The most successful ace pilots of World War II by country. Luftwaffe aces Fascist aces of the Second World War pilots

The pilots of Nazi Germany did not expect any surprises in the skies over the USSR. The maximum is the resistance of the air defense system, but Soviet pilots were not considered as opponents. But everything turned out to be not as rosy as expected...

However, soon after the aggression, the Nazis had to radically change their attitude towards Soviet pilots. Our aviation provided such a rebuff to the invaders that the Nazis had not encountered anywhere in Europe.

Ivan Nikitovich Kozhedub was born in the village of Obrazhievka, Glukhov district, Chernigov province (now Shostkinsky district, Sumy region of Ukraine). Kozhedub’s first meeting with aviation began at the flying club of the chemical-technological technical school in the city of Shostka, where he entered after school. It was there in April 1939 that he made his first flight. The beauty of his native land, revealed from a height of 1500 meters, made a strong impression on the young man and predetermined his entire future life. At the beginning of 1940, Kozhedub was admitted to the Chuguev Military Aviation School. According to the recollections of his classmates, he flew a lot, often experimented, honing his aerobatic skills, and loved the theory of aircraft construction. The skills acquired during his studies were subsequently very useful to Kozhedub: according to his comrades, he knew the combat vehicle better than the back of his hand. During the entire war, the pilot was never shot down; even a heavily damaged fighter, risking his life, he always returned to the airfield. After the defeat of Nazi Germany, Kozhedub continued his studies; in 1949, he graduated with honors from the Red Banner Air Force Academy. The pilot's strong knowledge and extensive experience very soon found their use. In 1951–52 During the Korean War, Kozhedub commanded an entire aviation division; his falcons shot down 258 enemy aircraft in that conflict.

Alexander Ivanovich Pokryshkin was born in Novonikolaevsk (now Novosibirsk). He became interested in aviation at the age of 12, when he saw airplanes flying in the sky. Subsequently, Pokryshkin entered the 3rd Military School of Aviation Technicians, and at the end of 1934 he became a senior aircraft technician of the 74th Taman Rifle Division.
However, in order to become not an aircraft technician, but a pilot, Pokryshkin had to go through a long and difficult path. To obtain this profession, he persistently studied the history of flight and military history, physics and mathematics, physiology and descriptive geometry for four years. Pokryshkin wrote 39 reports to commanders with a request to let him go to flight school, but each time he was refused. The situation did not suit the young man at all, and in September 1938, during his next vacation, in seventeen days he mastered the two-year program of the Krasnodar flying club and passed the exam as an external student with excellent marks. Finally, in his 40th report, he included a certificate of completion of the flying club and already in November 1938 he became a student at the Kachin Military Aviation School. A year later he graduated with honors, now becoming a pilot.
The educational path completed was worth it: already in 1941, having become known as a virtuoso of flying, Senior Lieutenant Pokryshkin was appointed deputy squadron commander. There is a common legend that, having received information about the approach of this pilot’s fighter, the Germans began to transmit urgent messages to each other: “Achtung, achtung! Pokryshkin is in the sky!

Nikolai Dmitrievich Gulaev was born in the village of Aksai (now the city of Aksai, Rostov region). He graduated from 7 classes of junior high school and a secondary school, and studied at the flying club in the evenings. This hobby helped him in 1938, when Gulaev was drafted into the army. The amateur pilot was sent to the Stalingrad Aviation School, from which he graduated in 1940.
During the war, Gulaev enjoyed a reputation as a daredevil. In August 1942, an incident happened to him that showed both courage and a certain willfulness of his character. The young pilot did not have permission to fly at night, and when on August 3, 1942, Nazi planes appeared in the area of ​​responsibility of the regiment where Gulaev served, experienced pilots took to the skies. Gulaev also flew with them, who decided to prove that he was no worse than the “old men.” As a result, in the very first battle, without experience, without the help of searchlights, a German bomber was destroyed. When Gulaev returned to the airfield, the arriving general said: “For the fact that I flew out without permission, I am reprimanding, and for the fact that I shot down an enemy plane, I am promoting him in rank and presenting him for a reward.”

Grigory Andreevich Rechkalov was born in the village of Khudyakovo, Irbitsky district, Perm province (now the village of Zaykovo, Irbitsky district, Sverdlovsk region). He became acquainted with aviation while studying in the glider pilots' circle at the factory school of the Verkh-Isetsky plant in Sverdovsk. In 1937, he entered the Perm Military Pilot School and subsequently graduated with success. In 1939, with the rank of sergeant, he was enlisted in the 55th Aviation Fighter Regiment in Kirovograd.
Rechkalov's main trait was persistence. Despite the fact that the medical commission determined that the pilot was color blind, he won the right to continue serving and in 1941 he was sent to the 55th Fighter Regiment. According to his colleagues, Rechkalov had a rather uneven character. Showing an example of discipline in one mission, in the next he could be distracted from the main task and just as decisively begin the pursuit of a random enemy.

Kirill Alekseevich Evstigneev was born in the village of Khokhly, Ptichensky volost, Chelyabinsk district, Orenburg province (now the village of Khokhly, Kushmyansky village council, Shumikha district, Kurgan region). According to the recollections of his fellow villagers, he grew up as a strong and very resilient boy.
Evstigneev combined classes at the flying club with work at the Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant. He later graduated from the Burma Military Flying School. Observing the light and precise cascade of figures he performed in the air, it was difficult to imagine that Evstigneev was suffering from an illness that prohibited him from serving in aviation - a peptic ulcer. However, like another ace pilot Rechkalov, Estigneev showed persistence and ensured that he was kept in service. The pilot's skill was so high that, according to the stories of his colleagues, he could land the fighter on one wheel or on a narrow path cleared of snow between two meter-long ice barriers.

While looking through the electronic library I came across quite interesting material about how the Germans and ours counted their victories in air battles during the Second World War, the author cited quite interesting facts indicating that not all was well with the counting of downed aircraft for both Lutwaffe aces and from the Red Army aviators, below I present to your attention an excerpt from this material.

When, in a small article in the newspaper "Arguments and Facts" in 1990, data on the personal accounts of German fighter pilots were first published in the domestic press, for many the three-digit figures came as a shock. It turned out that blond 23-year-old Major Erich Hartmann laid claim to 352 downed aircraft, including 348 Soviet and four American.
His colleagues in the 52nd Luftwaffe Fighter Squadron, Gerhard Barkhorn and Günther Rall, claimed 301 and 275 kills, respectively.
These figures contrasted sharply with the results of the best Soviet fighter pilots, 62 victories of I.N. Kozhedub and 59 - A.I. Pokryshkina.


