Fighters "Airacobra" as well as "Hurricanes" with "Tomahawks" were supplied to the USSR by the British. After the Aircobra was removed from service by the RAF in December 1941, they were offered together with the Hurricanes for deliveries to the Soviet Union.
The first of the "Airacobra". I allied convoys to Murmansk were sent in December 1941, while some of the fighters were lost on the way. According to the British, 49 aircraft (according to other information - 54) of the Airacobra. I type were lost during transportation by sea, but this is the total number of lost fighters on the entire route from the United States to the Soviet Union, including the segments from the United States to England. The loss of PQ convoys (from England to Murmansk) can be roughly estimated as follows: if you subtract from the number of vehicles sent from England (212) the number received by the Soviet Union (in December 1941 - 1, in 1942 - 192, according to archival materials of the General Staff air forces of the Soviet army, in 1943 - 2, according to the British) and take into account that in the USSR the first P-39D-2, K and L arrived on 1942-11-12 and 1942-12-04 in the amount of four pieces, then the total number losses during shipping will amount to 20-25 aircraft.
Aircraft "Airacobra" P-39D-2 ("Model 14A", Bell) arrived in the USSR exclusively through Iran, along the "southern" route. The ships transported boxes with fighters from Iceland or directly from the eastern ports of the United States by two routes: through Gibraltar, the Suez Canal, the Red and Arabian Seas, the Persian Gulf to the port of Abadan (Iceland-Abadan - 12.5 thousand nautical miles, New York-Abadan - 15.6 thousand nautical miles), or around the Cape of Good Hope (22 and 23.5 thousand nautical miles, respectively). The Allies had to use such long routes at the end of 1942 after the crushing defeat of the PQ-17 and the general increase in the losses of transport ships in Arctic convoys to 11-12 percent. The new routes passed through areas of absolute Allied superiority in the air and at sea, or generally away from hostilities. The plus of this route was safety (an order of magnitude decrease in losses with a significantly smaller number of escort vessels), its serious minus - the time of cargo delivery only at the "sea" stage increased to 35-60 days.
At the "land" stage, which passed through the territory of Iran and Iraq, there were also certain difficulties. The pro-German orientation of the governments of these countries, the lack of transport infrastructure and the mountainous landscape created significant difficulties for the construction of a "through" route from the Persian Gulf through Iran to Azerbaijan. Serious political, military and engineering support for this route was required, which was done in 1941-1942.
Soviet and British troops occupied Persia (Iran) in September 1941. Power passed into the hands of the government of the friendly USSR and England. Unambiguous acts of aggression according to today's concepts, these military-political actions in 1941 turned out to be useful preventive measures that allowed to save this country from cooperation with fascist forces. The British Corps of Engineers under the leadership of General Connolly expanded ports, built highways, and reconstructed the airfield network and the railway.
The "southern" air route began operating in June 1942. The Hurricanes and Bostons were the first to go along it, and since November - Kittyhawks, Spitfires and Aircobras. In the port of Abadan, fighters were unloaded in boxes. Assembly and overflights were usually carried out directly in Abadan or at the RAF airbase located about 60 kilometers west in Basra (Iraq).
The Soviet air force carried out several preparatory measures for the development of the "southern" route. In the summer of 1942, an "assembly" air base was created in Abadan (about 300 Soviet workers and engineers under the leadership of A. I. Evtikhov), an "intermediate" air base in Tehran, where the military envoys of the Red Army Air Force Import Directorate (headed by Colonel Fokin V. V.) Carried out the acceptance of aircraft, formed ferry aviation regiments and training centers for retraining for imported aircraft.
P-39 Airacobra aircraft are being assembled in one of the workshops of the plant in the city of Buffalo
Assembly workshop for Bell P-39 "Airacobra" and Bell P-63 "Kingcobra" aircraft. The line on the left is P-39Q, followed by 3 lines of P-63A. Then - two lines of almost completed P-39Q
American fighter P-39 "Airacobra" (Bell P-39 Airacobra) stands at the Nome airfield in Alaska
The route for the "Airacobra" functioned as follows: airplanes delivered by sea were unloaded in Abadan, where they were assembled by Soviet specialists, and were also flown by Soviet pilots. Then they were flown by air to the Kvali-Margi airfield in Tehran, where Soviet military representatives carried out their acceptance. Further, the planes were ferried to the Azerbaijani city of Aji-Kabul, to a training center or to ferry aerodromes near the city of Kirovabad. Due to Stalin's pathological distrust of foreigners, American and British specialists were involved in the delivery of aircraft in a minimal volume: as consultants during assembly and overflights (Abadan), as well as delivery specialists (Tehran).
The retraining process was also typical; the thinning regiment was withdrawn from the front, replenished and trained for a new materiel, received aircraft and returned to the front. Through the 25th Reserve Aviation Regiment, the combat losses of the regiments sent to the front were also replenished, small batches of aircraft were sent to the belligerent units "to familiarize themselves" with the equipment planned for introduction. Thus, in addition to training, the ZAP performed the functions of a depot, which distributed incoming aircraft to combat units. Therefore, the 25th Reserve Aviation Regiment was the main channel through which British and American aircraft entered the southern sector of the front.
However, with the increase in the number of foreign aircraft, several more ZAPs were founded, in particular, in Ivanovo - the 11th and 22nd, in Aji-Kabul - the 26th.
In 1943, P-39N / Q fighters began to be delivered via AlSib, for which six ferry aviation regiments were formed. According to Western data, the Air Force of the Red Army received a total of 3291 P-39Q (according to other sources - 3041), 1113 P-39N, 157 P-39M, 137 P-39L (according to other sources 140), 108 P-39D, and 40 P-39K. Thus, the total number of "Airacobras" delivered from both Britain and the United States is estimated at 4850 units.
Already at the front, Soviet pilots were able to evaluate the powerful armament of the Bell vehicles, consisting of a bow motor cannon, 2 large-caliber machine guns and 4 rifle-caliber machine guns. British "Airacobras" I and P-39D were armed with a 20 mm cannon, and starting with the "K" model - with a 37 mm one.
Quite often, Soviet technicians simply removed British machine guns to improve the characteristics of a fighter. Also on the P-39Q modification, suspended machine-gun gondolas were dismantled (at least not a single photo of the Cobras in service with the SA with these gondolas is known).
