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Tribute to Ivan Kozhedub by Ivan Berryman. Considered the highest scoring Soviet and Allied Ace of World War Two, Ivan Kozhedub is credited with more than 60 victories in less than two years from July 1943 to April 1945. Seen here late in the war flying his Lavochkin La-7, he is also notably the first Soviet pilot to claim an Me262 jet. Awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union three times, he stayed with military aviation and served in the Korean War. He died in 1991, aged 71. |
Duel on the Dnepr, Southen Russia, Summer 1943 by David Pentland. Rumanian IAR 80c on a tactical reconnaissance mission is intercepted and shot down by a Soviet YAK3 over the river Dnepr. |
A Costly Victory by Stan Stokes. Gunther Rall, who attained 275 confirmed aerial victories, was the third highest scoring ace of all time. In Stans dramatic painting Rall is about to have a mid-air collision with a Lagg-5 during the Battle of Kursk on the Eastern Front. Rall would survive this collision and continue to chalk-up victories until the end of the war. Rall flew about 800 combat missions and missed nearly a year of flying when he suffered a broken back. |
Russian Giant by Stan Stokes. Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky was one of the early pioneers in the Russian aircraft industry. He was a brilliant and tenacious designer. In contrast to the accepted wisdom of the day, Sikorsky was convinced that very large multi-engine aircraft would some day become commonplace. In 1913 he had completed a 9,000 pound aircraft which was commonly referred to as the Grand. Unfortunately this aircraft was destroyed in a freak accident when the engine from another aircraft fell out of the sky and hit the Grand while it was parked in its hangar. Not deterred by this stroke of bad luck, Sikorsky went to work on an even more elaborate design. Called the Ilya Muromets (after a Russian folk hero) the second of Sikorskys Russian giants weighed slightly more than 10,000 pounds and was powered by four German-made 100-HP Argus engines. With a 102 foot wingspan and a 70-foot fuselage, the Muromets was an extraordinary aircraft for its time. An enclosed cabin was heated by the exhaust from the engines, and two balconies were available. A washroom was included and the passenger cabin was equipped with tables and chairs. Czar Nicholas II was a major supporter of aviation, but many influential people in the military questioned the value of the Muromets as a military weapon. Despite this skepticism, Sikorsky took his pet dog and sixteen passengers aloft on February 24, 1914. In June of 1914 Sikorsky piloted the Muromets on a 1,600 mile round trip flight from St. Petersburg to Kiev. Before Sikorskys triumphant return to St. Petersburg, the seeds to WW I had been sown by the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand in Sarajevo. Sikorsky immediately went to work on building new and improved models of his giant aircraft, with the specific interest now in producing a long range bomber and reconnaissance aircraft. In October of 1914 a Muromets dropped 320 pounds of bombs from an altitude of 4,000 feet at the Petrograd testing grounds. In February of 1915, as depicted in Stan Stokes painting entitled Russian Giant, a Ilya Muromets V Kievsky II model dropped 600 pounds of bombs on the railway station at Mlava, significantly damaging the facility. A total of 75 of Sikorskys giant bombers were sent to the front between 1914 and 1918. The aircraft had defensive armament with machine gunners in various positions. The bomber was typically flown with a crew of four. Only three of the aircraft sent to the front were destroyed in combat. As Revolution swept Russia near the end of WW II Sikorsky left his homeland for the United States, where he would become one of the giants of the American aviation industry. |
Bomber's Bane by David Pentland. Ostrov, Latvia, 6th July 1941. Tasked with supporting the advancing German ground forces through Latvia, the fighters of 9th Staffel JG54 were kept busy keeping the Red Airforce at bay. On this occasion Oblt. Hans-Ekkehard Bob, downed 3 Tupolev SB-2 bombers during a single sortie. His 27th, 28th and 29th victories. |
Red Stars Over Berlin, 12th August 1941 by David Pentland. On Stalins personal orders, Petlyako PE-8 bombers, led by the hero of the Soviet Union, Major General Mikhal V. Vodopyanov, carry out their only raid on the German capital of Berlin. |