Erich Hartmann in the cockpit of his Bf.109G-6.

Heated discussions immediately broke out about the method of counting those shot down, confirmation of the successes of fighter pilots by ground services, machine guns, etc. The main thesis, intended to relieve tetanus from three-digit numbers, was: “These were the wrong bees, and they made the wrong honey.” That is, the Luftwaffe aces lied about their successes, and in reality they shot down no more planes than Pokryshkin and Kozhedub.

However, few people have thought about the expediency and validity of a head-to-head comparison of the results of the combat activities of pilots who fought in different conditions, with different intensity of combat work.

No one has attempted to analyze the value of such an indicator as “the largest number of kills” from the point of view of the air force of a given country as a whole. What is hundreds of knocked down, the girth of a bicep or the body temperature of a fever patient?

Attempts to explain the difference in the number of people shot down by a flawed counting technique do not stand up to criticism. Serious failures in confirming the results of fighter pilots are found on both sides of the conflict.

An enemy plane was considered shot down, which, for example, according to a report from a fighter pilot who claimed to destroy it, “fell randomly down and disappeared into the clouds.”

Often, it was the change in the flight parameters of the enemy aircraft observed by witnesses of the battle, a sharp decline, or a spin that began to be considered a sign sufficient to qualify for victory. It is not difficult to guess that after a “disorderly fall” the plane could have been leveled by the pilot and returned safely to the airfield.

In this regard, the fantastic accounts of the air gunners of the “Flying Fortresses” are indicative, chalking up “Messerschmitts” every time they left the attack, leaving a trail of smoke behind them. This trace was a consequence of the peculiarities of the Me.109 engine, which produced a smoky exhaust in afterburner and in an inverted position.

Naturally, when conclusions about the results of the attack were made on the basis of general words, problems arose even with recording the results of air battles conducted over one’s territory. Let's take the most typical example, the air defense of Moscow, the pilots of the well-trained 34th Fighter Aviation Regiment. Here are lines from a report presented at the end of July 1941 by the regiment commander, Major L.G. Rybkin to the air corps commander:

"... During the second flight on July 22 at 2.40 in the Alabino - Naro-Fominsk area at an altitude of 2500 m, Captain M.G. Trunov caught up with the Ju88 and attacked from the rear hemisphere. The enemy dropped to low level. Captain Trunov jumped forward and lost the enemy. It is possible believe the plane was shot down."

"...During the second takeoff on July 22 at 23.40 in the Vnukovo area, junior lieutenant A.G. Lukyanov was attacked by a Ju88 or Do215. In the Borovsk area (10-15 km north of the airfield), three long bursts were fired at the bomber. With The hits were clearly visible on the ground. The enemy returned fire, and then sharply descended. It can be assumed that the plane was shot down."

“...Junior Lieutenant N.G. Shcherbina on July 22 at 2.30 in the Naro-Fominsk area, from a distance of 50 m, fired two bursts at a twin-engine bomber. At this time, anti-aircraft artillery opened fire on the MiG-3, and the enemy plane was lost. We can assume the plane was shot down."

However, reports of this kind were typical for the Soviet Air Force during the initial period of the war. And although in each case the air division commander notes that “there is no confirmation” (there is no information about the crash of enemy aircraft), in all these episodes victories were credited to the pilots and the regiment.

The result of this was a very significant discrepancy between the number of downed Luftwaffe bombers declared by Moscow air defense pilots and their actual losses.

In July 1941, the Moscow air defense carried out 89 battles during 9 raids by German bombers, in August - 81 battles during 16 raids. 59 vultures were reported shot down in July and 30 in August.

Enemy documents confirm 20-22 aircraft in July and 10-12 in August. The number of victories of air defense pilots turned out to be overestimated by about three times.

Opponents of our pilots on the other side of the front and allies spoke in the same spirit. In the first week of the war, June 30, 1941, a grandiose air battle took place over Dvinsk (Daugavpils) between the DB-3, DB-3F, SB and Ar-2 bombers of three air regiments of the Baltic Fleet Air Force and two groups of the 54th Fighter Squadron of the 1st Air Fleet of the Germans.

In total, 99 Soviet bombers took part in the raid on the bridges near Daugavpils. German fighter pilots alone claimed to have shot down 65 Soviet aircraft. Erich von Manstein writes in “Lost Victories”: “In one day our fighters and flak 64 planes were shot down."

The actual losses of the Baltic Fleet Air Force amounted to 34 aircraft shot down, and another 18 were damaged, but landed safely at their own or the nearest Soviet airfield.

It appears that the victories declared by the pilots of the 54th Fighter Squadron exceed the real losses of the Soviet side by at least two times. A fighter pilot recording an enemy aircraft that reached his airfield safely was a common occurrence.

The battles between the “Flying Fortresses”, “Mustangs”, “Thunderbolts” of the USA and the Reich air defense fighters gave rise to a completely identical picture.

In a fairly typical Western Front air battle that unfolded during the raid on Berlin on March 6, 1944, escort fighter pilots reported 82 German fighters destroyed, 8 presumed destroyed, and 33 damaged.

Bomber gunners reported 97 German air defense fighters destroyed, 28 presumed destroyed, and 60 damaged.

If you add these requests together, it turns out that the Americans destroyed or damaged 83% of the German fighters that took part in repelling the raid! The number declared as destroyed (that is, the Americans were confident of their destruction) - 179 aircraft - was more than twice the actual number of those shot down, 66 Me.109, FV-190 and Me.110 fighters.

In turn, the Germans immediately after the battle reported the destruction of 108 bombers and 20 escort fighters. Another 12 bombers and fighters were among those believed to have been shot down.

In fact, the US Air Force lost 69 bombers and 11 fighters during this raid. Note that in the spring of 1944 both sides had photo machine guns.

Sometimes attempts are made to explain the high scores of German aces by some kind of system in which a twin-engine aircraft was counted for two “victories”, a four-engine aircraft - as many as four.

This is not true. The system for counting victories of fighter pilots and points for the quality of those shot down existed in parallel. After the downing of the Flying Fortress, the Reich air defense pilot painted one, and I emphasize, one stripe on the fin.

But at the same time he was awarded points, which were subsequently taken into account when rewarding and assigning subsequent titles.

In the same way, in the Red Army Air Force, parallel to the system of recording the victories of aces, there was a system of monetary bonuses for downed enemy aircraft, depending on their value for the air war.

