Negodyaeva, and O'Connor - Fyodor Slabkin (died). However, on May 20, 1951, Weill himself will be shot down by Nikolai Kirisov (196th IAP), and O'Connor will share his fate a little later - on October 6 of the same year (pilot - Konstantin Sheberstov)
F-86A? 49-1313 pilot Max Weill. The plane received irreparable damage on 1951-20-05. in an air battle with Major N. K. Kirisov (196th IAP).
