found a great site with interviews of soviet flighter jocks...
http://mig3.sovietwarplanes.com/pilots/pilots.htm
great stories and pics. here's one to entice you to go there and read.
Sergei Isakovich Nasilevec ( much more of the entire story at the site )
— You came to Stalingrad school in May 1940 and begun to fly straight away?
Yes. There were no U-2s in the school. We began flying UTI.
— How did you like Ishak (Donkey – a nick name earned by I-16 for similar sounding of it’s official name)?
A lot of pilots were killed in flight accidents. It was such a strict plane, that chief of school, when we graduated, said:
— If you mastered I-16, you may fly any other type of airplane. This is a strictest plane of them all. There is no pilot, who can’t land any other aircraft after I-16.
— Did you fly Chaika (Gull - nickname earned by I-153 for it’s gull wing shaped upper wings)?
Yes, it’s almost the same as I-16. You could train on both of them.
— There was no dual-control Chaikas.
No, there weren’t. It was lighter than I-16. I-16 was very strict on landing. It was like a spindle. On I-16 you had to keep your legs in tension all the time…
— In your voenniy bilet it is written that you kept studying till June 1943?
Yes. We wanted to go to the front, but we were not allowed… And we were told:
— You will study new equipment…How many flying hours you had when graduated from school?
About 250 flying hours, no less…
— How you were told about war?
We were graduated that day. There was an order already, we were directed to our new units, received suitcases, two uniforms in them, for daily use and for holidays, sheets for bed, everything really. We were told that we will go to celebrate at Volga shore. We came to Stalingrad, boarded a ferry and crossed the river. Everything was ready there, wind orchestra and dance area, a lot of people came for dances. Then suddenly, it wasn’t 12 yet:
— Alarm, flight crews to the school, immediately!
To school, fine. No one objected. We loaded to the ferries, and just when we were about to disembark, it was announced:
— There will be an announcement on radio by Molotov...
«War!» We were called back to the school; our suitcases were taken away… We began retraining…
— Did Timoshenko’s order about graduating in Sergeants rank touch you?
Just when I started studying this happened. Half of those who applied had failed exams on purpose, but almost no one was expelled. Whether you liked it, or not, you had to study.
— You graduated as Sergeant, were about to leave to your new unit, but were returned?
Yes. We were called back and told:
There will be a new plane.
A week later we received a Yak-1. Chief of school summoned us: Comrades! I’m talking to you not as with cadets, but as with pilots. You have to master new type of airplane. But there is only one airplane of this type.
I felt chills at my back. I don’t know this plane, and it’s a single seat…
"I," He continued, — Will check this plane. I’ll try it out in the air, fly in the zone. Then I will return, land, showing you the landing. Then we will decide shifts, and we all will fly it in turns...
I was the third one. We all made 10 flights each on Yak.
— How you felt Yak-1 after Ishak?
Excellent. After Ishak — «rest and smoke». And how it landed… Like by guitar string.
We kept training in I-16s… When time came to be sent to the front, we were given simple backpack, tablet…
— Your flight school was evacuated?
We were evacuated in 1941, when Rostov had fallen, it was warm yet. Airplanes were sent away earlier. We, personnel, crossed Volga by ship to Baskunchak, from ship we moved to train to Chelyabinsk, and to the town Kustanai. That’s in Kazakhstan. River Tobol. And training again. Everybody wanted to go to the front, while commanders were weaving fists at us:
— You are ready, but wait for an order. You are in reserve.
Then, a group was gathered very fast, six men, — I, Alexandr Matashov, Vladimir Morozov, Nikolay Lgotnii — he lived in Moscow, — We were loaded on train and sent to Moscow to Directorate. From there we were sent to 3rd Ukrainian Front. We almost by foot travelled to small railway station «Dedovichi», before Dnepropetrovsk. Germans were still in Zaporozhye, but they were already on the run…
— It was 1943 already?
Yes. June 1943, it was middle of Kursk operation.
— And where you ended up?