These pathetic attempts to “explain” the difference between 352 and 62 only indicate linguistic illiteracy. The term “victory”, which came to us from English-language literature about German aces, is the product of double translation.

If Hartmann scored 352 “victories”, this does not mean that he laid claim to 150-180 single- and twin-engine aircraft. The original German term is abschuss, which the 1945 German-Russian Military Dictionary interprets as “shot down.”

The British and Americans translated it as victory, which later migrated into our literature about the war. Accordingly, the marks on the keel of an aircraft in the form of vertical stripes were called “abschussbalken” by the Germans.

Serious errors in identifying their own downed victims were experienced by the pilots themselves, who saw enemy aircraft if not from tens, then from hundreds of meters. What then can we say about the Red Army soldiers VNOS, where they recruited soldiers unsuitable for combat service. Often they simply wished for reality and identified an unknown type of aircraft falling into the forest as an enemy one.

A researcher of the air war in the North, Yuri Rybin, gives this example. After the battle that took place near Murmansk on April 19, 1943, observers at VNOS posts reported the crash of four enemy aircraft. Four victories were confirmed to the pilots by the notorious “ground services.” In addition, all participants in the battle stated that Guard Captain Sorokin shot down the fifth Messerschmitt. Although he was not confirmed by VNOS posts, he was also recorded in the combat account of the Soviet fighter pilot.

The groups that went in search of the downed fighters some time later found instead of four downed enemy fighters... one Messerschmitt, one Airacobra and two Hurricanes. That is, VNOS posts phlegmatically confirmed the fall of four planes, including those shot down by both sides.

All of the above applies to both sides of the conflict. Despite a theoretically more advanced system for recording downed victims, Luftwaffe aces often reported something unimaginable.

Let's take two days as an example, May 13 and 14, 1942, the height of the Battle of Kharkov. On May 13, the Luftwaffe announced 65 downed Soviet aircraft, 42 of which were attributed to the III Group of the 52nd Fighter Squadron.

The next day, pilots of the III Group of the 52nd Fighter Squadron report that 47 Soviet aircraft were shot down during the day. The commander of the 9th squadron of the group, Hermann Graf, declared six victories, his wingman Alfred Grislavski chalked up two MiG-3s, Lieutenant Adolf Dickfeld declared nine (!) victories for that day.

The real losses of the Red Army Air Force on May 14 amounted to three times less, 14 aircraft (5 Yak-1, 4 LaGG-3, 3 Il-2, 1 Su-2 and 1 R-5). MiG-3 is simply not on this list.

“Stalin's falcons” did not remain in debt either. On May 19, 1942, twelve Yak-1 fighters of the 429th Fighter Aviation Regiment, which had just arrived at the front, got involved in a battle with a large group of Messerschmitts and, after a half-hour air battle, declared the destruction of five He-115s and one Me. 109". The “Xe-115” should be understood as a modification of the “Bf.109F”, which was very different in its sleek fuselage with a smooth transition between the propeller spinner and the engine cowling from the angular “Bf.109E”, which is more familiar to our pilots.

However, enemy data confirms the loss of only one Xe-115, that is, Bf.109F-4/R1 from the 7th Squadron of the 77th Fighter Squadron. The pilot of this fighter, Karl Stefanik, went missing.

The 429th Regiment's own losses amounted to four Yak-1s, three pilots successfully landed by parachute, one was killed.

Everything is as always, the enemy’s losses were stated to be slightly greater than their own losses. This was often one of the ways to justify the high losses of their aircraft in the face of the command.

For unjustified losses, they could be put on trial, but if these losses were justified by equally high losses of the enemy, an equivalent exchange, so to speak, then repressive measures could be safely avoided.

On November 13, 1985, Air Marshal Alexander Pokryshkin passed away. During World War II he was one of the most successful Soviet pilots - according to various sources, Pokryshkin personally shot down from 46 to 59 enemy aircraft. For his exploits, he was awarded the “Gold Star” of the Hero of the Soviet Union three times. LJ magazine has several interesting stories about Pokryshkin and other air aces who fought in the skies over the USSR and occupied Europe.

At the end of the war, Pokryshkin was not only the most famous pilot in the world, but also the most authoritative figure in Soviet aviation, writes andrey_ka23 , who in 2013 attended the celebrations in honor of the 100th anniversary of the Soviet ace:

“Achtung! Achtung! Pokryshkin is in the air! - the German warning posts shouted, urgently warning - the famous Russian ace was in the air. Which meant - to increase caution, to get out of protracted air battles, for the “hunters” to gain altitude, for young people to return to the airfields.

Generous rewards awaited the one who brought down the Russian ace. There was no shortage of people who wanted to distinguish themselves, but this task turned out to be too tough for the enemy. And it wasn’t just Pokryshkin’s exceptional skill. It is appropriate to remember that in his squadron, and then in the regiment and division, such aces as Rechkalov and the Glinka brothers, Klubov and Babak, Fedorov and Fadeev took place. When such a group fought, it was, at least, imprudent to expect to defeat its commander. And today pilots continue the glorious traditions of the aces of the Great Patriotic War.

The Germans undoubtedly shot down more: Erich Hartmann (352 enemy aircraft shot down), Johan Steinhoff (176), Werner Mölders (115), Adolf Galland (103). Even if you divide it into two, it’s still more. Another thing is that these are hunters whose goal is precisely the maximum number of people shot down. Ours professed a different strategy, which turned out to be more effective and efficient. This allowed us to gain air supremacy. It is worth adding that Hartman shot down not only Soviet planes, but also 7 American ones.

As for quantity, here are a few facts.

Just a few days and heroic victories. Are you winning?
Summer 1944. June 1 6 aircraft shot down (5 Lags and 1 Airacobra). June 2 - 2 Airacobras, June 3 - 4 aircraft (two Lags and two Airacobras each). June 4 - 7 aircraft (all but one are Airacobras). June 5 - 7 aircraft (3 of them Laga). And finally, on June 6 - 5 aircraft (2 of them “Lag”). In total, in 6 days of fighting, 32 Soviet aircraft were shot down. And on August 24 of the same year there were 11 planes at once.

But here’s what’s strange: Eric Hartmann shot down 32 planes in the first six days of June, and the entire Luftwaffe by day: 1st - 21, 2nd - 27, 3rd - 33, 4th - 45, 5th - 43, 6th - 12. Total - 181 aircraft. Or an average of more than 30 aircraft per day. How much were the Luftwaffe's losses? Official figures for June 1944 are 312 aircraft, or just over 10 per day. It turns out that our losses are 3 times greater? And if you consider that German losses also include planes shot down by our anti-aircraft artillery, then the loss ratio is even greater!