Soviet pilots appreciated the high maneuverability of the new aircraft at medium altitudes, where the overwhelming number of battles between Soviet and German fighters took place. Soviet pilots, during retraining on the P-39, encountered a flat spin, but quickly learned how to deal with this problem. The pilots also liked the "car" door, which increases the chances of survival when jumping with a parachute. On the other hand, the risk of hitting the tail unit increased - at least two aces - Nikolai Iskrin and Dmitry Glinka were injured during the jump, and many unknown pilots were killed. However, it is necessary to note the good maintainability of the aircraft after forced landings.
Despite the well-established Western myth, "Airacobras" were not used as attack aircraft or tank destroyers. All regiments that were armed with these fighters were used to gain air supremacy. It is likely that the Il-2 was quite enough at the final stage of the war.
The first combat unit, which was adopted by the "Airacobra" I, was the Fighter Aviation Regiment 145 (1942-04-04, for successful combat work, the 145th Fighter Aviation Regiment was transformed into the 19th Guards), headed by Major Reifnsheider (later changed his name to Kalugin - more Slavic).
Unlike the IAP 153 and 185, which were trained in the rear training center, the fighter aviation regiment 145 mastered the imported fighter in its operational zone (up to 100 kilometers from the front line), without manuals and instructions in Russian or the help of instructors. This regiment was formed on January 17, 1940 in the town of Kairelo (formerly Finnish territory). He took part in the Finnish campaign, destroyed 5 enemy aircraft, losing the same number of his own. At the beginning of the war, he flew an I-16. Then on "Hurricanes", MiG-3 and LaGG-3. At the end of the same month, the regiment received the task of mastering the Kittyhawk P-40E and Airacobra 1 fighters. For this purpose, the aviation regiment was relocated to the Afrikanda airfield, where it received boxes with planes delivered by the Kirov railway. During May, the engineering staff (led by Major PP Goltsev, senior regiment engineer) assembled 10 Kittyhawk aircraft and 16 Airacobra aircraft.
The technical documentation was available only in English. The assembly and study of imported fighters was carried out simultaneously. Most often, the work was carried out in the open air, in severe frosts, in the conditions of the polar night. Despite this, already on April 26, the squadron commander, Captain P. S. Kutakhov. (future twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Air Marshal) performed 3 training flights in a circle on the Aircobra. By May 15, the personnel (22 pilots) mastered the technique of piloting fighters. At the same time, the fighter aviation regiment was reorganized into a three-squadron composition according to the state 015/174.
The pilots of the air regiment made their first combat sortie on 1942-15-05, when Captain Kutakhov, the commander of the first squadron, led the patrol of the front line.
At that time, Pavel Kutakhov was already a trained pilot, took part in the Soviet-Finnish war and took part in the invasion of Poland on 1939-17-09. His first victory, flying an I-16, won on 1941-23-07.
During the first flight on May 15, Pavel Kutakhov and senior lieutenant Ivan Bochkov, the future ace, shot down one fighter each, which they identified as "Non-113" - in reality, it was Me-109F. This success was paid for by the loss of the first "Cobra", piloted by Ivan Gaidenko, also a future ace, shot down in an air battle. Major Kutakhov was also shot down on May 28 while repelling a raid on the Shongui airfield by enemy bombers.
Kutakhov, quickly leaving the hospital, took part in a fierce battle on September 15. The Hurricanes of the 837th Fighter Aviation Regiment that day tried to defend the Tulomi power plant from a raid of covered Me-109 bombers. The Aircobras from the 19th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment raised to the aid of the Hurriceyiam. In a difficult battle, seven fighters of the German Air Force were shot down (according to the enemy's documents, only one plane did not return from a combat sortie). The Soviet regiments lost two planes, then 15 bullet holes were counted on Kutakhov's plane.
By February 1943, Kutakhov made 262 sorties, took part in 40 air battles, shooting down 31 enemy aircraft (24 of them in the group).
On March 27, Kutakhov and his wingmen Lobkovich and Silaev intercepted 4 Me-109Gs during the "free hunt". During the first attack, Kutakhov hit an enemy plane that left in the northwest direction. After a tense 15 minute fight, he managed to win a second victory. In his post-flight report, he stated that he saw the hits, but there was no fall of the enemy plane. At the same time, the soldiers of the ground post found the place where the "Messer" fell and captured the pilot.
On May 1, 1943, Kutakhov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, promoted to the rank of colonel and transferred to the 20th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment as regiment commander. He ended the war, having carried out 367 sorties, took part in 79 air battles, scoring 23 individual and 28 group victories. After the war, he remained in the Air Force, became an air marshal in 1969, until 1984 (until his death) he commanded the USSR Air Force. Senior Lieutenant Ivan Bochkov, like Kutakhov, began his career during the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940. The first victory was won on 1942-15-05, the next day he destroyed another Me-109F. Until the end of the war he was promoted to captain.
On December 10, Bochkov, in a battle between 6 Airacobras and 12 Me-109s and 12 Ju-87s, shot down one bomber, thus earning the title of ace. By February 1943, he had flown 308 sorties, conducted 45 air battles, during which he won 39 victories (32 of them in the group).
Killed 1943-04-04 during an air battle, covering the wingman. By that time, he had 50 air battles and more than 350 sorties. On May 1, 1943, Bochkov was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Another pilot from the 9th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, who began his combat path during the Finnish campaign, was Konstantin Fomchenkov. In June 1942 he was promoted to captain, and on June 15, 1942 he won two victories in the skies over Murmansk. On his account by March 1943, there were 8 personal and 26 group victories, 37 air battles and 320 sorties. On August 24, 1943, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, at that time Fomchenkov added four more victories to his account. He later became a major, receiving a squadron under his command.
On February 24, 1944, he took part in a raid on the airfield in Tungozero, where 6 P-39s from the 19th Guards and 2 P-39s from the 760th Fighter Guards Aviation Regiment took part, which provided cover for 6 Il-2 from the 828 Assault Aviation Regiment. In this unsuccessful battle for the Soviet side, 3 Aerocobras were lost at once (Fomchepkov also died in the battle, on the official account of which there were 38 victories, of which 26 were group victories), but our pilots reported 5 downed FV-190s and 2 Me- 109. Lieutenant Krivoshey Yefim, the future ace on the P-39, entered the 19th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment in the Kutakhov squadron in May 1942. He won his first two victories on 1942-15-06, and by September his score was already 15 group and 5 individual victories. On September 9, when intercepting a large group of bombers, Krivosheev used up his ammunition and rammed an enemy fighter. German data say that Krivosheeva's Airacobra smashed Bf-109F-4 of Orefreiler Hoffman from 6./JG5 to smithereens. On February 22, 1943, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union posthumously.
