The first Russian pilot, Mikhail Nikanorovich Efimov, having previously completed training in Europe, first flew up to the sky on March 8, 1910. A native of the Smolensk province made his flight over the Odessa Hippodrome, where he was watched by a hundred thousand people!
He flew on his own plane, which he purchased for the prize money won at the prestigious aviator competitions in Nice. Possessing thorough engineering knowledge, possessing European languages ​​and good physical preparation, he was an advanced athlete in the field of technical sports.
Where did the first Russian pilot study?
His path to aviation began outside of Russia. He caught his chance. As soon as a school for pilots from different countries was founded near Paris (in Murmelon) in 1909, the Russian champion in cycling and motorcycling (these were Mikhail's previous achievements) came to study there. He became the most brilliant student of the recognized pioneer of aircraft industry, Henri Farman (aircraft designer, industrialist, pilot - the author of the first aviation records.) He taught him personally. Efimov made his first independent flight on December 25, 1909. Subsequently, the cartridge entrusted him with teaching the flying art of the adherents of his school. In fact, the Russian became an instructor pilot.
After a triumphant presentation in Odessa in the autumn of that year, the first Russian pilot performed at the All-Russian Ballooning Festival in St. Petersburg. There he met a teacher at Moscow University, later - the creator of the science of aerodynamics, Professor Zhukovsky Nikolai Egorovich. The pilot's practical skills were valuable to the scientist. Nikolai Egorovich showed an idle interest in a new acquaintance, because the scientist was the organizer of the Aeronautical Circle at the Moscow Higher Technical School. And this circle brought aircraft designers Arkhangelsky, Stechkin, Tupolev to aviation.
The contribution of Mikhail Efimov to Russian flying art
Then the experience and skill of one of the best pilots attracted the close attention of the Russian military. He was asked to lead the Sevastopol aviation school, which trained Russian pilots (at the same time, another aviation school was organized in Gatchina, near St. Petersburg).
The creative attitude of the teacher - instructor Mikhail Efimov - towards flying was manifested in his personal practice of diving, steep turns, planning with the engine off, and aimed bombing. He skillfully taught students of the Sevastopol school these skills.
Also, the first Russian pilot owns an invention of a device that allows you to start the engine of an airplane directly to a pilot without resorting to outside help.
The work of Mikhail Efimov and his associates turned out to be very relevant.
In 1914, the First World War began. A terrible action, which subsequently destroyed the economy of Europe and led to the collapse of two of its empires at once: the Russian and Austro-Hungarian.
Since 1915, pilot No. 1 of Russia skillfully participated in military operations, carrying out air reconnaissance and targeted bombing.
With the German pilots fought the French, British, Russian pilots.
Peter Nesterov. The world's first ram
Russian pilots quickly adopted the French school of air combat, based on tactics of obfuscating the enemy, sudden maneuvers.
On the eve of the war, a Russian aerobatics school was born. 08/27/1913 over the Syretsky field near Kiev, one of the first Russian pilots - Pyotr Nikolayevich Nesterov - made a “flight along a curve closed in a vertical plane,” that is, the so-called dead loop. In fairness, we note that aerobatics were not an absolute impromptu of the pilot, but a scrupulous embodiment by this practitioner of the subtle aerodynamic calculations of Professor Zhukovsky.
At the first time of hostilities, an obvious problem emerged: the planes were imperfect due to unpreparedness for aerial combat. At the beginning of World War I, aviation was imperfect. The only way to bring down an enemy aircraft was a ram.
The world's first battering ram on August 26, 1914 was made by the inventor of the aerobatics school, the staff captain of the Russian army Pyotr Nikolaevich Nesterov. It was simultaneously the first victory in the air battle in the world. However, at what cost? The heroic death of one of the best pilots in the world, shot down in the vicinity of Zhovkva (located near Lviv), the German fighter “Albatross” with its “Moran” made the designers think.
On the one hand, this episode testifies: the psychological state of the Russian pilots of the First World War was motivated, aimed at seizing air supremacy. On the other hand, ram by its nature could not be considered a rational type of military operations. After all, the heroes must return home alive. The plane needed real weapons. Soon, first, French engineers developed an aircraft machine gun, and after them - German ones.
Birth of Russian military aviation
In 1915, there were 2 air squads in the Russian army. And already next spring 16 more were added to them. Until 1915, Russian pilots fought on aircraft manufactured in France. In 1915, the first domestic aircraft, the S-16, was created by designer Sikorsky in Russia.
Russian pilots of the First World War armed themselves with the obsolete sides of the Newpor-11 and Newpor-17.
