Pilot-thinker. Alexander Ivanovich Pokryshkin

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“I’m asking my offspring to take my example: to start every business with the blessing of God, to be gasped to be faithful to the Fatherland, to run off luxury, idleness, greed and seek glory through truth and virtue ...”
A.V. Suvorov


Alexander Pokryshkin was born 19 in March 1913 in the city of Novonikolayevsk (now known as Novosibirsk). The grandfather of the future hero was called Peter Osipovich, and he was a well-known bricklayer in the district, who built, in particular, the new-Nicholas station buildings. The same profession was mastered by his son Vanya. In January, 1907, Archpriest of the Ascension Church, married Twenty-three-year-old Ivan Pokryshkin and young Xenia Mosunova. Young spouses settled in the not very prosperous Zakamenskaya part of the city - it was a working suburb, famous for its dashing guys. Subsequently, Ivan and Xenia had ten children, but only seven survived - six boys and one girl. Alexander was the second child in the family (after the firstborn Vasily born in 1910).

Pilot-thinker. Alexander Ivanovich Pokryshkin


After the accident that happened in 1908, Pokryshkin's father got a disability. The work of the bricklayer had to be left, Ivan Petrovich worked as an extra driver, puncher, and also, in agreement with the city government, he chopped a hole on the Ob. His wife Ksenia Stepanovna led the household. There is no need to say that the large families of the Pokryshkins lived there are not rich, crowded and difficult. Among other things, there was no running water in the city, and there was impassable mud. There were also big fires, for example, in 1908 more than six thousand people were left homeless, temporarily settling along Kamenka not far from the Pokryshkins' house.

In one of his books, Alexander Ivanovich wrote: “As a twelve-year-old boy, for the first time I saw an agitsamt that had flown to us. Among all the inhabitants of the city who fled to the field and who surrounded the aircraft, I was also ... Having touched his wings, I said to myself: "I will do everything, but I will become a pilot." Parents reacted disapprovingly to the aspirations of their son, according to the future ace “only my grandmother listened seriously to my dream. Perhaps due to the fact that I told her about the plane with great enthusiasm ... But the protection was reliable. Only her father was afraid of her alone ... ” In the actions of "Sasha-pilot" immediately revealed an extremely strong volitional beginning. As a teenager, he at one point quit smoking when the teacher showed him in the picture the smoker's lungs, adding: “With such you cannot become a pilot.” Every morning, Alexander went out into the yard - he did gymnastics and worked with weights, and in the winter he added a rubbing in with snow. The countrymen laughed at his exercises, but nothing could stop Pokryshkin: "The image of a physically strong pilot persistently pursued me."

Alexander was distinguished by a sharp mind - at school Pokryshkina was determined immediately to the second grade, and two years later, having proved that he had nothing to do in the fourth, he immediately went to the fifth. Among school disciplines, the future pilot preferred the exact sciences. In 1926, relatives realized for the first time that Alexander was born, as they say, “in shirt”. After scarlet fever, which Pokryshkin picked up along with his fifteen-year-old brother Vasya, only he left the hospital.

At 1928, Alexander successfully graduated from the seven-year-old and worked as a roofer in various construction organizations. Two years later (in the spring of 1930), contrary to the wishes of his father, who wanted his son to become a bookkeeper, he entered the local school factory apprenticeship school. In connection with the conflict that arose at home, he went to the hostel. For two years, Pokryshkin studied at the school of a new trade school, and after graduation - at the evening institute of agricultural mechanical engineering, while working at the Sibcombeinstroy plant as a tool maker during the day. It should be noted that, having received a specialty, the young man sent part of the proceeds home, helping to feed the family to his father, who worked at that time in the artels of disabled people. The fate of Ivan Petrovich, by the way, was tragic. For haberdashery trade, he was deprived of voting rights and became “deprived”. He was fired from his job, for many years Pokryshkin Sr. tried unsuccessfully to get justice. The lists of those deprived in those years were regularly published in the local press and hung in prominent places. Unable to bear the burden of the “seal of the outcast”, in December 1934 Ivan Petrovich hanged himself ...

