MiG Menace Over Korea: Nicolai Sutiagin, Top Ace Soviet of the Korean War by Yuri Sutiagin & Igor Seidov

Author:Yuri Sutiagin & Igor Seidov [Sutiagin, Yuri & Seidov, Igor]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Nonfiction, History, Asian, Korean War, Military, Aviation
ISBN: 9781911096993
Amazon: B005D7D5KM
Goodreads: 19461314
Publisher: Helion and Company
Published: 2016-06-20T04:00:00+00:00

During this attack, the cockpit canopy on the plane of Major Pulov’s wingman, Captain Viktor Blagov, fogged up during the steep dive upon the targets and he was forced to exit the battle. Pulov was now alone without a wingman, so he too had to leave the battle.

As the scattered Thunderjets were racing toward the sea, Captain Artemchenko’s group arrived from its detour to Pyongyang and also began a low-altitude chase after the Thunderjets. During this pursuit, Captain Sergei Bychkov was particularly successful: he managed to attack two Thunderjets in succession and added both to his personal score.

However, the initial successes of this battle almost ended in great losses for the pilots of the 17th IAP. Their pursuit of the retreating F-84s was interrupted when a group of Sabres arrived on the scene, plainly responding to calls for help from the Thunderjet pilots. Now the tables were turned, and the pilots of the 17th IAP found themselves in a very difficult position, with their own combat formations now scattered, and with many pilots operating totally on their own. Among them was Captain Bychkov, whose wingman had lagged behind him in the chase. Captain Shcherbakov had also exited the battle prematurely, and his wingman Bykov had to take on four F-86s alone, one of which he managed to damage.

From the recollections of a pilot in the 3rd Aviation Squadron, A.N. Nikolaev:

Captain Shcherbakov, putting it gently, showed excessive caution in combat, although he had solid flight experience in the MiG-15. When he was named to command the 3rd Aviation Squadron, we had high hopes for him, but he didn’t justify them. He deliberately avoided getting involved in battle. At first we trusted him and waited for him to do something. But then our belief in him gradually faded away, and our flight began to operate at its own discretion. His wingman was the deputy squadron commander for political affairs, Senior Lieutenant A.V. Bykov. Naturally, he couldn’t show any special initiative as Shcherbakov’s wingman, although he was an experienced and fine pilot.

The Soviet pilots sought to extricate themselves from their precarious situation as quickly as possible. While exiting from the battle, Major Pulov linked up with Senior Lieutenant Shirokov, who had lost his own leader and was now alone, and they both headed back to base. As they were approaching the Yalu River, they were suddenly jumped by a pair of F-86s, which first struck Major Pulov’s plane, leaving twelve bullet holes in his wing, fuselage, and engine area. Then the same pair of Sabres turned their attention to Shirokov’s MiG as well, which received sixteen bullet holes in its wing, fuselage, engine area, rudder, and horizontal stabilizer. Senior Lieutenant Shirokov received a slight wound to the right shoulder.

Grigorii Ivanovich Pulov himself tells the story of this battle in the following way:

In the action I damaged one fighter-bomber at low altitude, but in the course of the battle I found myself paired up with a new wingman, Shirokov. While we were returning back to base as a pair, the flight of Captain Blagov linked up with us.

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