“The experience of the war makes it possible to draw the following conclusion. Each regiment had about 5, maximum - 7 pilots, who shot down much more in air battles than others (they accounted for about half of all downed enemy aircraft)"
- G. Zimin. "Tactics in Combat Examples: Fighter Air Division".
The phenomenon of the emergence of ace pilots remains the greatest secret in the history of military aviation. Professional intuition, aerobatic skills and a keen eye. Was it just luck or the result of accumulating combat experience in grueling battles with the enemy? Science doesn't know the exact recipe for success.
Such people were born in different countries, at different times. And, each time, they were among the rare "lucky ones" that brought half of the air victories of the squadron (regiment, division - the proportions remain the same when the scale is changed).
The East is a delicate matter, said Comrade Sukhov. And he was absolutely right: the customs of the inhabitants of the Muslim East are fundamentally different from the norms adopted in the European Christian society. Different stories, different ways of civilizational development.
The great past of Central Asia has dissolved in time - over the past few centuries this region has objectively been inferior to Europe in economic, industrial and scientific development. For immigrants from the peoples of the Caucasus and Central Asia, the stable status of "guest workers", "ethnic bandits" and "lazy apricot traders" was entrenched. Completely unsuitable for control of such complex and expensive equipment as a combat aircraft.
But is it really so?
Amet-Khan Sultan
Amet Khan Sultan (October 25, 1920 - February 1, 1971) - military pilot, lieutenant colonel (1957), honored test pilot of the USSR (1961), twice Hero of the Soviet Union (1943, 1945). Was born in the Crimea, in the city of Alupka. Father is a Dagestani. Mother is a Crimean Tatar.
One of the 50 most productive Soviet fighter pilots of the Great Patriotic War. One of five Soviet aces who managed to overcome the bar of 600 sorties (along with A. Alelyukhin, A. Pokryshkin, N. Skomorokhov and L. Shestakov).
In total, during the war years, Amet-Khan Sultan made 603 sorties, conducted 150 air battles, and flew 70 sorties to attack enemy ground forces. He personally scored 30 aerial victories and shot down 19 enemy aircraft as part of a group.
It is considered the leader in the destruction of the He-111 (seven shot down bombers of this type). It is worth noting that from the middle of 1943 the Heinkel carried reinforced defensive armament: the rear hemisphere was covered by 4 firing points, which made it a deadly mission to intercept.
During the war years, the talented pilot mastered several types of fighters: domestic I-153, Yak-1, Yak-7B, foreign Hurricane and Bell Aircorba. Amet Khan Sultan met the victory on the most powerful La-7. In total, during his flight work as a military pilot and test pilot, he mastered about 100 types of aircraft, with a total flight time of 4237 hours!
Like many aces (the same German G. Barkhorn), Amet Khan did not start his career very well: during the first year of the war he did not manage to shoot down a single enemy aircraft. He won his first aerial victory on May 31, 1942 under very unusual circumstances: he caught up with the reconnaissance "Junkers" at maximum altitude, shot all the ammunition, and then rammed the enemy, hitting him from below with his left wing.
A powerful blow crumpled the lantern and for a moment stunned the pilot. Amet Khan woke up from the shaking and deafening whistle - the burning Ju-88 was going to the ground, catching his Hurricane with it. Thick smoke blanketed the cockpit, gasping for breath from lack of air. In a moment of mortal danger, consciousness suggested the only correct thought: "Jump!" With a quick movement, he unfastened his seat belts and rushed out of the cab - and stopped in horror. The cockpit of his fighter was covered with the right wing of the Junkers, the exit was blocked. At the cost of incredible physical efforts, Amet Khan managed to push his plane with his hands (!) And safely get out of the fire trap.
Fighter La-7 of Amet-Khan Sultan with the legendary eagle from Mount Ai-Petri
With each new sortie, the pilot's flying, tactical and shooting skills grew, the number of victories grew and self-confidence was reinforced. In the fall of 1942, he took over as commander of the 3rd Squadron of the 9th IAP, one of the best fighter units of the Red Army Air Force. As part of his regiment, Amet Khan defended Stalingrad, took part in the liberation of Rostov-on-Don, Kuban and Crimea, fought in East Prussia, and took part in the capture of Berlin. Major Amet Khan Sultan won his last aerial victory on April 29, 1945, by shooting down an FW-190 fighter over Berlin's Tempelhof airfield.
The famous pilot died in 1971, during tests of the Tu-16LL flying laboratory.
Talgat Yakubekovich Begeldinov
Soviet attack pilot, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, record holder for the number of sorties on the Il-2 and the number of enemy aircraft shot down on it.
In the tactical manual of the Luftwaffe pilots, a categorical ban on the attack of the Il-2 from the front hemisphere was prescribed. There is no need even to try to go out to Ilu "in the forehead" - an armored attack aircraft with 23 mm cannons and ShKAS machine guns will sweep away any target in its path with fire.
Firepower and booking - these are the advantages of his aircraft that Talgat Begeldinov brilliantly possessed. In his hands, the slow and clumsy "IL" turned into a mighty flying fortress, capable of holding up for itself in aerial combat with any "Messerschmitt". The command so trusted the young pilot that they often let him go on missions without fighter cover.
Talgat Yakubekovich Begeldinov was born on August 5, 1922 in the village of Maybalyk, Akmola region, Kazakh SSR into a peasant family. Kazakh by nationality.
In 1940 he entered the Balashov Military Aviation School of Pilots, then transferred to the Chkalov Military Aviation School in Orenburg, from which he graduated in 1942.
On the fronts of the Great Patriotic War since January 1943. He flew in the squadron of the Hero of the Soviet Union S. P. Poshivalnikov. Soon he became his deputy.