3rd Ukrainian Front. 161st fighter regiment. Simple, not Guards.
— You were a lieutenant then, or still a sergeant?
Junior Lieutenant.
— Until 1943 there were junior commanders, senior commander. Then there were officers ranks introduced, with shoulder board — «white guards»… What was your attitude towards it?
At first “officer” was indecent, and then we got used to it…
— There must have been people who were grumbling about these changes?
Of course. It is normal situation…
— You came to the regiment, say: «Hello!», and what in reply?
Our documents were checked, who we are, how and where we flew. A closed envelop was opened, commanders read the notes and divided us:
— You go to 2nd squadron, you to 3rd…
I was sent to 2nd. Commander was Andryushenko Alexandr Mitrofanovich, he lived in Voroshilovgrad, a former civilian pilot, good commander, nice man. His deputy was Lieutenant Korneev Mikhail — he lived in Moscow. During war he became senior lieutenant, and he became Capitan after the war. He was such a crook… After the war he was arrested and stripped of all awards for some reason.
— Who was a regiment commander then?
Kaftanov. He burned even worse than I did. How it happened: our regiment suffered losses and a few pilots remained. But it was needed to fly. And regiment commanders decided to fly themselves. Four pilots flew out in a group. They returned damaged, but alive. Regiment commander landed, but his landing gear did not extend, so he had to belly land. Perhaps, his wing structure was also damaged — he rolled over nose and caught fire, we couldn’t even come to his help. I remember how I sat near my airplane fully ready, with parachute on — we were supposed to take off on escort mission when they landed. When he ignited, I dropped parachute, and we ran with other guys towards his plane. Shells began exploding. We stuck our noses into the ground; it was senseless to try to help him while they exploded. Firing stopped, and we run close. We lifted airplane by its wing, and he walked out of fire alive. He was saved by leathern overcoat. He covered himself by it, except his nose, which was completely burned away.
Commander was absent for about four or five month, we even thought that his days were over... Then he returned to the regiment. He was operated on his face, and even his nose was reconstructed by plastic surgeons…
(On 06.08.44 regiment commander Pavel Kaftanov, with his wingman Boris Kobyzev were ordered to attack a group of 4 Ju-87 covered by 12 FW-190, which were going to bomb river crossing. Soviet pilots managed to down leading bomber, what caused other bombers to drop bombs without aiming. River crossing stayed intact. Two more FW-190 were shot down, but both La-5s were severely damaged…
Burnt, unconscious pilot was taken into hospital in Leningrad (note – city was still in blockade), where he was placed in a morgue... A call from I. Zhuravlev, Commander of 14th Air Army, made medics check Kaftanovs body again. He was still alive!
Pavel Kaftanov returned to active service after treatment, and quit active service in 1959 at a rank of General-Major)
— Who was your wing leader?
In our pair we both were newcomers: Victor Fedoseev and I. I became a wingman.
— How it was decided who was a leader?
Perhaps, commander decided that way because I was younger. Victor looked more adult. But there was no difference in combat. If leader was attacking, I had to cover him. When he was done attacking, I begun attack run — he had to cover me. But there was no difference in combat…
— So, your pair was a “floating” one?
Yes, yes.
— You were in a regiment, which was equipped with La-5s or La-5FNs?
La-5FN appeared only by the end of war.
— Before you came to the regiment you haven’t flown La-5s, so how long it took you to master it enough to fly combat missions?
Less, then you are sitting with me. Taxied, took off. It was a war…
— In different regiments commanders’ thought differently about training. What was your thought about La-5 after Yak?
There was almost no difference. The only difference was that I was in love with this plane. La-5 had air cooled engine. Yak had water cooled one…
— Your La-5 had a gargrot, or you canopy was already droplet-like?
With gargrot…
— What about La-5 armaments — were two cannons enough?
It was good. Good cannons. If you fired from both cannons, it felt as if airplane stopped in flight.
— Germans had 200 rounds per cannon, we had 100-120. Isn’t’t that not enough?