Professional pilot
15 German aircraft were shot down by the staff captain of the 11th corps air squad Evgraf Nikolayevich Kruten. He learned the tricks of aerobatics in the Gatchina aviation school, having mastered the legendary “dead loop” there. However, this did not stop there in his professional development.
Generally speaking, the desire to dominate the battle characterizes the psychological state of the Russian pilots of the First World War. The military career of Krutnya, a patriotic officer, was fleeting and ended, unfortunately, with his quick heroic death.
He polished to perfection the combat tactics of attacking enemy aircraft. At first, thanks to a skillful maneuver, one of the first Russian military pilots, Evgraf Kruten, forced his car to dive under an enemy aircraft, and then shot him down with a machine gun.
Best Russian aces pilots
For example, Evgraf Kruteny, who died tragically due to a collision with the ground with poor visibility, we can understand the identity of Russian pilots of the First World War. Scorched by fire, having mastered the tactics of battle, they realized the growing role of aviation in the war.
Among the Russian pilots formed, educated real professionals. However, the enemies were forced to reckon with the Russians: Kazakov Alexander (20 downed planes); Krutnem Evgrafom (17 air fights won); Argeev Pavel (15 victories); Sergievsky Boris (14); Seversky Alexander (13); Bitch Gregory, Makienk Donat, Smirnov Ivan - 7 each; Loiko Ivan, Vakulovsky Konstantin - on 6. However, there were few of them. The main strap of the war, figuratively speaking, was pulled by ordinary infantry.
The social composition of the Russian pilots of the First World War did not differ in diversity. All of them were noblemen, studied at the same gymnasiums, flying schools. All officers knew each other personally.
But still, the general tone of the war in the sky was not set by the Russians, but by the Germans - Manfred Von Richthofen (nickname "The Red Baron", 80 downed planes), Werner Foss (48 victories).
The French practically did not lag behind them either: Rene Paul Fonck won 75 victories, his fellow countryman Georg Guinemar - 54, Carlsa Nengesser - 43.
Heroism of Russian pilots of World War I
The impressive advantage of the German and French aces, as we have already mentioned, is explained simply: by the presence of a machine gun synchronized with an airplane propeller. However, the courage shown by the famous Russian pilots of the First World War deserves respect and admiration.
If, according to the criterion of piloting skill and courage, Russian officers were not inferior to colleagues from Germany and France, then because of obsolete equipment they died more often.
The beginning of World War II. The superiority of German aviation
The main content of the Second World War, which destroyed about 50 million people, was the clash of two multimillion-strong armies: the German and Soviet. Aviation in battles has already acted as an important component of complex combat operations.
She became significantly more powerful and significantly improved. The characteristics demonstrated on the fronts of World War I remained in the past:
- wooden construction of biplanes with racks with wire extensions between the wings;
- fixed gear;
- an open cabin;
- speed - up to 200 km / h.
Since 1935, the German Ministry of Aviation has set its sights on the production of innovative all-metal combat vehicles: Henkel He 111, Messerschmitt Bf 109, Junkers Ju 87, Dornier Do 217 and Ju 88. V.
For example, the new Junkers bomber was equipped with two engines of 1200 l / s each. He developed a speed of up to 440 km / h. The car carried with it up to 1.9 tons of bombs.
The Soviet analogue of this technique - the DB-3 bomber - began to be produced 4 years later - from 1939. The main bombing fleet at the beginning of the war consisted of wooden low-speed KhAI - BB (220 km / h, bomb load - 200 kg).
By the 40s of the last century, a two-seat fighter lost its relevance. In the Soviet Army at the beginning of the war, the main fighter was a wooden I-16 biplane with an engine of 710 l / s. Its maximum speed was 372 km / h, but the design was combined: the wings were metal, and the fuselage was wooden.
Germany, taking into account the experience of the war in Spain, in 1939 began production of the Messerschmidt fighter BF 109 F.
The struggle for air supremacy
An extremely difficult air situation developed in the very first days of the war. On June 22, sighting bombing destroyed 800 non-flying Soviet aircraft at major airfields, as well as 400 in the air (the enemy already had combat experience.) The Germans actually destroyed all new Soviet flying equipment in the basing areas. So dominance in the air immediately, from 06.22.1941, the Nazis seized.
Obviously, under such difficult circumstances, Russian pilots could not fully prove themselves on the battlefield. However, the victory went to German aviation at a high price. From June 22 to July 5, 1941, she lost 807 of her aircraft. Only on 06/22/1941, Soviet pilots carried out 6,000 sorties.