But it’s not 1941. Plausible?

Let's assume that everything is true. And let’s compare two pilots - the same Hartmann and three times Hero of the Soviet Union Ivan Kozhedub. Hartmann flew 1,404 sorties and shot down 352 aircraft, an average of about 4 sorties per aircraft; Kozhedub’s figures are as follows: 330 sorties and 62 enemy aircraft, an average of 5.3 sorties. In terms of numbers, everything seems to correspond...

How were downed planes counted? Below is an excerpt from the book by American researchers R. Toliver and T. Constable about Hartmann:

“The rest of the squadron pilots dragged the happy Blonde Knight into the mess hall. The party was in full swing when Hartmann's technician burst in. The expression on his face instantly extinguished the jubilation of those gathered.
- What happened, Bimmel? - asked Erich.
- Gunsmith, Herr Lieutenant.
- Is there something wrong?
- No, everything is okay. It's just that you only fired 120 shots at 3 downed planes. I think you need to know this.
Whispers of admiration ran through the pilots, and the schnapps flowed like a river again.”

Plausible? If anyone thinks yes, a little information. Hartmann's aircraft (Messerschmitt Bf.109) is equipped with MG-17 machine guns and a 20-mm MG 151/20 cannon. The rate of fire for machine guns is 1200 rounds per minute, for cannons - 700-800 per minute (depending on the type of projectile). Thus, 53 charges are consumed per second. Hartman used up 120 in 2.26 seconds. And he shot down THREE planes. Still plausible?

But we are not talking about bookcases or even plywood Yaks. All three shot down were Il-2.

The most successful fighter pilot of all countries participating in World War II, with the exception of Germany, is considered to be the Finn - Eino Ilmari Juutilainen, who shot down 94 Soviet aircraft. His story is summarized merelana :

Yesterday this name came up by chance - in a conversation about who is from our area and who is not from ours. Eino Ilmari Juutilainen is one of our kind. He spent most of his childhood in Sortavala, beginning his military service at an airfield near Viipuri - while Viipuri was still on the Finnish side.
Eino Ilmari Juutilainen is an ace pilot, one of the best in the Second World War, which the Finns say they call “continental” or “long”, as opposed to the winter one, which is also “short”.
During the Winter War, he conducted 115 combat missions - and there were only two victories. And during the “ongoing” war, he scored 92 victories. With almost five hundred sorties. And none of his planes received a single damage.

Fierce air battles took place not only in the European theater of operations. From the blog litvinenko_ai You can learn about the ace pilots of the Imperial Japanese Navy:

The main feature of the Japanese is their collectivism. For many centuries, the main source of food for the Japanese was rice. To grow rice, it had to be constantly watered. In the mountainous regions of the country it is impossible to water rice alone; here people acted as one team. The crop could be grown either by everyone together or by no one. The Japanese had no room for error. There will be no rice, famine will begin. Hence the collectivism of the Japanese. There is a Japanese proverb that goes something like this: “The nail that sticks out gets hammered in first.” That is, don’t stick your head out, don’t stand out from the crowd—the Japanese don’t tolerate white crows. From early childhood, Japanese children were instilled with the skills of collectivism and the desire not to stand out from the rest. This feature of Japanese culture was also reflected in naval aviation pilots during the Great Pacific War or, as we commonly call it, World War II. Instructors at flight schools taught cadets as a whole, without singling out any of them; there was no individual approach at all. In parts of the incentive or penalty, the entire unit usually also received.

Japanese pilots fought in the skies over China long before the start of the Pacific War, they gained experience and became outstanding combat pilots. Japanese pilots swept away everything over Pearl Harbor and spread death over the Philippines, New Guinea and the Pacific Islands. They were aces. The French word as means ace, the first in his field is a master of air combat, it appeared during the First World War and referred to military pilots who were fluent in the art of piloting and air combat and who shot down at least five enemy aircraft. There were aces in World War II, for example, the best Soviet pilot Ivan Kozhedub shot down 62 enemy aircraft, the Finn was credited Eino Ilmari Juutilainen 94 Soviet aircraft. The best pilots of the Imperial Japanese Navy - Hiroyoshi Nishizawa, Saburo Sakai And Shioki Sugita were also aces. For example, Hiroyoshi Nishizawa reported to his family about 147 downed planes, some sources mention 102, according to other sources - 87 planes, which is still much more than the American and British aces, who shot down at most 30 planes.

Most of the names from the list of ace pilots of the Great Patriotic War are well known to everyone. However, besides Pokryshkin and Kozhedub, among the Soviet aces, another master of air combat is undeservedly forgotten, whose courage and courage even the most titled and successful pilots can envy.

Better than Kozhedub, better than Hartman...

The names of the Soviet aces of the Great Patriotic War, Ivan Kozhedub and Alexander Pokryshkin, are known to everyone who is at least superficially familiar with Russian history. Kozhedub and Pokryshkin are the most successful Soviet fighter pilots. The first has 64 enemy aircraft shot down personally, the second has 59 personal victories, and he shot down 6 more planes in the group.
The name of the third most successful Soviet pilot is known only to aviation enthusiasts. During the war, Nikolai Gulaev destroyed 57 enemy aircraft personally and 4 in a group.
An interesting detail - Kozhedub needed 330 sorties and 120 air battles to achieve his result, Pokryshkin - 650 sorties and 156 air battles. Gulaev achieved his result by carrying out 290 sorties and conducting 69 air battles.
Moreover, according to award documents, in his first 42 air battles he destroyed 42 enemy aircraft, that is, on average, each battle ended for Gulaev with a destroyed enemy aircraft.
Fans of military statistics have calculated that Nikolai Gulaev’s efficiency coefficient, that is, the ratio of air battles to victories, was 0.82. For comparison, for Ivan Kozhedub it was 0.51, and for Hitler’s ace Erich Hartmann, who officially shot down the most aircraft during World War II, it was 0.4.
At the same time, people who knew Gulaev and fought with him claimed that he generously recorded many of his victories on his wingmen, helping them receive orders and money - Soviet pilots were paid for each enemy aircraft shot down. Some believe that the total number of planes shot down by Gulaev could reach 90, which, however, cannot be confirmed or denied today.

A guy from the Don.