What could we do, there was no way to squeeze in more. It was enough for a fight, if you don’t waste it. If you will fire at target – enough, if just towards enemy in that general direction – two hundred will not be enough. Just like with rifle or pistol…
— Lavochkins and LaGGs had weak landing gear, so they couldn’t withstand side loads. Have you had such problems?
Never heard.
— It is also known that if Las throttle was given full throttle on landing, it had a tendency to roll?
You have to know your airplane. What kind of pilot are you, if you cannot predict your airplanes reaction…
— Do you remember your first combat mission?
First combat mission was at 3rd Ukrainian Front. We entered a fight, and I didn’t complete my first turn, when my tail was hit, and it fell off…
— That is, you were shot down in your first flight?
Yes.
— Who you fought against?
What do you mean against whom? Against Germans. «Focke-Wulfs»…
All my back was scratched down to the butt. I was lucky to open canopy. I landed on neutral strip, closer to our trenches. Germans wanted to capture me, but our artillery covered me. I had to lie on the ground for over an hour, like under umbrella. Then a feeling appeared — our soldiers waited for me, it was time to escape.
— Weren’t you disoriented? You were sure, where were Germans and our forces?
Why, I knew exactly. I saw it from the air, where Dnepr goes…
When we arrived to the regiment, Zaporozhye was still occupied; commander invited us to that same area — to show how land forces fight each other, so that pilots would see it from the ground. We came to the trenches, which were dug through the bushes… We were picking berries from those bushes, while commander showed us the situation... At that time Messerschmitts were flying low, just above ground — zoom-zoom. They caught our pilots from below…
That’s how they caught me…
We didn’t see them, and second pair didn’t see them too. So they hit me, and tail fell off. La-5 was made of wood, except, longerons were made of metal and engine frame, all the rest was made of wood…
— How long it took you to return to your regiment?
It was close by… frontline no further than 5 kilometers away… Our commanders were informed by ground forces and sent a truck after me.
— Weren’t you accused of loosing airplane?
No, war is war…
— When you made it to our forces, did you left your parachute behind?
Of course I dropped it. Germans used it for aiming. I was lucky to be able to make it out of there.
— What was your personal weapon?
TT Pistol.
— Did you fly with nine rounds, or with eight?
No, we did not place a round in the barrel, what if I hit it by accident… But I filled two pockets with rounds…
— After returning, you received a new plane straight away or had to wait?
There were few planes remaining. And there were several men older then we were, also young, but with more combat experience. We were sent to Gorkii after new planes.
— Did this misfortune in your first fight affect you?
I was young, and everything was fine. War is war… We had to continue fighting.
But I know about such stuff. After descent in Moldavia was dropped and we returned back several men refused to jump. They were court martialled and got eight years each for breaking an oath. There was a moment, when instinct fights brains.
My fellow men, we jumped together… And they stopped. You could shoot them on site, they won’t jump. Descent brigade commanders mother, a 79 years old woman had climbed to the training mast to show those boys:
— Look boys, I’m going to jump.
There were so many steps, and she needed help to climb up there. And she did jump with parachute; she was hooked to the training parachute and carefully brought down…
— You accomplished one mission, and were sent to Gorkii, and then regiment was pulled back. How long did it last?
I returned from Gorkii, fought for some time and then we were pulled out. We came there at winter time, and by spring we were at 3rd Pribaltiiskii Front, there we were based near French “Normandia”. «Normandia» was formed in Tula, they flew Yaks, we La-5s. And we had not a regiment formed, but whole division. Division commander Colonel Andreev was a friend of Marshal Novikov. We received La-5 airplanes at Gorkii plant, new ones.
— Did you have a possibility to choose airplanes?
Yes. They stood in rows — choose any one you would like. I bought my plane for a pack of cigarettes. A boy said to me:
— Man, for cigarettes I’ll show you best airplanes. Go over there, planes there are excellent! They, — he said, — are made of dry wood, from pre-war stocks.
He showed me:
— This one, number 25.