On October 26, 1944, Guard Senior Lieutenant Begeldinov Talgat Yakubekovich was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for the courage and combat skill shown during the liberation of the cities of Znamenka, Kirovograd, for personally shot down 4 enemy aircraft in air battles.
Captain Talgat Yakubekovich Begeldinov, Captain Talgat Yakubekovich, was awarded the second Gold Star medal on June 27, 1945 for his skillful squadron leadership and military exploits in attacking enemy troops and equipment in battles for the cities of Krakow, Oppeln (now Opole), Katowice, Breslau (now Wroclaw) and Berlin.
In total, over the two years of the war, T. Ya. Begeldinov made 305 sorties to attack manpower and equipment, simultaneously shooting down 7 enemy aircraft in air battles.
Ghulam Mustafa Khan
The Air Force of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan enjoyed a notoriety among Soviet military pilots. Afghan pilots came from noble Pashtun and Tajik families - therefore, they considered themselves absolute kings in the air and did not pay attention to various prescriptions and instructions. They flew little and reluctantly, with a mandatory, prescribed by the Koran, weekends on Fridays. They preferred to drop bombs anywhere - and quickly returned to the base. Of course, one could not pay attention to such petty pranks of the "allies" if they did not regularly hijack aircraft to Pakistan and "leaked" information about upcoming operations to the mujahideen field commanders.
However, even in this crowd of mediocrities, parasites and traitors, there were pilots who were truly loyal to the sky, ready to fulfill their duty to the end. Such was Gulyam Mustafa Khan (1953-1994) - deputy. commander of the 355th air force apib of the DRA.
Gulyam Mustafa Khan (right) while studying in the Soviet Union
Having received brilliant flight training in the USSR, Mustafa returned to his homeland, where he was enrolled in the Afghan fighter-bomber aviation regiment at the Bagram airbase. Already at the stage of formation, the young pilot was distinguished by good piloting skills, technical literacy and moral and volitional qualities. By 1987, Mustafa was the only pilot from the entire regiment who had permission to fly at night and in adverse weather conditions.
In the same year, a tragedy struck - the Mujahideen massacred Mustafa's family. From now on, the pilot's rage knew no bounds - Mustafa Gulyam made several combat missions every day, bombarding the Afghan mountains and gorges with tons of bombs. During the battles for Jellalabad, he literally did not get out of the cockpit of his Su-22 (export version of the Su-17), flying with the maximum load for a person. 10-11 flights a day!
During one of the sorties, Mustafa was shot down and injured his spine. After long-term treatment, he received the rank of general and was nominated for the "Hero of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan" award. But even after transferring to the headquarters position, he could not leave the control of the fighter. During the attempted military coup on March 6, 1990, when part of the army units rebelled against the Najibullah government, General Mustafa personally led the operation against the Bagram airbase, which had gone over to the side of the rebels. Taking off at the head of the group from the airfield near Mazar-i-Sharif (obviously with AB Shindad), he bombed the Bagram airstrip, thereby prejudging the outcome of the uprising. For which he was re-nominated for the highest award of the Republic of Afghanistan.
Death found a hero during one of the bombing missions of the Taliban. On January 30, 1994, General Mustafa's "Drying" was intercepted by a MiG-21 fighter of the Islamic State of Afghanistan Air Force - the plane crashed in the mountains northwest of the Salang Pass.
The plane crash site and the remains of the brave pilot were accidentally discovered in 2009 and reburied in Kabul with all military honors.
Jillil Zandi
A sniper of the Persian sky, considered one of the most successful fighter pilots of the jet era. The world's best F-14 heavy interceptor pilot. Genuine "Top Gun" - in contrast to the ostentatious Maverick, who was successfully played on the screen by T. Cruz.
The life and career of this ace is worthy of a cool Hollywood blockbuster - with sharp plot twists, deafening failures and bright victories.
Jalil Zandi came to aviation during the Shah's rule, when Iran was still a secular state and maintained friendly relations with the West (this is the question of the appearance of the newest F-14 fighters in Iran). With the change of regime, Zandi began to get into trouble - not fully realizing the seriousness of his act, he openly opposed the excessive Islamization of the Iranian Air Force. For which he immediately went to court - the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution pronounced a tough verdict on the heretic: 10 years in prison. Parting with his beloved sky, prison dungeons, five times namaz - from such news Zandi finally lost heart and began to fasten a tourniquet from a sheet to a hook on the ceiling. It was literally a miracle that saved me - all my colleagues defended the promising pilot.
Six months later, Zandi was released from prison and again fell into the thick of it. A brutal Iran-Iraq war broke out in the region, claiming nearly half a million people from each side over the next 8 years. The tragic events became the "finest hour" of Jalil Zandi - flying the F-14 supersonic interceptor, he managed to chalk up 11 aerial victories! According to official data, Zandi's trophies include three Mirage F1 fighter-bombers, a pair of Su-22s, a pair of MiG-21s and four MiG-23s.
Of course, when it comes to losses in a war, all the data presented have a certain shade of implausibility - state propaganda tends to overestimate enemy losses and underestimate losses on its part. It is possible that some of the victories were attributed to Zandi at the request of the higher leadership. The pilot himself spoke of only 9 victories, of which only 6 - 8 were reliably confirmed. But, in any case, this is an incredible amount in the era of modern jet aviation.
Luck left the pilot in February 1988 - in a dogfight his invincible Tomcat was shot down by the Iraqi Mirage F1. The crew managed to eject safely.
Jilil Zandi successfully survived the Iran-Iraq war and rose to the rank of brigadier general. The renowned ace pilot died tragically in a car accident in 2001.
Pilots of the Air Force of the Islamic Republic of Iran in front of the F-14 "Tomcat"