Many books have been written and many films have been made about Alexander Pokryshkin and Ivan Kozhedub, three times Heroes of the Soviet Union, air marshals.
Nikolai Gulaev, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, was close to the third “Golden Star”, but never received it and did not become a marshal, remaining a colonel general. And in general, if in the post-war years Pokryshkin and Kozhedub were always in the public eye, engaged in the patriotic education of youth, then Gulaev, who was practically in no way inferior to his colleagues, remained in the shadows all the time.
Perhaps the fact is that both the war and post-war biography of the Soviet ace was rich in episodes that do not fit well into the image of an ideal hero.
Nikolai Gulaev was born on February 26, 1918 in the village of Aksai, which has now become the city of Aksai in the Rostov region. The Don freemen were in the blood and character of Nicholas from the first days until the end of his life. After graduating from a seven-year school and a vocational school, he worked as a mechanic at one of the Rostov factories.
Like many of the youth of the 1930s, Nikolai became interested in aviation and attended a flying club. This hobby helped in 1938, when Gulaev was drafted into the army. The amateur pilot was sent to the Stalingrad Aviation School, from which he graduated in 1940. Gulaev was assigned to air defense aviation, and in the first months of the war he provided cover for one of the industrial centers in the rear.

Reprimand complete with reward.

Gulaev arrived at the front in August 1942 and immediately demonstrated both the talent of a combat pilot and the wayward character of a native of the Don steppes.
Gulaev did not have permission to fly at night, and when on August 3, 1942, Hitler’s planes appeared in the area of ​​responsibility of the regiment where the young pilot served, experienced pilots took to the skies. But then the mechanic egged Nikolai on:
- What are you waiting for? The plane is ready, fly!
Gulaev, deciding to prove that he was no worse than the “old men,” jumped into the cockpit and took off. And in the very first battle, without experience, without the help of searchlights, he destroyed a German bomber. When Gulaev returned to the airfield, the arriving general said: “For the fact that I flew out without permission, I am reprimanding, and for the fact that I shot down an enemy plane, I am promoting him in rank and presenting him for a reward.”

Nugget.

His star shone especially brightly during the battles on the Kursk Bulge. On May 14, 1943, repelling a raid on the Grushka airfield, he single-handedly entered into battle with three Yu-87 bombers, covered by four Me-109s. Having shot down two Junkers, Gulaev tried to attack the third, but ran out of ammunition. Without hesitating for a second, the pilot went to ram, shooting down another bomber. Gulaev’s uncontrollable “Yak” went into a tailspin. The pilot managed to level the plane and land it at the leading edge, but on his own territory. Having arrived at the regiment, Gulaev again flew on a combat mission on another plane.
At the beginning of July 1943, Gulaev, as part of four Soviet fighters, taking advantage of the surprise factor, attacked a German armada of 100 aircraft. Having disrupted the battle formation, shooting down 4 bombers and 2 fighters, all four returned safely to the airfield. On this day, Gulaev’s unit made several combat sorties and destroyed 16 enemy aircraft.
July 1943 was generally extremely productive for Nikolai Gulaev. This is what is recorded in his flight book: “July 5 - 6 sorties, 4 victories, July 6 - Focke-Wulf 190 shot down, July 7 - three enemy aircraft shot down as part of a group, July 8 - Me-109 shot down , July 12 - two Yu-87s were shot down.”
Hero of the Soviet Union Fedor Arkhipenko, who had the opportunity to command the squadron where Gulaev served, wrote about him: “He was a genius pilot, one of the top ten aces in the country. He never hesitated, quickly assessed the situation, his sudden and effective attack created panic and destroyed the enemy’s battle formation, which disrupted his targeted bombing of our troops. He was very brave and decisive, often came to the rescue, and sometimes one could feel the real passion of a hunter in him.”

Flying Stenka Razin.

On September 28, 1943, the deputy squadron commander of the 27th Fighter Aviation Regiment (205th Fighter Aviation Division, 7th Fighter Aviation Corps, 2nd Air Army, Voronezh Front), Senior Lieutenant Nikolai Dmitrievich Gulaev, was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
At the beginning of 1944, Gulaev was appointed squadron commander. His not very rapid career growth is explained by the fact that the ace’s methods of educating his subordinates were not entirely ordinary. Thus, he cured one of the pilots of his squadron, who was afraid of getting close to the Nazis, from fear of the enemy by firing a burst from his on-board weapon next to the wingman’s cabin. The subordinate’s fear disappeared as if by hand...
The same Fyodor Archipenko in his memoirs described another characteristic episode associated with Gulaev: “Approaching the airfield, I immediately saw from the air that the parking lot of Gulaev’s plane was empty... After landing, I was informed that all six of Gulaev were shot down! Nikolai himself landed wounded at the airfield with the attack aircraft, but nothing is known about the rest of the pilots. After some time, they reported from the front line: two jumped out of planes and landed at the location of our troops, the fate of three more is unknown... And today, many years later, I see the main mistake Gulaev made then in the fact that he took with him into combat the departure of three young pilots who had not been shot at at once, who were shot down in their very first battle. True, Gulaev himself won 4 aerial victories that day, shooting down 2 Me-109, Yu-87 and Henschel.”
He was not afraid to risk himself, but he also risked his subordinates with the same ease, which sometimes seemed completely unjustified. The pilot Gulaev did not look like the “aerial Kutuzov”, but rather like the dashing Stenka Razin, who had mastered a combat fighter.
But at the same time he achieved amazing results. In one of the battles over the Prut River, at the head of six P-39 Airacobra fighters, Nikolai Gulaev attacked 27 enemy bombers, accompanied by 8 fighters. In 4 minutes, 11 enemy vehicles were destroyed, 5 of them by Gulaev personally.
In March 1944, the pilot received a short-term leave home. From this trip to the Don he came withdrawn, taciturn, and bitter. He rushed into battle frantically, with some kind of transcendental rage. During the trip home, Nikolai learned that during the occupation his father was executed by the Nazis...