Another tragic hero of the 19 Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment was Alexander Zaitsev, who received combat experience in 1937 in China and in 1939-1940 with the Finns. By June 1941, he rose to the rank of captain and commanded the third squadron of the 145th fighter aviation regiment. Despite his popularity among pilots, Zaitsev did not have a relationship with the regiment commissar.
Having won a number of victories on the I-16, in December 1941 Zaitsev was promoted to major, becoming the commanders of the 760th fighter aviation regiment that was being formed on the Hurricane. The regiment won 12 victories in the first months of the fighting, but at the same time lost 15 vehicles, and this led to friction with the command. As a result, he was removed from office. Zaitsev was returned to the 19th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, which flew in Airacobrahs. For some time Zaitsev flew together with Pavel Kutakhov.
On the evening of May 28, Zaitsev headed 6 Aerocobras and 6 P-40s, which covered 10 SB-2s. The group was intercepted by 12 Me-109s near Lake Shulgul-Yavr. Despite the fact that the bombers received a direct order from Zaitsev to return, the group commander decided to continue the mission. As a result, although the Soviet pilots were able to shoot down 3 Me-109s with the loss of 2 P-40s, SB (one more was seriously damaged) and Airacobra, the mission was not completed.
Major Zaitsev, squadron commander of the 145th Fighter Aviation Regiment, died on May 30, 1942 during a training flight on the Airacobra R-39 fighter. By that time, they had flown more than 200 sorties, and won 14 personal and 21 group victories …
New shelves on R-39
The first subdivisions that were retrained for "Aircobra" in the 22nd reserve aviation regiment in Ivanovo were 153 and 185 Red Banner fighter aviation regiments. On June 29, 1942, IAP 153 in full force, staffed with 015/284 (23 pilots, 20 aircraft and 2 squadrons) under the command of Major S. I. Mironov arrived at the Voronezh airfield. The hostilities began on June 30, without a long buildup. Then the regiment was relocated to the Lipetsk airfield, from which it flew until 25 September. On the Voronezh Front, in 59 flight days, 1,070 combat missions were made (total flight time of 1162 hours), 259 air battles were conducted, including 45 group battles, and 64 aircraft were shot down of which: 1 spotter; 18 bombers, 45 fighters. At the same time, in three months, its own losses amounted to 8 aircraft and 3 pilots. Non-combat losses: one pilot and two planes.
For such successes, the regiment's commander was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
The 153rd Fighter Aviation Regiment was promoted to the rank of "Guards" for its excellent combat service on the Voronezh Front.
And in addition, in 1237 combat sorties, the regiment destroyed 77 enemy aircraft, including one by ramming: Captain A. F. Avdeev. went to the "Messerschmitt" in a frontal attack and none of them wanted to turn away … This is the first ram with the use of "Aircobra".
The 153rd IAP on November 22, 1942 was transformed into the 28th Guards, and from November 1943 into the 28th Guards Leningrad Fighter Aviation Regiment. Thus, in the period from 1942-01-12 to 1943-01-08, the regiment carried out 1176 sorties, carrying out 66 group battles, in which 63 enemy aircraft were destroyed (4 Xsh-126, 6 Yu-88, 7 FV-189, 23 FV- 190, 23 Me-109F) and 4 balloons, knocked out 1 bomber and 7 fighters. Own losses - 23 aircraft, of which 5 were destroyed in accidents and 4 were bombed at the airfield. Losses of personnel by Soviet sources were estimated as 10 people missing and dead.
Colonel Mironov in February 1944 led the 193rd Fighter Air Division, and by the end of the war he had 17 victories (plus one more victory from the Finnish company). The regiment was reorganized into the 28th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment on November 21, 1943. The most famous pilot of the regiment is Major Alexey Smirnov, who made several sorties during the Finnish war. The first victory was won in July 1941, he won 4 victories in total on the I-153. After receiving new "Airacobras" the account began to grow very quickly. In one of the first sorties on July 23, 1942, he shot down two enemy fighters, but Smirnov himself was shot down. He landed a burning plane in a no-man's land and was saved as a result of a tank attack. The pilot stayed with the tankers for three days before returning to his unit. The next double victory of the ace was counted on March 15, 1943, when 2 FV-190s hit the Smirnov sight at once. By August, he had 312 sorties in 39 air battles and 13 downed aircraft. On September 28, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. He ended the war with 457 sorties and 35 victories (of which only one in the group).
Another pilot of the 153 fighter aviation regiment, who had experience in the Finnish war, was Aleksey Nikitin. In total, by the end of the war, the ace made 238 sorties, scoring 24 victories (5 group). Another ace, Anatoly Kislyakov, won his first victory on June 25, knocking down the Finnish Fokker D-21 near Lake Sortevala. In general, Kislyakov was considered a "specialist" in the destruction of enemy aircraft at airfields - he destroyed 15 aircraft in this way, but he was shot down twice by fighters and four times. Later he held the position of deputy squadron commander, scored six victories over Stalingrad, flying an Aircobra, and another 7 - when the 153 fighter regiment fought in the Demyansk region. By the end of the war, Kislyakov was awarded the rank of captain, having made 532 sorties. On his combat account there are 15 downed aircraft and 1 balloon. To this account it is necessary to add 15 more aircraft destroyed on the ground. On August 18, 1945 he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
American fighter-bombers P-63 "Kingcobra" (Bell P-63 Kingcobra) and fighters P-39 Airacobra (Bell P-39 Airacobra) before being sent under the Lend-Lease program from the United States to the USSR. During the war, P-63 "Kingcobra" - 2,400 aircraft, P-39 "Airacobra" - 4952 aircraft were delivered from the USA to the USSR under Lend-Lease
B-25, A-20 Boston bombers and R-39 fighters, prepared for delivery to the Soviet Union under Lend-Lease, are lined up along the Ladd Field US Air Force take-off and landing base in Alaska before the arrival of the admissions committee from the USSR
American and Soviet pilots next to the P-39 "Airacobra" fighter, supplied to the USSR under Lend-Lease. One of the regiments of the Poltava air hub, summer 1944
The third subdivision rearmed with "Airacobras" in the reserve aviation regiment 22 was the 180th Fighter Aviation Regiment, withdrawn from the front on July 20, 1942. Previously, the regiment was armed with Hurricanes and stayed at the front for only 5 weeks. The retraining began on August 3, and finally on March 13, 1943, the regiment returned to the Kursk region.