Russian Roulette by Robert Taylor. A Soviet Yak 3 hurtles towards us in a typically daring head-on attack on a Bf109. Other Yaks wheel and turn frantically in search of the enemy. Casualties on both sides are evident. Away into the distant horizon stretches a vast Russian sky, painted in Roberts inimitable style: soon all will be quiet again until the next ferocious encounter. |
Buffalo Ace by Stan Stokes. The Brewster Aeronautical Corp. commenced development of the F2A Buffalo in 1936 in response to a US Navy request for a carrier-based fighter capable of 300 MPH. Development took place at the time when Grumman was also working on its first carrier-based fighter for the Navy. Utilizing an all-metal, mid-wing, monoplane design, the first Brewster Buffalo prototype flew in 1937. An initial order for fifty-four aircraft was placed in mid-1938. The F2A-1 utilized a 900-HP R-H20-34 radial engine, and was armed with four machine guns. Eleven of the aircraft from the first production order were assigned to VF-3, which was based at that time on the USS Saratoga. The remaining forty-three aircraft were sent to Finland, which was fighting off an invasion by the Soviet Union. In 1940 the F2A-2 variant entered production utilizing a more powerful 1200-HP engine. Capable of 323-MPH, orders for three hundred additional aircraft were obtained, including 170 from the RAF, which at that time was in the midst of the Battle of Britain.. The Brits found the Buffalo very ineffective, and not capable of dog fighting with the faster and highly maneuverable Bf-109s it faced. The British withdrew the Buffalo from front line service, sending most of its aircraft to units in the Far East, where the Buffalo would later play a role in defending Java, Burma, Manila, and Singapore. Meanwhile the US Navy was becoming disenchanted with the aircraft due to weakness in its landing gear, and its minimal armor plating. Nonetheless, the Buffalo was one of the front line fighters the United States had in its arsenal when America entered WW II on December 7, 1941. During the only serious combat in which the Buffalo was flown by US forces, VMF-221 lost 18 of its 25 F2As during the Battle of Midway. The Buffalo proved to be no match for the faster and highly maneuverable Mitsubishi Zeroes flown by the Imperial Navy. Despite its lack luster reputation, the Buffalo was utilized effectively by the Finnish Air Force in fighting the Soviets. Some of this success is no doubt due to the relative lack of combat experience by many of the Soviet pilots, the fact that the Soviets had stuck with bi-plane fighter designs longer than other countries, and the fact that Finland had some excellent pilots of their own. The top Finnish ace, Eino Juutilainen, attained thirty-three of his incredible ninety-four victories while flying the Brewster Buffalo. Several of his victories were obtained against American-built Curtis P-40s, which had been sold to the Red Air Force. In his dramatic depiction, entitled Buffalo Ace, aviation artist Stan Stokes shows Juutilainen in action against Soviet P-40s during the defense of Finland. |
Angels and Knights by Stan Stokes. In 1946 Navy brass selected Lt. Cdr. Roy Butch Voris, a fighter pilot with WW II experience, to organize a flight exhibition team. The twenty-six-year-old Voris wasted no time in forming his team, and developed an exciting low altitude acrobatic demonstration utilizing the F6F Hellcat fighter. Recognizing the need for a minimum of distractions, Voris selected only bachelors for his embryonic flight team. When the group put on their first demonstration, Voris commanding officer called them a bunch of crazy S.O.B.s who were going to kill themselves. Nonetheless, the show was impressive and the Navy moved ahead. Lacking a name for this new group a contest was held, but no names were submitted which the pilots all liked. One day Voris #2 - Wick Wickendall - saw an ad for a night club called the Blue Angel in a magazine. From that day forward the name Blue Angels was official. The team quickly transitioned to the faster F8 Bearcat, but when the Korean War began, the group was temporarily disbanded, and its pilots formed the nucleus of VF-191 Satans Kittens. Following the war Voris was asked again to reactivate the team, this time utilizing the Panther jet. In 1955 the Angels transitioned to their first supersonic aircraft the F-8 Cougar. In 1957 they switched to the F-11, and in 1969 they began flying the F-4 Phantom II. Plagued with maintenance difficulties the group dropped the F-4 in 1974 in favor of the diminutive A-4 Skyhawk. In 1985 the Blue Angels