In the future, the struggle for air superiority was reflected in the evolution of the organizational forms of Soviet aviation. She was removed from the combined arms units and concentrated in the new - aviation. Mixed compounds gave way to homogeneous: fighter, bomber, assault. Quickly in 1941, reserve air groups were created from 4-5 air regiments, which in 1942 were gradually replaced by air armies. By the end of the war, 17 air armies fought from the Soviet side.
Thus, the possibility of a long-term warfare was achieved. It was then that the famous Russian pilots became one of the recognized heroes of the Second World War.
The first major victory of the Soviet pilots, according to the recognition of the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force, Chief Air Marshal Kutakhov P.S., fell on the battle of Moscow. Of the many fascist bombers seeking to break through to the capital, only 28 managed to do this, which amounted to only 1.4%. At the approaches to the capital, Russian WWII pilots destroyed 1,600 Goering aircraft.
Already at the end of 1942, the Soviet Army was ready for revenge in air supremacy. In reserves, the High Command Headquarters formed 5 fighter aviation corps with modern all-metal aircraft. Since the summer of 1943, Soviet fighters began to dictate their conditions on the battlefield.
Innovation in the organization of battle
In each division, pilots were divided into combat pairs on the basis of combat experience and friendship, a group of aces stood out from the best. Each fighter division was assigned a limited front line to hunt for German bombers. To coordinate the battle, radio communication was systematically used.
We give an example of one such battle. Against the four (link) of the Soviet fighters (the leader is Major Naydenov), the Germans sent 11 Messerschmidts of the 109th model. The battle was led from the command post of the 240th IAD. The second link of the Yak-1 flew up quickly from the airfield to strengthen it. Thus, 8 YAKs joined the battle against 11 Messers. Further, everything was decided by skill. The Soviet ace - Lieutenant Motuz - worthily fought against 4 Messers. Thanks to the maneuver, he managed to escape from the line of fire, shoot down one and knock out the second enemy aircraft. The remaining two took flight.
The Junkers groups attacked by them on average lost from a quarter to a third of their vehicles in one battle. As a result of the activity of our pilots, the massive bombardment by fascist aviation ceased.
Fighters in the directions of the possible offensive and the emergence of large enemy aviation forces carried out "air cleansing", moving deeper into the patrol. As fuel and ammunition were used up, they were replaced, and military forces were built up during the battle.
Russian revenge. Battle of Kuban
Soviet air supremacy was won in the battle over the Taman Peninsula. The Nazis concentrated a group of 1000 aircraft there.
On the Soviet side, there were about 900 combat vehicles. Our fighter aircraft was equipped with new YAK-1, YAK-7B and LA-5 aircraft. On the day, there were about five dozen air battles. L.I. Brezhnev wrote about this unprecedented air-strike in Little Earth, telling him as an eyewitness observing a confrontation from the ground. According to him, looking at the sky, at the same time it was possible to see several battles at once.
At the epicenter of the battle over Kuban was 229 air division of the 4th Air Army.
Russian pilots of World War II, regularly inflicting heavy damage on the enemy, psychologically broke the German aces, who considered themselves the best in the world.
With all this, it should be recognized that the German aces fought heroically. If the Germans were worthy of victory, then the Russian heroes seemed to have lost all sense of self-preservation.
In the days of the most active battles, Soviet pilots slept in the cockpits, rising to the sky at the first command, went into battle, even after receiving wounds, ate adrenaline. Many changed cars several times: the metal could not stand it. Each pilot felt: a story was being created here.
It was over Kuban for the first time on the air that the legendary phrase sounded, upon hearing which, the German "tambourine" aces unanimously deployed cars and took to flight: "Achtung! Achtung! Achtung! Pokryshkin in Himmel! Achtung! As Pokryshkin in Himmel! ”
After the victory in the battle of Kuban and until the end of the Second World War, the Russian military pilot began to dominate in the sky.
Meet: Pokryshkin Alexander Ivanovich
This story is about a unique pilot. On the brilliant theoretician and brilliant practice of fighter combat.
Alexander Ivanovich, who was in love with the profession of a pilot, always wanted in his life not only to “get to the very core”, but also to “grasp even beyond what was possible”. He strove for perfection, but this could not be called egoism. Rather, Pokryshkin was a leader acting on the principle of "Do as I do!" He was a talented workaholic. Before him, even the great Russian pilots had never reached such an absolute level of skill.
Dreaming of becoming an ace, he determined for himself his weaknesses (shooting at a cone, right-handed maneuver), and then, through persistent training, hundreds and hundreds of repetitions, he reached the first place among his colleagues.
Alexander Ivanovich fought from the first days of the war from the border of Moldova as part of the 55th fighter aviation regiment. He was entrusted with reconnaissance of the deployment of enemy units, and Pokryshkin coped with this task brilliantly.