In June 1932 Pokryshkin voluntarily went to serve. According to the Komsomol ticket, a young man was sent to aviation school located in the city of Perm. However, upon arrival at the place, Alexander Ivanovich unexpectedly discovered that the flight department at the school was abolished. The upset young man sent many reports about transferring to the flight school, but all the answers were short - aviation also needed technical staff. Many years later, the wife of Alexander Ivanovich writes: “Once in a sanatorium we met a man in whose name Sasha had sent forty-four reports in the past asking him to be transferred to a flight school. When Alexander Ivanovich reminded him of this, he said: “If I knew what pilot you would be, I would come for you after the very first letter.”

In the meantime, Pokryshkin had to master the craft of aircraft technology. In accordance with his motto: “Know everything in aviation” he studied this profession first-class. In December 1933 he graduated from the third Perm military school of aircraft technicians, and a year later in Leningrad - Advanced training courses for technical personnel of the Red Army air force. From the end of 1934 to autumn 1938, Alexander Ivanovich worked as a senior aircraft engineer in the seventy-fourth rifle division stationed in Krasnodar. During these years, he proposed a number of improvements to the design of the P-5 scout and the ShKAS air gun, and developed a simulator for pilots. He sent some of his works to the capital, and in response received a letter of thanks from Nikolai Polikarpov himself. Engineering knowledge, inquisitive mind and energy of Pokryshkin were noticed by the command - he was assigned to conduct classes with the technical staff of the unit. In addition, the young man led a glider club and taught at the Osoaviahima flying club.

But the sky still attracted Alexander Ivanovich with incredible strength. Pokryshkin regularly ascended into the clouds on the glider, as well as on the P-5 as an observer pilot. At the same time, he continued to improve his skills as an athlete - a cyclist, shooter, gymnast. In addition, he became a recognized expert on militaryhistorical literature on the development of airspace. Insolent dreams of the sky led to an unexpected act, - having issued another vacation, Pokryshkin for seventeen days perfectly passed the annual standards for flying training of the flying club. After that, the resistance of the Air Force personnel department was broken, and soon Alexander Ivanovich with great joy went to the Red Banner Kachin Aviation School.

In 1939 Starley, Pokryshkin successfully graduated from an aviation school and set off for the fifty-fifth Fighter Wing, based in Kirovograd. It was in this place that the famous ace's summer career began. Already in the first months, Pokryshkin showed himself a supporter of energetic piloting with huge overloads, initiating firing from short distances: “Wimps are shooting at two hundred meters, I will beat a hundred or less!” His desire to create a unique style of flight Pokryshkin based on the knowledge of tactics and technology, as well as on the experience of Russian pilots who fought on the White Finnish front, in Spain, on Hassan and Khalkhin Gol. By the way, not all the commanders calmly reacted to the daring flights of a young man who violated the outdated instructions. Alexander Ivanovich himself wrote: “In some cases, my actions led to conflict situations, they said to me:“ You are not Chkalov, you are Pokryshkin, only yesterday you jumped out of the technicians and think that now is God? ”. However, the Siberians are stubborn people, despite everything, I continued to adhere to my line. ”

Alexander Ivanovich met the war in Moldova. On the very first day of the 22 combat operations on June 1941, the flight commander Pokryshkin shot down an unfamiliar plane over the Odessa region, approaching from the west. This aircraft turned out to be a Su-2 bomber recently returned to Soviet troops returning from intelligence. Before the beginning of the war, fighters were shown photos and silhouettes of foreign and Soviet aircraft, but there was no image of the new “Drying” among them.