began utilizing the McDonnel Douglas F/A-18 Hornet, one of the most capable fighter and attack aircraft in the world. Flying at speeds in the 400-500 MPH range with only 36 inches of separation during most of their shows, the pilot are subject to G forces equal to eight times the weight of gravity. However, the Blue Angels perform without the use of G-suits. The Blues are made up of an all volunteer group. Pilots typically have 8-10 years of fighter experience (1500 or more hours), are carrier qualified, and have had time as instructors. The Blue Angels follow an intensive training program. They fly six days a week, with only a 2-3 week break in November of each year. The Blue Angel pilots and their ground support crew spend about 300 days a year away from home. The support team, which flies from show to show in a specially modified C-130 nicknamed Fat Albert, is of vital importance. A Blue Angels show has never been canceled due to a maintenance or equipment problem, and no spectators have ever been injured during a demonstration. In 1992 the Blue Angels were given the opportunity of visiting the former Soviet Union to become the first American flight demonstration team to perform over Moscow. This was a significant event as it truly signified the change taking place in the former Soviet Union, and the new post Cold War relationship which was evolving. Lead by Cdr. Greg Wooldridge, the Blue Angels took Moscow by storm. A series of exchange flights took place with the Russian pilots having their first exposure to American-built aircraft, and the Blue Angels having opportunity to fly in SU-27s and Mig-31s, two of the hottest Russian aircraft. As depicted in Stan Stokes highly-detailed painting entitled Angels and Knights, a Blue Angel F/A-18 and a Russian Knight SU-27 make a low altitude pass over Red Square, in a symbolic gesture signifying the end of the Cold War. |
Patrule De Noche by David Pentland. Soviet Ace Stefanov claims two Italian SM81 Bombers during a night interception over Barcelona, Spanish Civil War 1937. |
Lightning QRA Intercept by Michael Rondot. No.5 Sqn and No.11 Sqn Lightnings intercept a Tu-95 Bear, supported by an essential Victor tanker. QRA, day and night, 24hrs a day, 7 days a week 52 weeks a year, 365 days a year - never a day off, always ready! Over and over again for so many years, the air defences of Britain were regularly tested by Russian Tu-95 Bears as they probed NATO airspace high above the North Sea. |
Albatros W.4 by Ivan Berryman. In response to a requirement for a seaplane fighter scout, Albatros developed the elegant W.4, a direct descendent of their successful D.1, incorporating many common parts with its land-based relative. About 120 of the type were constructed, many employed in the defence of important naval bases scattered along the coast of the North Sea. A small number of W.4s however fell into the hands of the Soviet Red Army in 1918 and were pressed into service on the Black Sea, based at Sevastopol, as depicted here. |
Red Hot Pursuit by Simon Atack. Soviet Aces of the Eastern Front. Fighter Ace, First Lieutenant Stepanenko Ivan Nikiforovich, leads Yak 9s of the 4th IAP in pursuit of an Me109, during a contact on the Eastern Front, in the late summer of 1943. |
The Forgotten Fighter by Stan Stokes. In early 1937, Bell Aircraft presented a revolutionary fighter design to the USAAC, the P-39 Airacobra. Incorporating machine guns and the most powerful cannon available, the new design by Robert Woods, utilized many revolutionary design features. The all-metal, low wing, monoplane design utilized a centrally located engine in the fuselage, a feature which enhanced maneuverability. A nine foot shaft ran through the cockpit to drive the propeller. Woods design was the first fighter to incorporate a forward tricycle landing gear, which gave the P-39 pilot great visibility while on the ground. The first prototype flew in 1938. Equipped with a supercharged Allison water-cooled V-12 rated at 1,150-HP, the prototype performed admirably. It exhibited a top speed of 390-MPH, and an amazingly quick rate of climb. Unfortunately for the Airacobra, the USAAC decided to eliminate the supercharged engine from the project, a move which would relegate the Airacobra to the distinction of being Americas forgotten fighter of WW II. Without the supercharger the P-39s performance at altitude was inferior to most of the adversaries it would face. In 1941 lend-leased Airacobras went into battle with the RAF, but were quickly withdrawn from front line duty. Many of