Earlier - 1942-21-11 - the regiment became the 30th Guards Aviation Regiment. Lieutenant Colonel Ibatulin Hasan became its commander. The regiment commander won his first victories on the I-153 and I-16. Ibatulin was shot down and wounded in July 1942. The lieutenant colonel headed the 30th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment until the end of the war, and won his last victories on 1945-18-04 (on his account - 15 personal victories).
The "stars" of the regiment were Filatov Alexander Petrovich and Renz Mikhail Petrovich. Renz graduated from the Odessa flight school in 1939, served as an instructor in the Far East. In October 1942 he was sent to the 180th Fighter Aviation Regiment. The first victory was won on 1943-22-05, when the four "Airacobras" attacked a large group of Ju-87 covered by FV-190. In the first attack, Renz shot down a fighter, and his comrades 3 Ju-87. Five years later, Renz was attacked by three FV-190s, after which he was forced to jump out with a parachute.
At the end of 1943, the 30th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment was again withdrawn from the front, and upon returning it was sent to the 273 Fighter Aviation Division. Renz took part in numerous battles in the skies over Belarus and Poland in the summer of 1944. On August 12, Renz's group shot down 6 of 30 Ju-87s, while 2 bombers went to the commander's account. His third squadron at the end of 1944 became the best in both the regiment and the division. Renz ended the war with 25 victories (of which 5 were group victories) in 261 sorties. He received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union in May 1946. Filatov Alexander Petrovich got to the front in March 1943 with the rank of sergeant and began flying in the third squadron of Mikhail Renz. He won his first victory on May 9, when he shot down FV-190, and on June 2 - Me-110.
After 3 months of fighting, Filatov had 8 personal victories and 4 in the group. On July 4, in one of the sorties, he was shot down, and Filatov was forced to use a parachute. He returned to his regiment the very next morning. A few days later he was shot down again during a battle with the FV-190. This time he was captured, but on August 15, Filatov and the captured tanker escaped from the column of prisoners of war. A month later, they crossed the front line, after which Filatov returned to duty. The regiment commander, after being checked by the SMERSH organs, returned the ace to the regiment.
Filatov in the summer of 1944 was promoted to senior lieutenant, soon became deputy. the commander of the third squadron. Filatov in March 1945 became the commander of the first squadron. During an evening patrol on April 20, his plane was shot down. Ace landed his P-39 in German-controlled territory. Soon he was captured for the second time. Filatov was placed in a hospital, from where he escaped safely. After returning to the regiment, he received the rank of captain, but two captivity did not allow him to receive the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. And after the end of the war, the ace with 25 victories (of which 4 were group victories) was quickly dismissed from the air force.
Innokenty Kuznetsov was another notable person from the 30th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment. The pilot began the war in the 129 fighter regiment, where he won a number of victories, in August 1942 he was transferred to the IAP 180. Until the beginning of 1943 he flew on the Hurriceyiach, then there was the 30th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, where Kuznetsov flew on the Airacobrahs. … Before the end of the war, he made 2 rams. He twice presented himself for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, but was never awarded. By the end of the war, Kuznetsov had 366 sorties, of which 209 on the MiG-3, 37 on the Hurricanes and 120 on the Cobras. On his official account there were 12 group and 15 individual victories. After the war he worked as a test pilot, in 1956 he carried out a special government mission in Egypt, having completed at least one combat mission on the Il-28. Only on 1991-22-03 he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union!
The first unit to be retrained in Azerbaijan in the 25th Reserve Aviation Regiment was the 9th Guards Fighter Aviation Division, which became the most famous unit of the Red Army's air force. The pilots of this unit announced 1147 victories. 31 Hero of the Soviet Union served in the division, of which 3 were twice, and one three times were Hero of the Soviet Union. The IAP 298 became the first regiment to be armed with the P-39D, later the 45th Fighter Aviation Regiment and the 16th Guards Aviation Regiment went. The latter was armed with both I-16 and Yak-1. He began the war as the 55th Fighter Aviation Regiment on the Southern Front. It was set aside for reorganization in January 1943. The 298th Fighter Aviation Regiment received 21 P-39D-2s armed with a 20mm cannon and 11 P-39K-1s armed with a 37mm cannon, while the "K" model aircraft received squadron commanders and deputy commanders.
IAP 298 under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Ivan Taranenko was transferred to the Korenovskaya airfield on March 17, where he entered BAA 219. The first losses were incurred almost immediately - on March 19, Sergeant Belyakov's plane was shot down, the pilot was killed.
On August 24, 1943, the 298th Fighter Aviation Regiment was renamed the 10th Guards Regiment and sent to the newly organized 16th Guards Fighter Aviation Division (originally conceived as an elite one). In the period from March 17 to August 20, 1943, the regiment carried out 1625 sorties (total flight time of 2072 hours), fought 111 battles, in which it knocked out 29 and shot down 167 enemy aircraft. Lost 11 Airacobras hit and 30 shot down. The regiment commander - Lieutenant Colonel Taranenko Ivan during this period won four personal and group victories. In mid-July, he was promoted to the rank of colonel, and he took command of the 294 fighter division, armed with a Yak-1. 1943-02-09 was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. By the end of the war, he had 20 victories, of which 4 were group victories.
Soviet aircraft technicians repair the engine of the R-39 Airacobra fighter, supplied to the USSR from the United States under the Lend-Lease program, in the field. The unusual layout of this fighter was in the placement of the engine behind the cockpit near the center of mass.
Taranenko as commander of the 298 fighter regiment was replaced by Major Vladimir Semenishin. Like many Soviet aces, he received combat experience during the Finnish war. He started the war as a member of the 131st Fighter Aviation Regiment on the I-16. During the next combat flight on May 11, 1942, his plane was fired upon by anti-aircraft guns, the pilot received 18 wounds, but was able to land the damaged aircraft. After recovery, he was promoted to major and became navigator of the air regiment. By May 1943, he flew 136 sorties, scoring 15 victories (of which 7 in a group) in 29 battles. On May 24, Semenishin was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union, and from July 18 he became the commander of the 298th Fighter Aviation Regiment. He died on September 29, 1943 in an air battle. The final score of Semenishin is 13 group and 33 personal victories.
