Twice heroes of the Soviet Union, fighter pilots Andrei Borovoy and Sergei Lugansky
Twice Hero of the Soviet Union Andrey Borovoyy won his first victory in the first battle. But there was also the merit of the aircraft. His “Hurricane”, or as our technicians affectionately called him in the Russian way, “Khariton”, was modernized – four regular wing-mounted Browning machine guns of a 7.7 mm rifle caliber. were replaced by four ShVAK guns of 20 mm caliber. The power of the volley increased significantly, with such an enemy the Germans were in no hurry to engage in battle. During the eight sorties carried out by Andrei Borovyh on the Kalinin Front, he won three victories and earned the Order of the Red Banner of War. One of the air battles Andrey Borovyh held in front of the Commander of the Kalinin Front, Colonel-General Ivan Stepanovich Konev – he shot down a Junkers Yu-88 bomber and a Messerschmitt Me-109 fighter. On the Kalinin Front, Andrey Borovoykh took part in military tests of the latest I-185 fighter designed by Nikolai Nikolaevich Polikarpov, completed several sorties and conducted several air battles. According to many test pilots and front-line fighter pilots, the I-185 aircraft in 1942 surpassed all available fighters participating in the war in terms of its flight data. However, the aircraft was not accepted into production and put into service.
Fighter I-185 designed by Nikolai Nikolaevich Polikarpov. The newest fighter was considered the best in many respects, it was tested on the Kalinin Front, but was not accepted into service.
Most of the sorties Andrei Borovyh performed on aircraft, the main flight performance of which was inferior to the German ones – the Hurricane and the Yak-7b. Tactical literacy and military cunning, along with courage and courage, helped to compensate for the shortcomings of the machines. In the battles on the Kursk Bulge, Andrei shot down 8 German aircraft on a Yak-7 – he fought for his family – parents, brothers and sisters who remained in Kursk. He was shot down, parachuted out of a burning car, but managed to return safely to the regiment. In August 1943, Andrey Borovoykh was appointed squadron commander and became a Hero of the Soviet Union. In the spring of 1944, the regiment was re-equipped with the latest Yak-3 fighter, which significantly outnumbered almost all German fighters. On this machine, Andrei fought until the victory and did not receive a single hole. He received the second Gold Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union on February 23, 1945. In total, during the war years, he completed 496 sorties, conducted over 130 air battles, shot down 32 personally and in a group of 14 enemy aircraft.
Twice Hero of the Soviet Union Andrei Yegorovich Borovoykh.
At the end of the war, Andrei Yegorovich Borovoyh commanded an aviation regiment. In 1951 he graduated from the Air Force Academy and commanded an aviation division. In 1957 he graduated from the Academy of the General Staff, commanded an aviation corps, then aviation associations. In 1968 he was awarded the military rank of Colonel-General of Aviation. In 1969-1977 he was the commander of aviation of the Air Defense Forces of the USSR. From 1977 to 1988 – military consultant at the Institute of Military History of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR.
Andrey Egorovich Borovoykh died on November 7, 1989, at a festive demonstration. He died beautifully and easily, as in battle – a stroke and instant death. Or maybe it was a German bullet from the time of the war that was able to catch up after so many years at the end of the great air fighter … Andrey Egorovich Borovoyh was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery.
Sergei Danilovich Lugansky was born on October 1, 1918 in the city of Alma-Ata, into a peasant family. After graduating from an incomplete secondary school, he worked, in 1936 he was sent to the 3rd military aviation school for pilots in the city of Orenburg. In 1938 he graduated from it, becoming one of the best graduates. He was assigned to the 14th Aviation Brigade. Sergey Lugansky began to fight at the age of 21 in the Soviet-Finnish War, having made 59 sorties on the I-16 fighter. Shot down an enemy Gloucester Gladiator fighter. In one of the sorties he was shot down, during a parachute jump he lost boots, but a day later he managed to get out safe and sound to the location of our troops. For this he received the Order of the Red Star. From the first days of the war, Sergei Lugansky was at the front. In his first battle of the Great Patriotic War on a LaGG-3 fighter in the sky of Rostov, Sergei Lugansky shot down two Me-109 fighters at once. On September 14, 1942, while covering the Volga crossing at Stalingrad, Lugansky knocked down the Me-109 with a ramming attack from his LaGG-3 and continued to fight.
Fighter LaGG-3 Sergei Lugansky.
It should be noted that the wooden LaGG-3 fighter, having decent armament, had poor maneuverability, was difficult to control due to low power and had insufficient speed. It was not easy to fight successfully on such an aircraft, and it was even more difficult to shoot down faster and more maneuverable German fighters. But it was very durable and almost did not burn due to the use of delta wood in the construction. In early 1943, Sergei Danilovich switched to the Yak-1 fighter.