these, and many others eventually found service with the Red Air Force. In fact the Soviets ultimately received more than half of the 9,500 aircraft produced. Alexander Pokryshkin was the second highest scoring Soviet ace of WW II with fifty-nine victories. Forty-eight of these were achieved why flying the Aircacobra. Pokryshkin was a great leader who inspired others who flew under his command. He joined the Red Air Force in 1933 and attained his first victory (over a Bf-109E) in June of 1941 while piloting a Mig-3. He was a great tactician, and a student of fighter tactics. On one occasion his unit attacked a flight of sixteen Ju-87s, and Pokryshkin bagged four. While flying in the Caucasus region he became well known to his German adversaries, who would radio, Achtung! Der Ass Pokryshkin in der luft! when they realized he was airborne. Shot down on 4 occasions, he was made squadron commander of the elite 16th Guards IAP. Considered the father of Soviet fighter tactics, thirty pilots under his command would go on to be awarded the coveted Hero of the Soviet Union medal. The P-39 also was in service with several units in the Pacific early in the War. Lacking sufficient range to be used for many escort missions, and deficient in dog fighting against the superior Japanese aircraft they faced, the P-39s were relegated by the USAAC to ground attack missions. The aircraft was withdrawn from front line service as more capable P-38s, P-47s, and P-51s became available. In spite of the deficiencies of the P-39, a derivative design, the P-63 Kingcobra, was one of only nine designs evaluated by the USAAF in 1942-43 to be put into production. Although similar in appearance the P-63 was actually a totally new design. It was not produced in any great quantity, and two hundred of these aircraft were modified into Flying Pinballs, and were used to train B-17 gunners. |
Clash of Armour by Stan Stokes. More than 35,000 Ilyushin Sturmovik IL-2 ground attack aircraft were produced during WW II, the largest production run of any WW II aircraft. Often called The Flying Tank, the Sturmovik played a major role in the defeat of Nazi Germany on the Eastern front. The origins of this important aircraft date to 1938 when a design team headed by Sergei Vladimorovic Ilyushin began work on a new monoplane tactical bomber and ground attack aircraft. The initial prototype was completed in 1939, but was underpowered and had several structural flaws. With several modifications and use of a 1600-HP liquid cooled engine the final prototype was accepted and production began in 1940. Only a few hundred Sturmoviks were in service when Hitlers invasion of Russia commenced. One of the key design concepts of this aircraft was incorporation of an armored shell as both protection for engine and crew, and as a structural portion of the aircrafts design. Other aircraft designs typically added armor later, burdening the performance of the aircraft with the added weight. Sergeis design was unique, and the early variants were capable of top speeds approaching 300-MPH, and were almost invulnerable to attack from small caliber weapons. The second major variant incorporated a second crew member position as a rear gunner to fend off attacks by opposing fighters. Capable of carrying a 2000 pound bomb load to its target, special armor piercing bombs carried by the Sturmoviks were capable of knocking out any German armor, including the legendary Tiger tank, if attacked from the rear. This aircraft also carried several machine guns and cannons, making it no easy prey for opposing fighters. The final production variants of this aircraft were fitted with a 2000-HP engine and were capable of 330-MPH. In recognition of the significance of his design, Sergei Ilyushin was made a Hero of the Soviet Union. He also received a cash prize from Stalin in 1945 for his design of the final variant, the Il-II-10. A competing design was the Yak-4, a twin engined ground attack aircraft. Unlike the Sturmovik, the Yak-4 proved vulnerable to ground fire, and was withdrawn by the Red Air Force from production in 1942, and was thereafter relegated to a high altitude reconnaissance role. It is generally agreed that the Sturmovik was the most important and successful ground attack aircraft to see service in WW II. |
Cold War Gone Hot by David Pentland. Hypothetical engagement, Soviet airforce MIG19 shoots down a USAF RB47 Stratofortress during the 1960s. |