Vasily Drygin is another successful pilot of the regiment. In the 298th Fighter Aviation Regiment, he came from the 4th Fighter Aviation Regiment in July 1942. He survived numerous battles and became one of the few pilots who formed the backbone of the air regiment after its rearmament on the P-39. In the battles in the Kuban, he won 15 victories (5 of them in the group).
Drygin was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union on May 24, 1943. At the end of the war, Drygin had 20 victories.
The second regiment, which was rearmed on the P-39D, was the 45th Fighter Aviation Regiment, which fought in the Crimea and the North Caucasus under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Dzusov Ibragim Magometovich from the beginning of 1942. He was born in the village of Zamankul, North Ossetia, into a poor peasant family. Went to the Red Army as a volunteer at the age of 15. Ibrahim fought in Central Asia with bands of Basmachi as a simple soldier.
Dzusov graduated from the flight school in 1929 - this is how his service in the air force began. Dzusov I. M. became the commander of the 45th Fighter Aviation Regiment, armed with I-15bis and I-16, on 1939-25-04.
At the beginning of 1941, the regiment mastered the new Yak-1 fighter aircraft. This unit became one of the first in the country's air force to master this fighter. With the beginning of the war, the 45th Fighter Aviation Regiment provided cover for landing ships when Soviet troops entered Northern Iran and at the same time showed high skill.
And at the beginning of January 1942, the regiment left the 8th Air Corps of the Baku City Air Defense and is included in the 72nd Aviation Division of the Crimean Front. The pilots had no combat experience, and Major IM Dzusov teaches them how to conduct an air battle. The commander personally leads the groups to repel enemy raids, reconnaissance, attack, cover the troops. The regiment until May 19, 1942 made 1,087 combat missions, carrying out 148 air battles and shooting down 36 aircraft.
1943-16-06 he left the 45th Fighter Aviation Regiment in order to lead the 9th Guards Fighter Aviation Division. He held this post until May 1944, after which he became the commander of the entire 6th Fighter Air Corps. By the end of the war, despite his age, he had six victories, which were won in 11 air battles. “Dzusov flew before he got into a big mess,” recalled II Babak, a famous Soviet ace. “In May 1943, when he was already a division commander, he flew with a group. already shot down, but more and more planes were coming to their aid. After in one of the attacks Dzusov knocked out a fascist plane and began to withdraw from the battle by diving, the Nazis attacked him… Dzusov's plane caught fire and melted away. How worried the aviators! For three days, pilots from among those who did not fly on missions (sick and wounded) were on duty at the division's point. the group drove up with an embarrassed smile and cheerful humor inherent in him: - Excited? … After this incident, he no longer flew into battle (Dzusov was simply not allowed to do this)."
Since the 45th Fighter Aviation Regiment arrived at the 25th Reserve Aviation Regiment at the end of October 1942 - two and a half months after the 298 Fighter Regiment - the training process was already fine-tuned. Initially, the regiment was retrained on the P-40, but just before being sent to the front, Aircobras began to arrive.
It was decided to divide the pilots into 3 squadrons, of which one was armed with P-40, two with "Cobras". Thus, the rearmament was delayed until the beginning of March 1943, when the 45 fighter aviation regiment returned to the front. At that time, the first and third squadrons had 10 P-39DH and 11 P-39K, while the second had 10 P-40E. On March 9, the 45th Fighter Aviation Regiment was redeployed to the Krasnodar airfield, from where it immediately began active hostilities. But on this sector of the front, the best aces of Goering fought and the Soviet pilots soon suffered heavy losses.
In this regiment fought some of the best aces of the USSR Air Force - brothers Dmitry and Boris Glinka. Boris, the eldest of the brothers, graduated from a flight school in 1940 and met the war in the 45th Fighter Aviation Regiment as a lieutenant. He won his first victory in 1942. His talent as a fighter pilot was fully revealed with the receipt of the Cobra. On May 24, 1943, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, after winning 10 victories during March-April. Since the summer of 1944 - commander of the 16th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment.
Despite the fact that Dmitry was three years younger, he graduated from flying school almost immediately after his older brother and was assigned to the fighter aviation regiment 45. Dmitry won 6 victories, flying a Yak-1 in the spring of 1942, was shot down, wounded and spent two months in the hospital. By mid-April of the following year, he made his 146th combat mission, having won the 15th victory. On April 15, in an air battle, he was again wounded, spent a week in the hospital, returning to the location of the unit, received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Dmitry Glinka at the beginning of the summer of 1943 received the rank of captain and on August 24 became twice Hero of the Soviet Union, for 29 victories won in 186 sorties. In September, an unpleasant incident occurred when a German trophy grenade exploded in his hands. He spent some time in the hospital.
Participated in the Neva operation and Yasso-Kish, where he won a number of victories. He got into an accident of the transport Li-2 (he was rescued from under the burning debris only 48 hours later, as a result of the accident he was seriously injured). After treatment, he took part in the Lvov-Sandomierz operation, during which he chalked up 9 more victories. The battle for Berlin also did not go without him - Dmitry Glinka won his last victories on April 18, 1945. In total, he won 50 victories in 90 air battles (300 sorties).
Another pilot of the 100th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment (the 45th IAP on 1943-18-06 was transformed into the 100th Guards IAP for military successes during the air battle over the Kuban) was a mathematician and former chemistry teacher Ivan Babak. He joined the army in 1940, in April 1942 he completed his flight training, was sent to the 45th Fighter Aviation Regiment at the Yak-1. At first, the pilot did not shine with anything and Dzusov even thought about transferring him to another unit, but Dmitry Kalarash persuaded him to leave a promising pilot in the regiment.
Babak won his first victory over Mozdok in September, and in March, when the 45th Fighter Aviation Regiment returned to the front, he won a number of victories. During the toughest April battles, he shot down 14 more enemy fighters. At the peak of his success, he "caught" malaria and stayed in the hospital until September.
After his return, Babak received a new P-39N at his disposal and during the first flight on it he shot down a Me-109. On November 1, 1943, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, but again ended up in the hospital with untreated malaria. He returned to service in August 1944, when the regiment took part in the Iassy-Kishinev operation.