Airplane I got was a good one, but engines were assembled by children, and when we ferried airplanes from Gorkii, one cylinder fell off almost completely. I was covered by hot oil, and flew over Volga, while commander talked to me over radio:
— Hold on, Serezha, hold on, hold on, my dear friend. Hold on, if you will fall here, you will drown.
I made it to base, engine did not stall, but I landed soaked in oil. When engine cowl was opened, two cylinder heads were almost completely torn off…
— You were formed in ZAP?
Yes, this ZAP was at Seima station, it’s near Dzerzhinsk and Gorkii… There was GUTAP. Pilots were trained there for fighters and shturmoviks, there were a lot of planes.
We were there until January, and then we flew to Tula, town or village Volyntsevo. There our division was formed completely.
— Did you fly training missions in ZAP?
Of course. We flew a lot. Flew in pairs, new pilots came. We fired at cones too. There was a lot of training.
— How your planes were painted?
When I just came to the regiment, color was gray-green, gray with some sand, in camouflage. My No25 was pure green without any cammo…
— In which clothes you usually flew?
In flight suits at summer. At winter: trousers, fur coat…
— Did you have a leather coat?
No, there were no leather ones.
— What about Reglan coats?
No. Regiment commander had one old raglan, which saved him in the fire. We didn’t have one. We had fur coats.
— What kind of helms you had, our or German?
Let me show – and we can make a photo.
— How you were fed at the front?
No one was fed like pilots.
— And in the rear?
Fine. Everyone was fed great in aviation.
— How radio equipment worked?
Good… We already had radios.
— Were you keeping discipline in the radio communications or not?
It was differently… If we flew in a group with Korneev, he told us:
— Well, boys, let’s sing!
And he began singing… We helped him. He was a young man, large built…
— You fly singing, and here is a German pair attacks your group, how you would warn the others?
No one singed in combat. There is no time for that…
— Suggest, you saw an enemy, what was your actions? One hand on the stick, other on throttle? How you controlled prop blade pitch?
What for? I enter a fight with everything ready. There was no time for pitch control, move it to the front all the way… Only throttle and cannons. Start maneuvering as much as your strength allows you. So much that your head would spin.
— You fought mainly on horizontal or vertical maneuvers?
In initial meeting – in horizontal. Then – how it will go. If you are hit, like I was, here in horizontal — give foot in to try to extinguish the flame. If unsuccessful, — break away from the fight and go as far as you can towards your home base, gaining speed while engine works.
— How many enemy planes you shot down?
Six in all. Up till the last fight — four: «rama» (“Window frame” was a nickname of FW-189 reconaissance airplane), then three more — one «Messerschmitt» and two «Focke-Wulf 190». On 6 September 1944 I brought down two more in one fight, last one by ramming.
First one was «rama». We arrived to the 3rd Pribaltiiskii front, Pushkinskie Gory and Opochka, it’s on the River Velikaya, further on was town Ostrov. We went with Viktor Fedoseev on patrol to cover our troops. We arrived to designated spot, everything was fine. Clouds were a bit high. Then over radio we were told:
— Small ones, there is an artillery correcting airplane above you. Try to take it off.
For that we had to fly away, hide above clouds, Otherwise we couldn’t catch it, because FW-189 pilots when noticed that we were trying to intercept him would half-roll and dive straight down. If I would try to follow him, it was grave almost for sure. I wouldn’t catch him, because it was heavier… Then it made a sharp pull out above ground. Fighter had a large procorf, so if I would try to repeat his maneuver I would hit ground by belly and crash… That’s almost what happened to me.
Viktor ordered:
— Gaining altitude.
We gained altitude away from the front line, located him through holes in the clouds. Found him. I said:
— Viktor, I see him.
I was closer, from left side. Viktor ordered from behind:
— Attack!
I said:
— I won’t attack right now, let’s get closer to the clouds, and then I’ll hit him from the clouds.
— It’s up to you, I’ll cover.