On July 1, 1944, Guard Captain Nikolai Gulaev was awarded the second star of the Hero of the Soviet Union for 125 combat missions, 42 air battles, in which he shot down 42 enemy aircraft personally and 3 in a group.
And then another episode occurs, which Gulaev openly told his friends about after the war, an episode that perfectly shows his violent nature as a native of the Don. The pilot learned that he had become a twice Hero of the Soviet Union after his next flight. Fellow soldiers had already gathered at the airfield and said: the award needed to be “washed,” there was alcohol, but there were problems with snacks.
Gulaev recalled that when returning to the airfield, he saw pigs grazing. With the words “there will be a snack,” the ace boards the plane again and a few minutes later lands it near the barns, to the amazement of the pig owner.
As already mentioned, the pilots were paid for downed planes, so Nikolai had no problems with cash. The owner willingly agreed to sell the boar, who was loaded with difficulty into the combat vehicle. By some miracle, the pilot took off from a very small platform together with the boar, distraught with horror. A combat aircraft is not designed for a well-fed pig to dance inside it. Gulaev had difficulty keeping the plane in the air...
If a catastrophe had happened that day, it would probably have been the most ridiculous case of the death of a twice Hero of the Soviet Union in history. Thank God, Gulaev made it to the airfield, and the regiment cheerfully celebrated the hero’s award.
Another anecdotal incident is related to the appearance of the Soviet ace. Once in battle he managed to shoot down a reconnaissance plane piloted by a Nazi colonel, holder of four Iron Crosses. The German pilot wanted to meet with the one who managed to interrupt his brilliant career. Apparently, the German was expecting to see a stately handsome man, a “Russian bear” who would not be ashamed to lose... But instead, a young, short, plump captain Gulaev came, who, by the way, in the regiment had a not at all heroic nickname “Kolobok”. The German's disappointment knew no bounds...

A fight with political overtones.

In the summer of 1944, the Soviet command decided to recall the best Soviet pilots from the front. The war is coming to a victorious end, and the leadership of the USSR begins to think about the future. Those who distinguished themselves in the Great Patriotic War must graduate from the Air Force Academy in order to then take leadership positions in the Air Force and Air Defense.
Gulaev was also among those summoned to Moscow. He himself was not eager to go to the academy; he asked to remain in the active army, but was refused. On August 12, 1944, Nikolai Gulaev shot down his last Focke-Wulf 190.
And then a story happened, which, most likely, became the main reason why Nikolai Gulaev did not become as famous as Kozhedub and Pokryshkin. There are at least three versions of what happened, which combine two words - “brawler” and “foreigners”. Let's focus on the one that occurs most often.
According to it, Nikolai Gulaev, already a major by that time, was summoned to Moscow not only to study at the academy, but also to receive the third star of the Hero of the Soviet Union. Considering the pilot’s combat achievements, this version does not seem implausible. Gulaev’s company included other honored aces who were awaiting awards.
The day before the ceremony in the Kremlin, Gulaev went to the restaurant of the Moscow Hotel, where his pilot friends were relaxing. However, the restaurant was crowded, and the administrator said: “Comrade, there is no room for you!” It was not worth saying such a thing to Gulaev with his explosive character, but then, unfortunately, he also came across Romanian soldiers, who at that moment were also relaxing in the restaurant. Shortly before this, Romania, which had been an ally of Germany since the beginning of the war, went over to the side of the anti-Hitler coalition.
The angry Gulaev said loudly: “Is it that there is no place for the Hero of the Soviet Union, but there is room for enemies?”
The Romanians heard the pilot’s words, and one of them uttered an insulting phrase in Russian towards Gulaev. A second later, the Soviet ace found himself near the Romanian and hit him in the face.
Not even a minute had passed before a fight broke out in the restaurant between the Romanians and Soviet pilots.
When the fighters were separated, it turned out that the pilots had beaten members of the official Romanian military delegation. The scandal reached Stalin himself, who decided to cancel the awarding of the third Hero star.
If we were talking not about the Romanians, but about the British or Americans, most likely, the matter for Gulaev would have ended quite badly. But the leader of all nations did not ruin the life of his ace because of yesterday’s opponents. Gulaev was simply sent to a unit, away from the front, Romanians and any attention in general. But how true this version is is unknown.

A general who was friends with Vysotsky.

Despite everything, in 1950 Nikolai Gulaev graduated from the Zhukovsky Air Force Academy, and five years later from the General Staff Academy. He commanded the 133rd Aviation Fighter Division, located in Yaroslavl, the 32nd Air Defense Corps in Rzhev, and the 10th Air Defense Army in Arkhangelsk, which covered the northern borders of the Soviet Union.
Nikolai Dmitrievich had a wonderful family, he adored his granddaughter Irochka, was a passionate fisherman, loved to treat guests to personally pickled watermelons...
He also visited pioneer camps, participated in various veterans’ events, but still there was a feeling that instructions were given from above, in modern terms, not to promote his person too much.
Actually, there were reasons for this even at a time when Gulaev was already wearing general’s shoulder straps. For example, he could, with his authority, invite Vladimir Vysotsky to speak at the House of Officers in Arkhangelsk, ignoring the timid protests of the local party leadership. By the way, there is a version that some of Vysotsky’s songs about pilots were born after his meetings with Nikolai Gulaev.

Norwegian complaint.

Colonel General Gulaev retired in 1979. And there is a version that one of the reasons for this was a new conflict with foreigners, but this time not with the Romanians, but with the Norwegians. Allegedly, General Gulaev organized a hunt for polar bears using helicopters near the border with Norway. Norwegian border guards appealed to the Soviet authorities with a complaint about the general's actions. After this, the general was transferred to a staff position away from Norway, and then sent to a well-deserved rest.
It is impossible to say with certainty that this hunt took place, although such a plot fits very well into the vivid biography of Nikolai Gulaev. Be that as it may, the resignation had a bad effect on the health of the old pilot, who could not imagine himself without the service to which his whole life was dedicated.
Twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Colonel General Nikolai Dmitrievich Gulaev died on September 27, 1985 in Moscow, at the age of 67 years. His final resting place was the Kuntsevo cemetery in the capital.

Most of the names from the list of ace pilots of the Great Patriotic War are well known to everyone. However, besides Pokryshkin and Kozhedub, among the Soviet aces, another master of air combat is undeservedly forgotten, whose courage and courage even the most titled and successful pilots can envy.