Eagle Intercept by Philip West. A pair of F-15 Eagles of 125th Fighter Wing based at Jacksonville IAP, Florida, intercept a Russian Tupolev Tu-95 Bear en route non-stop from Moscow to Havana, Cuba, at the height of the Cold War. Constantly on alert, the Eagles form part of the First Air Force, tasked with the air defense of continental United States. |
A Nimble Foe by David Pentland. Krasnowardeist, Russia, 21st September 1941. Oblt. Hans-Ekkehard Bob claimed his 36th victory over a Soviet Polikarpov I-153 as the German forces surged towards Leningrad. Although an obsolete design, the I-153 was a very manoeuvrable and potentially deadly foe. |
Captain Ivan Smirnov by Ivan Berryman. After service in the 96th Infantry Regiment, Smirnov joined the XIX Corps Air Squadron in 1914, shooting down twelve enemy aircraft in the course of two years. When revolution swept through Russia in November 1917, he escaped the Bolsheviks via a White counter-revolutionary route, eventually joining the RAF in England, serving at the Central Flying School at Upavon. He is shown here in his silver Nieuport 17, having just despatched a Roland C.II. |
The Pencil Eraser by Stan Stokes. In 1941 the advancing German forces had obliterated the Soviet Air Force. During the first week of fighting the Luftwaffe had destroyed more than 4000 Soviet aircraft. Huge numbers of aircraft were destroyed hopelessly on the ground, and those that took to the sky were often outclassed by superior equipment flown by more experienced pilots. The decimation of the Soviet Air Force during the fighting in 1941 was shocking, but even more remarkable is the story of the comeback of the Soviet Air Force. The Soviets had been blessed during their history with many excellent aviation designers and engineers. Zhukovsky, Sikorsky, Tupolev, Polikarpov, Mikoyan, Lavochkin, and Gurevich to name but a few. The Germans smashed the pride the nation had in its Air Forces, but the Soviets fought back. Most of the Soviet fighters at the start of the War were obsolete Polikarpov I-153s or I-16s. Some Mig 3s were available, but the Mig 3 was a poor performer at low altitudes, and was too unstable and too lightly armed to tangle with German fighters. The Lavotchkin LA-7 and the Yakovlev Yak-3 were two excellent new fighter designs that gave the Soviets some competitive edge, and an important ground support aircraft was the Il-2 Sturmovik. It is a miracle that the Soviets were able to produce these aircraft in large volumes. Production factories had to be moved east out of the range of German bombers, and the Soviets imported a large number of foreign made aircraft including the Bell P-39 Airacobra. In November of 1943 one of the fiercest aerial combat battles of all time took place. During a battle near the Kuban River, Russian and German aircraft clashed by the hundreds. For the first time since the German invasion in 1941, the Red Air Force prevailed. For the first time the Soviets took the initiative, sending wave after wave of modern new aircraft into combat against the Luftwaffe. In the air the Soviets earned their first victory over the Germans... a sign of things to come. During the Battle of Kursk in mid-1943, the Luftwaffe amassed nearly 2000 aircraft, however the Soviets had more than twice that number. This numerical superiority paid off during the fighting, In Stan Stokes painting a Mig-3 targets a Dornier Flying Pencil. More than 3000 Mig-3s were produced, but the aircraft was effective only in the role of high altitude interceptor or reconnaissance aircraft. At lower altitudes it was outclassed. The Do-17 was a prewar design that first entered service in 1937. The aircraft was enhanced with a 215 and 217 variant. The bomber version had a crew of 4 and was capable of carrying as much as a 9,000 pound bomb loads. With a maximum speed of 320-MPH the Flying Pencil could be elusive. |
Sikorski Ilya Muromets by Ivan Berryman. Designed in 1913 and constructed by the Russo-Baltic Carriage Factory in Riga, the Ilya Muromets was designed by the great Igor Sikorski, based on his earlier creation, the Bolshoi Baltiski. Conceived originally as a luxury passenger aircraft, it was to become the worlds first four-engined strategic bomber at the outbreak of World War 1 and featured a fully enclosed cabin for the pilots and internal bomb racks that could carry up to 800kg of bombs. 73 examples of this extremely successful aircraft were built and only one was lost due to enemy action during the 400 sorties flown, during which their bombing accuracy was claimed to have achieved a commendable 90 percent success rate. |
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