Pokryshkin always analyzed both positive and negative experiences. For example, after he, the fighter covering the slow-moving bombers, was “shot down” (Alexander Ivanovich then returned to his own through the front line), he realized the harmfulness of speed reduction and developed a new escort tactic - the “snake”.
Alexander Ivanovich developed a Russian innovative strategy and tactics of air combat, which is absolutely adequate to the demands of the times. His creative personality has always been hated by careerists and dogmatists. But, fortunately, the ideas of the ingenious pilot soon found their embodiment in the combat charter of fighter aircraft.
Alexander Ivanovich could lose wings
In June 1942, the regiment, where the hero served on the Yak-1 plane, became a guard.
In the summer of 1942 he was relocated to Baku for rearmament. The direct uncompromising nature of the pilot, his talent, his obvious ability to make a career set envious people against him. While the division commander was undergoing treatment, these dastardly people used the respite time between battles to settle accounts with the unstable ace.
He was accused of violating the statutes and instructions, and even brought to trial. Pokryshkin could well have ended up in the camps ... To the honor of the division commander, he, having learned about the incident, having destroyed the plans of the Klyauzniks, saved the hero pilot.
Flying high
Since March 1943, Pokryshkin flew on an American "aerocobra". In the spring of 1943, the regiment was relocated to the Kuban, at the epicenter of the air battle. Here the virtuoso of fighter combat fully demonstrated his skill.
And the combat aviation order of the entire Soviet Army during the Kuban battle was first built by a “whatnot” according to the strategy developed by Alexander Ivanovich. The aces of the Luftwaffe suffered unheard of losses.
Pokryshkin’s name was forever written in gold letters in the history of Russian aviation on the pages where Russian pilots of the First World War appeared in front of him. However, the pilot even surpassed them, becoming an ace among aces. At the end of the Second World War, he commanded a fighter air division. Alexander Ivanovich made more than 600 sorties, shooting down 117 enemy aircraft.
Kozhedub Ivan Nikitovich
According to official statistics, the result of Alexander Ivanovich Pokryshkin was surpassed only by one person: Ivan Kozhedub. The son of a gifted peasant who independently learned to read and write and “made his way into people,” Ivan first saw the sky from the cockpit in 1939. The guy just fell in love with the profession of a pilot, it seemed to him that in the world there is nothing more beautiful than this.
Not immediately, he became an ace. The guy studied flying at the Chuguev Aviation College. When the Second World War began, he was eager for the front, but they did not let him go, leaving him to serve as an instructor.
After writing dozens of five reports, the pilot-instructor in the fall of 1942 ended up serving in the 240th Fighter Regiment. Kozhedub flew on the LA-5 fighter. The regiment, hastily formed and sent to the Stalingrad front in a hurry, without proper flight training, was soon defeated.
In February 1943, the newly formatted regiment was again sent to the front. But after a month and a half - March 26, 1943 - Ivan Nikitovich was "shot down". He, then, due to the inexperience of hesitating and breaking away on take-off from the cover aircraft, was immediately attacked by six "Messers." Despite the competent tactics of the future ace, due to the lack of cover, he had an “enemy tail” on his tail. Thanks to the phenomenal maneuver, Ivan Nikitovich then survived. But the lesson - to be in the sky inextricably paired with a cover plane - learned. Looking ahead, we will inform that in the future Kozhedub shot down 63 enemy aircraft.
He always flew on LA-5, which was replaced by 6. Co-workers recalled that he treated them not as machines, but as living beings. I talked with them, called affectionately ... Something incomprehensibly religious was in the relationship between man and machine. But the most striking thing was that never, never on Ivan's planes there was not a single malfunction, not a single emergency situation, and the pilot’s armored seat back repeatedly saved the pilot himself.
Conclusion
Famous Russian pilots of the Great Patriotic War were awarded the highest award of the Country of Soviets - the title of Hero of the Soviet Union: Alexander Pokryshkin and Ivan Kozhedub - three times; 71 pilots (9 of them posthumously) received this high rank twice.
All awarded are worthy people. "Hero" was given for 15 downed enemy aircraft.
Among the Heroes of the Soviet Union is the legendary Alexei Petrovich Maresyev, who returned to duty after a severe wound and amputation of his legs. Vorozheykin Arseniy Vasilievich (46 downed planes), twice a hero of the Soviet Union with a unique battle pattern, based on perfect aerobatics. Twice Hero of the Soviet Union Nikolai Dmitrievich Gulaev, who has a phenomenal result (in the battle over the Prut River, he managed to shoot down 5 enemy planes in just 4 minutes.) This list can go on for a very long time ...