Better than Kozhedub, better than Hartman...
The names of the Soviet aces of the Great Patriotic War, Ivan Kozhedub and Alexander Pokryshkin, are known to everyone who is at least superficially familiar with Russian history. Kozhedub and Pokryshkin are the most successful Soviet fighter pilots. The first has 64 enemy aircraft shot down personally, the second has 59 personal victories, and he shot down 6 more planes in the group.
The name of the third most successful Soviet pilot is known only to aviation enthusiasts. During the war, Nikolai Gulaev destroyed 57 enemy aircraft personally and 4 in a group.
An interesting detail - Kozhedub needed 330 sorties and 120 air battles to achieve his result, Pokryshkin - 650 sorties and 156 air battles. Gulaev achieved his result by carrying out 290 sorties and conducting 69 air battles.
Moreover, according to award documents, in his first 42 air battles he destroyed 42 enemy aircraft, that is, on average, each battle ended for Gulaev with a destroyed enemy aircraft.
Fans of military statistics have calculated that Nikolai Gulaev’s efficiency coefficient, that is, the ratio of air battles to victories, was 0.82. For comparison, for Ivan Kozhedub it was 0.51, and for Hitler’s ace Erich Hartmann, who officially shot down the most aircraft during World War II, it was 0.4.
At the same time, people who knew Gulaev and fought with him claimed that he generously recorded many of his victories on his wingmen, helping them receive orders and money - Soviet pilots were paid for each enemy aircraft shot down. Some believe that the total number of planes shot down by Gulaev could reach 90, which, however, cannot be confirmed or denied today.

A guy from the Don.
Many books have been written and many films have been made about Alexander Pokryshkin and Ivan Kozhedub, three times Heroes of the Soviet Union, air marshals.
Nikolai Gulaev, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, was close to the third “Golden Star”, but never received it and did not become a marshal, remaining a colonel general. And in general, if in the post-war years Pokryshkin and Kozhedub were always in the public eye, engaged in the patriotic education of youth, then Gulaev, who was practically in no way inferior to his colleagues, remained in the shadows all the time.
Perhaps the fact is that both the war and post-war biography of the Soviet ace was rich in episodes that do not fit well into the image of an ideal hero.
Nikolai Gulaev was born on February 26, 1918 in the village of Aksai, which has now become the city of Aksai in the Rostov region. The Don freemen were in the blood and character of Nicholas from the first days until the end of his life. After graduating from a seven-year school and a vocational school, he worked as a mechanic at one of the Rostov factories.
Like many of the youth of the 1930s, Nikolai became interested in aviation and attended a flying club. This hobby helped in 1938, when Gulaev was drafted into the army. The amateur pilot was sent to the Stalingrad Aviation School, from which he graduated in 1940. Gulaev was assigned to air defense aviation, and in the first months of the war he provided cover for one of the industrial centers in the rear.

Reprimand complete with reward.
Gulaev arrived at the front in August 1942 and immediately demonstrated both the talent of a combat pilot and the wayward character of a native of the Don steppes.
Gulaev did not have permission to fly at night, and when on August 3, 1942, Hitler’s planes appeared in the area of ​​responsibility of the regiment where the young pilot served, experienced pilots took to the skies. But then the mechanic egged Nikolai on:
- What are you waiting for? The plane is ready, fly!
Gulaev, deciding to prove that he was no worse than the “old men,” jumped into the cockpit and took off. And in the very first battle, without experience, without the help of searchlights, he destroyed a German bomber. When Gulaev returned to the airfield, the arriving general said: “For the fact that I flew out without permission, I am reprimanding, and for the fact that I shot down an enemy plane, I am promoting him in rank and presenting him for a reward.”

Nugget.
His star shone especially brightly during the battles on the Kursk Bulge. On May 14, 1943, repelling a raid on the Grushka airfield, he single-handedly entered into battle with three Yu-87 bombers, covered by four Me-109s. Having shot down two Junkers, Gulaev tried to attack the third, but ran out of ammunition. Without hesitating for a second, the pilot went to ram, shooting down another bomber. Gulaev’s uncontrollable “Yak” went into a tailspin. The pilot managed to level the plane and land it at the leading edge, but on his own territory. Having arrived at the regiment, Gulaev again flew on a combat mission on another plane.
At the beginning of July 1943, Gulaev, as part of four Soviet fighters, taking advantage of the surprise factor, attacked a German armada of 100 aircraft. Having disrupted the battle formation, shooting down 4 bombers and 2 fighters, all four returned safely to the airfield. On this day, Gulaev’s unit made several combat sorties and destroyed 16 enemy aircraft.
July 1943 was generally extremely productive for Nikolai Gulaev. This is what is recorded in his flight book: “July 5 - 6 sorties, 4 victories, July 6 - Focke-Wulf 190 shot down, July 7 - three enemy aircraft shot down as part of a group, July 8 - Me-109 shot down , July 12 - two Yu-87s were shot down.”
Hero of the Soviet Union Fedor Arkhipenko, who had the opportunity to command the squadron where Gulaev served, wrote about him: “He was a genius pilot, one of the top ten aces in the country. He never hesitated, quickly assessed the situation, his sudden and effective attack created panic and destroyed the enemy’s battle formation, which disrupted his targeted bombing of our troops. He was very brave and decisive, often came to the rescue, and sometimes one could feel the real passion of a hunter in him.”

Flying Stenka Razin.
On September 28, 1943, the deputy squadron commander of the 27th Fighter Aviation Regiment (205th Fighter Aviation Division, 7th Fighter Aviation Corps, 2nd Air Army, Voronezh Front), Senior Lieutenant Nikolai Dmitrievich Gulaev, was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
At the beginning of 1944, Gulaev was appointed squadron commander. His not very rapid career growth is explained by the fact that the ace’s methods of educating his subordinates were not entirely ordinary. Thus, he cured one of the pilots of his squadron, who was afraid of getting close to the Nazis, from fear of the enemy by firing a burst from his on-board weapon next to the wingman’s cabin. The subordinate’s fear disappeared as if by hand...
The same Fyodor Archipenko in his memoirs described another characteristic episode associated with Gulaev: “Approaching the airfield, I immediately saw from the air that the parking lot of Gulaev’s plane was empty... After landing, I was informed that all six of Gulaev were shot down! Nikolai himself landed wounded at the airfield with the attack aircraft, but nothing is known about the rest of the pilots. After some time, they reported from the front line: two jumped out of planes and landed at the location of our troops, the fate of three more is unknown... And today, many years later, I see the main mistake Gulaev made then in the fact that he took with him into combat the departure of three young pilots who had not been shot at at once, who were shot down in their very first battle. True, Gulaev himself won 4 aerial victories that day, shooting down 2 Me-109, Yu-87 and Henschel.”
He was not afraid to risk himself, but he also risked his subordinates with the same ease, which sometimes seemed completely unjustified. The pilot Gulaev did not look like the “aerial Kutuzov”, but rather like the dashing Stenka Razin, who had mastered a combat fighter.
But at the same time he achieved amazing results. In one of the battles over the Prut River, at the head of six P-39 Airacobra fighters, Nikolai Gulaev attacked 27 enemy bombers, accompanied by 8 fighters. In 4 minutes, 11 enemy vehicles were destroyed, 5 of them by Gulaev personally.
In March 1944, the pilot received a short-term leave home. From this trip to the Don he came withdrawn, taciturn, and bitter. He rushed into battle frantically, with some kind of transcendental rage. During the trip home, Nikolai learned that during the occupation his father was executed by the Nazis...