I looked around, everything was clear. Engine worked like watches. I made a turn, approached from side accurately. I thought that I will strike him from the side... I thought too long — there were gunners in the rear. I just made a turn to start attack run, when he made half-roll and went down. I followed him and shouted to Viktor:
— Cover me!
I followed him, and pressed triggers with all force I had, tracers disappeared in it, but rama kept going down. I couldn’t catch it; it extended away, extended… I kept firing. Then Viktor yelled:
— EARTH!
I pulled stick as hard as I could, and blacked out. Thanks God, I made it, turned around. Then I noticed a pillow of black smoke.
— Alive? — Viktor shouted.
I replied:
— I’m alive.
— Look at the ground, he’s burning!
We returned, and regiment commander was waiting for us with open hands, he hugged us:
— Great!
First two fighters I shot down at Ukranian front, so when I returned to Pribaltiiskii front after hospital, they were not listed in my log book…
Kozhedub and other Heroes had shot down so many enemy planes… Kozhedub scored 63 kills. But what if he would fly escort missions like we did; He wouldn’t have shot down so many planes.
— What was most pleasant work for you, and what you did not like?
Most pleasant — free hunt… There was a case when we flew with Viktor. It was getting a bit dark, just before night. Towards Eastern Prussia there was a German airfield, we flew with Viktor to the side from it, when I noticed it. We flew far to the West, almost to the shore, to Pillau. We turned back, when I noticed that Viktor disappeared:
— Viktor, where are you?
He’s absent! I made a turn… Absent! Then I heard:
— I’m at the airfield, going to land.
Something must have happened to the engine… I said:
— Fine then, I’ll go and strafe…
So I turned towards that airfield. I shot at the parked airplanes, and went home… I returned home, when AAA guarding our field opened fire at me, I gained altitude, hoping that our gunners won’t kill me. I heard commander shouting:
— What are you, parasites, doing, that’s our plane.
They didn’t let me land on my airfield. Another division, that flew Yaks, was based nearby. I flew there. They allowed me to land — showed me the lights, and I landed. From my airbase a message came:
— If Nasilevec landed at your base, keep him till tomorrow; don’t let him fly at night.
On the next day I showed my hosts how La-5 can fly inverted, a thing that Yak was unable to perform. La-5 was equipped with completely different carburetor.
— Which one was more difficult to shoot down: «Messerschmitt» or «Focke-Wulf»?
How to say… Did you fight in your childhood? Did you? How you chose your opponent?
— That is not what I’m asking for. Let’s say: at which plane you used up more rounds? Which plane could take more damage?
Point is not in taking damage, as you put it. I’d say that everything is in pilots. If you shoot well — good at stick and gun sight, both planes don’t need a lot to be brought down. But enemy were good pilots too… Each plane had its strong and weak points. Me was more agile, FW had heavier armament. But it all depended on who’s flying it.
— Could you say which missions you did not like?
There were no such missions…
— What about sturmovik escort? You have to run around them like a dog on the leash.
That’s not exactly like this. We brought sturmoviks, and if enemy comes in with a task of not allowing attack, we have to meet him. Head on… I will not turn away — I have to defend sturmoviks. My commander connects with sturmoviks, they reply:
— Small ones, start fighting, we will protect ourselves.
They can protect themselves. They formed defense circle, one after another — they had good guns in the front, and they had a gunner with large caliber machine gun in the rear. They had to be protected from attacks from above and below. That’s why they flew as low as possible while bombing and strafing.
Then sturmoviks send a report that at this day, this time and place there was a fight in which such pilots participated, with a full description and results… Some where I have such report… And I have a letter from medical battalion, thanks to which I was not sent to the filtration camp.
— Explain please.
No one knew that I fought behind enemy lines, burnt, but was still alive. And that I spent many months in hospital — too.
Ivan Degtyar was shot down behind enemy lines. On the second day he came back, but was in filtration camp for three and a half month. He told us, that he was interrogated day and night.
Just imagine, how many people returned from POW camps after the war… There were cases when commanders were not traitors, but were in a situation, when they had no other choice? No weapons or ammo. Anything could happen…