Nestor Argunia
Tail and wings to the sides
In December 1941, after the sixth report with a request to send him to the front, Vitaly Popkov was enrolled in the 5th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment (5 GvIAP). In the very first battle, he shot down his first enemy aircraft – a heavy Do-217 (Dornier). True, this happened under very curious circumstances.
In one house of a village abandoned by the Germans during the retreat from Moscow, Popkov picked up a puppy. The puppy was not only quick-witted, but also trained. Continue reading
Last great ace
I want to tell about the life of a man with whom a journalistic fate once brought me together. About a man in whom self-esteem and absolute inner freedom were combined with responsibility and duty. About a man who had the courage to follow his destiny, and neither the totalitarian system, nor the war, nor insurmountable circumstances, nor fools, nor roads prevented him from doing this. Continue reading
Alexander Pokryshkin
Three times Hero of the Soviet Union, who personally shot down 59 enemy aircraft and six aircraft in a group. He flew the MiG-3, Yak-1, P-39, Aerocobra.
The genius of flying received a baptism of fire in the first days of the war. Then he was the deputy squadron commander of the 55th air regiment. There was a misunderstanding: on June 22, 1941, Pokryshkin shot down a Soviet Su-2 short-range bomber. Continue reading