The Soviet ace was almost killed by a pig...
On July 1, 1944, Guard Captain Nikolai Gulaev was awarded the second star of the Hero of the Soviet Union for 125 combat missions, 42 air battles, in which he shot down 42 enemy aircraft personally and 3 in a group.
And then another episode occurs, which Gulaev openly told his friends about after the war, an episode that perfectly shows his violent nature as a native of the Don. The pilot learned that he had become a twice Hero of the Soviet Union after his next flight. Fellow soldiers had already gathered at the airfield and said: the award needed to be “washed,” there was alcohol, but there were problems with snacks.
Gulaev recalled that when returning to the airfield, he saw pigs grazing. With the words “there will be a snack,” the ace boards the plane again and a few minutes later lands it near the barns, to the amazement of the pig owner.
As already mentioned, the pilots were paid for downed planes, so Nikolai had no problems with cash. The owner willingly agreed to sell the boar, who was loaded with difficulty into the combat vehicle. By some miracle, the pilot took off from a very small platform together with the boar, distraught with horror. A combat aircraft is not designed for a well-fed pig to dance inside it. Gulaev had difficulty keeping the plane in the air...
If a catastrophe had happened that day, it would probably have been the most ridiculous case of the death of a twice Hero of the Soviet Union in history. Thank God, Gulaev made it to the airfield, and the regiment cheerfully celebrated the hero’s award.
Another anecdotal incident is related to the appearance of the Soviet ace. Once in battle he managed to shoot down a reconnaissance plane piloted by a Nazi colonel, holder of four Iron Crosses. The German pilot wanted to meet with the one who managed to interrupt his brilliant career. Apparently, the German was expecting to see a stately handsome man, a “Russian bear” who would not be ashamed to lose... But instead, a young, short, plump captain Gulaev came, who, by the way, in the regiment had a not at all heroic nickname “Kolobok”. The German's disappointment knew no bounds...

A fight with political overtones.
In the summer of 1944, the Soviet command decided to recall the best Soviet pilots from the front. The war is coming to a victorious end, and the leadership of the USSR begins to think about the future. Those who distinguished themselves in the Great Patriotic War must graduate from the Air Force Academy in order to then take leadership positions in the Air Force and Air Defense.
Gulaev was also among those summoned to Moscow. He himself was not eager to go to the academy; he asked to remain in the active army, but was refused. On August 12, 1944, Nikolai Gulaev shot down his last Focke-Wulf 190.
And then a story happened, which, most likely, became the main reason why Nikolai Gulaev did not become as famous as Kozhedub and Pokryshkin. There are at least three versions of what happened, which combine two words - “brawler” and “foreigners”. Let's focus on the one that occurs most often.
According to it, Nikolai Gulaev, already a major by that time, was summoned to Moscow not only to study at the academy, but also to receive the third star of the Hero of the Soviet Union. Considering the pilot’s combat achievements, this version does not seem implausible. Gulaev’s company included other honored aces who were awaiting awards.
The day before the ceremony in the Kremlin, Gulaev went to the restaurant of the Moscow Hotel, where his pilot friends were relaxing. However, the restaurant was crowded, and the administrator said: “Comrade, there is no room for you!” It was not worth saying such a thing to Gulaev with his explosive character, but then, unfortunately, he also came across Romanian soldiers, who at that moment were also relaxing in the restaurant. Shortly before this, Romania, which had been an ally of Germany since the beginning of the war, went over to the side of the anti-Hitler coalition.
The angry Gulaev said loudly: “Is it that there is no place for the Hero of the Soviet Union, but there is room for enemies?”
The Romanians heard the pilot’s words, and one of them uttered an insulting phrase in Russian towards Gulaev. A second later, the Soviet ace found himself near the Romanian and hit him in the face.
Not even a minute had passed before a fight broke out in the restaurant between the Romanians and Soviet pilots.
When the fighters were separated, it turned out that the pilots had beaten members of the official Romanian military delegation. The scandal reached Stalin himself, who decided to cancel the awarding of the third Hero star.
If we were talking not about the Romanians, but about the British or Americans, most likely, the matter for Gulaev would have ended quite badly. But the leader of all nations did not ruin the life of his ace because of yesterday’s opponents. Gulaev was simply sent to a unit, away from the front, Romanians and any attention in general. But how true this version is is unknown.

A general who was friends with Vysotsky.
Despite everything, in 1950 Nikolai Gulaev graduated from the Zhukovsky Air Force Academy, and five years later from the General Staff Academy. He commanded the 133rd Aviation Fighter Division, located in Yaroslavl, the 32nd Air Defense Corps in Rzhev, and the 10th Air Defense Army in Arkhangelsk, which covered the northern borders of the Soviet Union.
Nikolai Dmitrievich had a wonderful family, he adored his granddaughter Irochka, was a passionate fisherman, loved to treat guests to personally pickled watermelons...
He also visited pioneer camps, participated in various veterans’ events, but still there was a feeling that instructions were given from above, in modern terms, not to promote his person too much.
Actually, there were reasons for this even at a time when Gulaev was already wearing general’s shoulder straps. For example, he could, with his authority, invite Vladimir Vysotsky to speak at the House of Officers in Arkhangelsk, ignoring the timid protests of the local party leadership. By the way, there is a version that some of Vysotsky’s songs about pilots were born after his meetings with Nikolai Gulaev.

Norwegian complaint.
Colonel General Gulaev retired in 1979. And there is a version that one of the reasons for this was a new conflict with foreigners, but this time not with the Romanians, but with the Norwegians. Allegedly, General Gulaev organized a hunt for polar bears using helicopters near the border with Norway. Norwegian border guards appealed to the Soviet authorities with a complaint about the general's actions. After this, the general was transferred to a staff position away from Norway, and then sent to a well-deserved rest.
It is impossible to say with certainty that this hunt took place, although such a plot fits very well into the vivid biography of Nikolai Gulaev. Be that as it may, the resignation had a bad effect on the health of the old pilot, who could not imagine himself without the service to which his whole life was dedicated.
Twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Colonel General Nikolai Dmitrievich Gulaev died on September 27, 1985 in Moscow, at the age of 67 years. His final resting place was the Kuntsevo cemetery in the capital.