On April 22, unfortunately for the ace, he was shot down by anti-aircraft fire, and he was captured. Despite the fact that he stayed with the Germans for only 2 weeks, this had a disastrous effect on his career. This cost Babak the second Star of the Hero, and only Pokryshkin's intervention made it possible to avoid more serious consequences. Before Babak was captured, the ace had 33 personal victories and 4 in the group.
Nikolai Lavitsky was also a veteran - in the regiment since 1941, he won his first victory flying an I-153. Prior to the withdrawal of the regiment for rearmament on the P-39, he flew 186 sorties, in which he won 11 individual and one group victory. During the summer of 1943 he won 4 more victories, on August 24 he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, was awarded the rank of captain and was appointed commander of the 3rd squadron.
The ace's personal life did not work out - his wife left Lavitsky in the rear. This is probably why his every flight was associated with great risk. This behavior caused the commander to worry about his life, in connection with which Dzusov transferred Lavitsky to the headquarters position. But this did not save him from death - Nikolai Lavitsky died on March 10, 1944 during a training flight. At that time, Lavitsky had 26 victories (of which 2 were group victories), won during 250 sorties.
American-built Soviet fighter P-39 "Airacobra", supplied to the USSR under the Lend-Lease program, in flight
16th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment
The third regiment to use the P-39D during the "Battle of the Kuban" was the most famous regiment of the USSR air force - the 16th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment. This regiment was the second in the number of air victories (697), and the largest number of Heroes of the Soviet Union (15 people) were brought up in it, including two pilots who received this title twice and one - three times. In the history of the USSR there were only three people - three times Hero of the Soviet Union - Marshal Zhukov received the third Star in 1945, and the unique fourth Star of the Hero - in 1956. The regiment began its history in 1939 as the 55th Fighter Aviation Regiment. Since the beginning of the war, he took part in the battles on the Southern Front. The 16th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment became on March 7, 1942.
The pilots of the regiment in the spring of 1942 handed over their last I-16 and I-153, having received a brand new Yak-1 in return (the MiG-3 continued to remain in service). At the beginning of January 1943, the 16th GvIAP was sent to the 25th reserve aviation regiment for retraining on the P-39. At the same time, the regiment switched to a three-squadron system. It received 14 fighters P-39L-1, 11 P-39D-2 and 7 P-39K-1. On April 8, the 16th GvIAP returned to the front at the Krasnodar airfield and began sorties the next day.
Results of the battles in April: in the period from 9 to 30 April, 289 Aerocobras and 13 Kittyhawks were flown, 28 air battles were carried out in which one Do-217, Ju-87, 2 FW-190 were shot down, 4 Ju-88, 12 Me-109R, 14 Me-109E, 45 Me-109G. Of these, 10 Messerschmitts were shot down by the Guard Captain A. I.
Such an accurate gradation of "Messerschmitts" according to modifications can be explained by the fact that at that time the airplanes that were shot down over Soviet territory were officially credited to the pilots. Enemy vehicles destroyed behind the front line, as a rule, were not taken into account. Thus, only Pokryshkin A. AND. 13 German planes were "missing" (by the end of the war he had 72 actually shot down, but only 59 of them were "official"). The enemy aircraft was recorded on the pilot's combat account after the ground troops confirmed its fall, indicating the location, number, type. Even engine plaques were often delivered to the shelves. During the same period, the regiment lost 18 Airacobras who did not return from combat missions and were shot down, 2 during accidents and 11 pilots. During April, the regiment was replenished with 19 "Airacobra" and four P-40E, received from the fighter regiments 45, 84 and 25 of the reserve regiment.
Pokryshkin was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union on April 24, at the same time he replaced the old P-39D-2 with a new model N. On August 24, Pokryshkin was awarded the second Hero Star for 30 personal victories in 455 sorties.
The third ace of the Red Army Air Force was Grigory Rechkalov. Interestingly, they did not want to take him to the flight school for medical reasons. He began to fight in the 55th Fighter Aviation Regiment in the summer of 1941, flying I-16, I-153. Rechkalov won three victories, but in one of the sorties he was shot down. I spent a long time in the hospital.
He returned to the regiment only in the summer of 1942. Flying on the Yak-1, he won a number of victories, and later began to use the P-39. On May 24, for 194 sorties and 12 individual and 2 group victories, Rechkalov was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union, in June he began to command the first squadron of the 16th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment.
Along with Pokryshkin and Rechkalov in 1943, the "star" of Vadim Fadeev, who had the nickname "Beard", shone in the air regiment. The war began on the Southern Front as a junior lieutenant flying on an I-16. In November 1941, Fadeev's plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire during the battles for Rostov-on-Don, and the pilot had to land on no-man's land. Under a hail of bullets, the pilot ran towards his positions, and then led a counterattack with a pistol in his hands!
In December 1941 g.he was transferred to the 630th Fighter Aviation Regiment, where Fadeev won his first victory in the Kittyhawk. "Beard" at the end of 1942 was sent to the 16th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment. Soon he became an ace and, in general, was a rather legendary person. At the end of April of the following year, he was promoted to captain and became the commander of the third squadron. By that time, he had 394 sorties, in which he won 17 individual victories and 3 in a group (43 air battles). Vadim Fadeev died 1943-05-05 when his flight was attacked by eight Me-109. The badly wounded pilot landed the damaged plane, but died in the cockpit before Soviet soldiers ran up to him. Asa was posthumously awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union on May 24.
Alexander Clubs appeared in the regiment just a couple of weeks before Fadeev arrived. He finished his flight school in 1940, but got to the front only in August 1942. During the next 50 sorties, he destroyed 6 aircraft on the ground and 4 in the air, until November 2 he was shot down over Mozdok. Although Klubov was able to use a parachute, he was badly burned as a result of the disaster and spent the next several months in the hospital (but the scars on his face remained forever). Upon his return, Klubov was awarded the rank of captain and appointed deputy. squadron commander.
By the beginning of September 1943, Alexander Klubov had flown 310 sorties, scored 33 victories, of which 14 were in the group. During the Iassy-Kishinev operation, he won 13 victories in just one week. Klub died on 1944-01-11 during a training flight while retraining on La-7 from P-39. By that time, he had 50 victories on his account, of which 19 were group victories, which were won by the Clubs during 457 sorties. On June 27, 1945, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union posthumously.
On May 2, 1944, the 9th Guards Fighter Aviation Division, led at that time by Pokryshkin, returned to the front and took part in the final stage of the Jassy-Kishinev operation, then there was the Lvov-Sandomierz and Berlin operations.
Around the end of 1944, strong pressure from the high command began on Pokryshkin in order to re-equip domestic Yaks from the Trans-Oceanic Airacobras. The regiment itself was against this rearmament, especially given the death of Klubov.
Rechkalov, the new commander of the 16th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, was on bad terms with Pokryshkin and was soon removed from his post and replaced by Glinka Boris, the commander of the 100th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment. Rechkalov, despite this, still received the second Star of the Hero on July 1 (for 46 individual and 6 group victories). Boris Glinka two weeks later was wounded during an air battle and was badly injured while leaving the Airacobra. The wounds were so serious that he did not return to service until the end of the war. There was simply no one to appoint the commander of the 16th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, and Pokryshkin had to agree to the return of Rechkalov.
In total, at the time of the victory, Grigory Rechkalov carried out 450 sorties, participated in 122 air battles, in which he won 62 victories (56 individual). It should be noted that the confrontation of the aces continued throughout life, and was even reflected on the pages of memoirs.
The 9th Guards Fighter Aviation Division was deployed across Germany in February 1945 in search of a better airfield. Pokryshkin found an original solution to this problem; several lanes of the autobahns were adapted for the basing of the division's aircraft.
After Rechkalov (in February 1945 he was sent to the headquarters position), Babak Ivan, a piloting inspector of the 9th Guards Center, was appointed commander of the 16th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment. He commanded the regiment until April 22, when he was shot down by anti-aircraft fire and was taken prisoner by the Germans.
Pokryshkin flew until the end of the war, completing 650 sorties and taking part in 156 battles. The official score of Pokryshkin was 65 victories, of which 6 were in the group, but some researchers bring the score to 72 personal victories. Under his command, 30 pilots received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, and several received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
27th Fighter Aviation Regiment
Another unit that received the P-39 in 1943 was the 27th Fighter Aviation Regiment, which spent the first part of the war as part of the air defense of the Moscow District. In the summer of 1942 he was sent to the Stalingrad front, and in the spring of the next year he was rearmed on the P-39 and sent to the 205th Fighter Aviation Division (from 08.10.1943 it became the 129th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment). Since April 1943, he was commanded by the effective, but little-known, Soviet ace Vladimir Bobrov. He began to fight back in Spain, having won several victories during that campaign. He won his first victory in the very first days of the war, and the last in May 1945 in the skies over Berlin. However, Bobrov never received a Hero Star, but mainly because of his terrible nature (which veterans often recall in their memoirs). The regiment took part in the battles near Kursk, and in the Belgoro-Kharkov offensive (55 victories were won). Bobrov for unknown reasons at the beginning of 1944 was removed from the command of the regiment.
Pokryshkin took Bobrov into his division, making him commander of the 104th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment in May. Continuing to fly on the P-39 fighter, Bobrov won his last victory over Czechoslovakia on May 9, 1945. In May, papers were sent to award Bobrov the title Hero of the Soviet Union, but they were first stopped by Marshal Novikov, and a few years later by Marshal Vershinin. After retiring from the air force, Bobrov did not wait for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, he died in 1971. Only on 20.03.1991 he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union - thus, Bobrov was the last Hero of the USSR.
In the 27th, Nikolai Gulaev fought very effectively on the "Airacobra" under the command of Bobrov. He met wars deep in the rear, and only got to the front in April 1942. He was sent to the 27th Fighter Aviation Regiment in February 1943.
The junior lieutenant by June 1943 became deputy squadron commander with 95 sorties and with 16 individual and 2 group victories to his credit. One of his most famous victories was the ram on 1943-14-05.
During the Battle of Kursk, Gulaev showed himself very well, for example, on June 5 alone he performed 6 sorties, during which the ace shot down 4 enemy aircraft. On July 11, he was appointed commander of the second squadron. In August, the regiment was withdrawn from combat and taken to the rear for rearmament on the P-39. And on September 28, Gulaev became a Hero of the Soviet Union. In January-February 1944 he took part in the battles near Kirovograd, and later in the Korsun-Shevchensk operation.
1944-30-05 during one of the sorties, Gulaev was wounded in the hospital. Upon his return on 1944-01-07, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for the second time for 45 victories (of which only three were in the group).
In August, Gulaev was promoted to major, and on the 14th, in a battle with the FV-190, he was shot down. I was able to land the plane at my airfield, but did not return to service. In total, Nikolai Gulaev had 57 personal victories and 3 group victories.
9th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment
This Air Force unit received "Cobras" in August and also soon became known as "Regiment of Ases" (third in terms of performance - 558 victories). He began the war with the I-16, as the 69th Fighter Aviation Regiment. He covered himself with the glory of Southern Ukraine in the battle near Odessa. On March 7, 1942, he received the rank of Guards, and was rearmed on LaGG-3 and Yak-1. In October 1942, it was transformed into an elite unit, which brought together the best pilots of the 8th Air Army.
The regiment received the P-39 in August 1943 and flew these fighters for about 10 months. The 9th GvIAP in July 1944 was withdrawn from the front and re-equipped with La-7. This is probably why most of the regiment's aces are strongly associated with the La-7 and Yak-1.
Let's note only three aces of this aviation regiment - Amet-Khan Sultan, Alelyukhin Aleksey and Lavrinenkov Vladimir.
Crimean Tatar Amet-Khan Sultan flew Yak-1 and Hurricanes before being rearmed on P-39 fighters. In total, he won 30 individual and 19 group victories.
Alelyukhin Aleksey fought in the regiment from the first day of the war. Victory Day was met by the deputy commander, twice Hero of the Soviet Union with 40 individual victories and 17 in the group. It is impossible to single out the number of victories won on a particular type of fighter, but note that at least 17 were won on the Aircobra.
Lavrinenkov Vladimir scored 33 victories (22 of them individual) before retraining for the R-39 fighter. 08.24.1943 during a collision with FV-189 jumped with a parachute and was captured. He returned to the regiment only in October and ended the war with 47 victories, of which 11 were group victories. Flying in the P-39, he won at least 11 victories.
Summing up, it should be said that the use of "Airacobr" in the Soviet air force was unequivocally successful. This aircraft, in capable hands, was a powerful weapon, equal to that of the enemy. There were no "special" spheres of use for the Airacobras - they were used as ordinary, "multipurpose" fighters performing the same functions as the Yakovlev and Lavochkin fighters: they fought with fighters, flew for reconnaissance, accompanied by bombers, guarded by troops. They differed from Soviet fighters in survivability, more powerful weapons, good radio, but at the same time they were inferior in vertical maneuverability, the ability to perform sharp maneuvers and withstand large overloads. The pilots of the Cobra were loved for its good protection and comfort: one of the pilots of the R-39 even said that he flew it "like in a safe." The Aerocobr pilots did not burn, since the plane was made of metal, and the tanks were located far in the wing. Also, they were not hit in the face by jets of oil or steam, since the engine was behind, they did not smash their faces on the sights, they did not turn into a cake during the nosing, as happened with twice Hero of the Soviet Union Klubov A. F. after transferring to La-7 from P-39. There was even some mysticism in the fact that the pilot who tried to preserve the damaged "cobra" due to the forced landing almost always remained alive and unharmed, but those who left it with a parachute often died from being hit by the stabilizer located at the level of the doors …
Major Pavel Stepanovich Kutakhov (future twice Hero of the Soviet Union and Air Chief Marshal) in the cockpit of the American-made P-39 Airacobra fighter. Karelian front. During the years of the Great Patriotic War, P. S. Kutakhov flew 367 sorties, conducted 79 air battles, shot down 14 enemy aircraft personally and 28 in a group
Fighter pilot, deputy commander of the 16th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, twice Hero of the Soviet Union Grigory Andreevich Rechkalov near his P-39 "Airacobra"
Deputy squadron commander of the 2nd Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment of the Navy Air Force Hero of the Soviet Union Guard Senior Lieutenant N. M. Didenko (second from left) discusses with his comrades an air battle next to the American P-39 Airacobra fighter (P-39 Airacobra), supplied to the USSR under the Lend-Lease program. The fighter's fuselage depicts an eagle with a German pilot in its beak and a destroyed German aircraft in its paws. Didenko Nikolai Matveyevich - a participant in the Great Patriotic War since the fall of 1941. By July 1944, Guard Senior Lieutenant N. M. Didenko made 283 successful sorties, conducted 34 air battles, personally shot down 10 aircraft and sank 2 enemy schooners. In November 1944 N. M. Didenko was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for his unparalleled heroism in battles against the Nazi invaders
Georgy Basenko on the wing of his R-39 Airacobra. Other Airacobras are visible behind. 1st Ukrainian Front, 1944. Georgy Illarionovich Basenko (born in 1921) during the war years shot down 10 enemy aircraft personally and 1 in a group
Commander of the 102nd Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, Guard Major A. G. Pronin on the wing of his R-39 Airacobra fighter. From the report: “To the Chief of Staff of the 2nd Guards Fighter Air Corps. I report: on the basis of the order of the commander of the guard regiment, Major Pronin, on all the combat aircraft of the regiment, guard badges are painted on the doors of the aircraft cabins on both sides. Chief of Staff of the 102nd Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment of the Guard Major (signed) Shustov"
From left to right: the chief of staff of the regiment, Major A. S. Shustov, deputy regiment commander Major Sergei Stepanovich Bukhteev, (squadron commander?) Captain Alexander Georgievich Pronin, (deputy squadron commander?) Senior Lieutenant Nikolai Ivanovich Tsisarenko. The month is not shown in the photo. For this and a number of other photographs of the spring-summer period of 1943, this introduces some uncertainty when indicating the positions / military ranks of Pronin (squadron commander / regiment commander) and Tsisarenko (deputy squadron commander / squadron commander) at the time of shooting. In April June, the regiment from the 2-squadron became the 3-squadron, the commanders were moved. In July, the regiment was given the guards name of the 102nd Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment. According to the entry in the military card of A. G. Pronin, he has been a regiment commander since June 1943. Accordingly, Nikolai Tsisarenko becomes squadron commander
From left to right: junior lieutenant Zhileostov, junior lieutenant Anatoly Grigorievich Ivanov (died), junior lieutenant Boldyrev, senior lieutenant Nikolai Petrovich Alexandrov (died), Dmitry Andrianovich Shpigun (died), N. A. Kritsyn, Vladimir Gorbachev. Deputy Squadron Commander of the Guards Senior Lieutenant Anatoly Grigorievich Ivanov died near the town of Lautaranta during training flights on 1944-17-08. He was buried in a mass grave in the city of Zelenogorsk, Leningrad Region. The senior pilot of the Guard, Lieutenant Dmitry Andrianovich Shpigun, went missing on February 12, 1944 on the Sverdlovsk-Kazan section while ferrying the 2nd set of P-39 aircraft from Krasnoyarsk to Leningrad. Dmitry Shpigun died in a large-scale catastrophe that killed 2 ferry squadrons (the 9th ferry regiment of the Siberian Military District and the 2nd Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment of the Northern Fleet Navy). The cause of the death of 16 pilots was an erroneous weather forecast issued for the Sverdlovsk-Kazan route: the weather was stormy. Due to the breakdown of the radio, none of the commanders of the groups or the leading crews was able to accept the command to return to their airfield and hand it over to the Airacobra.
Fighter pilots of the 3rd Squadron of the 39th Guards Aviation Regiment. Third from right - Ivan Mikhailovich Gerasimov. After the war, Guard Lieutenant I. M. Gerasimov died in a plane crash near Belaya Tserkov near Kiev in the fall of 1947. The names of the others and the location of the shooting are not known. The photo was taken against the background of the Bell P-39 Airacobra ("Airacobra") fighter, which was supplied to the USSR from the United States under Lend-Lease. "Airacobras" were in service with the 39th Air Defense GIAP from 1943 to May 1945
Aces pilots of the 9th Guards Aviation Division at the Bell P-39 Airacobra fighter G. A. Rechkalov. From left to right: Alexander Fedorovich Klubov (twice Hero of the Soviet Union, shot down 31 planes personally, 19 in a group), Grigory Andreevich Rechkalov (twice a Hero, shot down 56 planes personally and 6 in a group), Andrei Ivanovich Trud (Hero of the Soviet Union, 25 planes shot down personally and 1 in the group) and the commander of the 16th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment Boris Borisovich Glinka (Hero of the Soviet Union, shot down 30 planes personally and 1 in the group). 2nd Ukrainian Front. The photo was taken in June 1944 - the number of stars on Rechkalov's plane corresponds to his achievements by that time (46 planes were shot down personally, 6 in a group)