Alexander Ivanovich opened his account on June 23, knocking down the first Me-109. And by July 3, he, who had already had several air victories, was shot down himself over the Prut River with anti-aircraft fire. The plane after falling on the edge of the forest was completely destroyed. Pokryshkin himself survived, but suffered a severe leg injury. On the fourth day he managed to get to the location of his regiment. Lying in the hospital, Alexander Ivanovich started a notebook in which he began to write down his ideas, thoughts and calculations, which resulted in the famous work “Fighter tactics in battle”. This notebook was kept by Pokryshkin’s wife and subsequently transferred to the Central Museum of the Armed Forces. In the first tactical sketches, the pilot offered to make changes in the combat order of the link. Air groups, in his opinion, it was necessary to make up of steam, because the third vehicle in the link worsened the group maneuver. It is worth noting that the pilot carefully analyzed the enemy’s equipment, trying not to miss a single opportunity to steer trophy planes in order to learn from personal experience about their strengths and weaknesses. As a result of a long, painstaking mental work, the most important formula of air combat was gradually born, later called the "thunderstorm formula" and became known to all Soviet fighter aircraft. It consisted of four elements: HEIGHT-SPEED-MANOVE-FIRE. The outstanding pilot was one of the first to unite in his science all the most important components of an offensive battle in the air: an open order of battle, a falcon strike (top attack on speed) and the famous bookcase (height distribution of fighter groups).

After two months of war, the Pokryshkin regiment that flew I-153 and I-15 was re-equipped with MiGs. One of the first on the new car took off Alexander Ivanovich. Retraining did not cause him difficulties, while he, by the way, discovered a dangerous structural defect, subsequently eliminated in a series. The creative nature of Pokryshkin did not go unnoticed, the regiment command ordered him to retrain young people to MiGs. In addition, he was charged with acquainting his tactical discoveries of newly arrived pilots.

Once, in his declining years, Alexander Ivanovich said: "Whoever did not fight in 1941-1942, he did not really see war." This was the bitter truth - what the Soviet pilots did not experience at that difficult time: attack on fighters, deprived of armor protection, retreat in an atmosphere of frequent loss of control and communication, overwork after many daily combat missions. Repeatedly, technicians were surprised to see holes in Pogryshkin's MiG. In one of the battles the bullet, reflecting from the starboard cabin, hooked the parachute shoulder straps, scratched the pilot's chin, splashing the windshield with blood. During another air combat, a bullet from the line fired by the U-88 bomber bomber landed Alexander Ivanovich straight into the sights. Reject it to the left or right by a centimeter, and would have spread the head to the pilot. Twice literally at the feet of Pokryshkin the bombs dropped on the airfield did not explode. These cases, according to Alexander Ivanovich, made him "believe in fate." He wrote in his memoirs: "I told myself - I will never hide from enemies and stay alive, and this has always followed."

In early October 1941 Pokryshkin was shot down for the second time. This happened in Zaporozhye, and for several days miraculously the surviving pilot after the fall left the encirclement as part of a small detachment of soldiers. At the very end of the incredibly difficult 1941, Alexander Ivanovich was instructed to carry out reconnaissance operations in order to provide the Southern Front command with reliable information about the location of the enemy. In November, in incredibly difficult weather conditions (the bottom edge of the clouds almost touched the ground, dropping to thirty meters) Pokryshkin discovered the main forces near Rostov-on-Don on a low-level flight tank Army von Kleist. Important, and most importantly accurate intelligence, allowed the Soviet troops to force the enemy tank divisions out of the region. It is hard to imagine what huge losses this flight saved the Red Army. The command also understood this, and therefore, just before the New Year, Pokryshkin was awarded the Order of Lenin - according to the statute at that time, the highest order of the USSR.

In April 1942, part of Pokryshkin was based at a field airfield on the outskirts of Krasnodon. It was here that the pilot was accepted into the Communist Party. And in August, the 1942 Alexander Ivanovich Aviation Regiment, which by that time had become the sixteenth Guards, after heavy and bloody battles in the foothills of the Caucasus, was taken to the rear with the aim of retraining for new cars. All fighter plans for a speedy return to the war collapsed - military equipment still had to wait. This long and forced separation from the hostilities became for Pokryshkin a time full of heavy emotions and drama. It is worth noting that Alexander Ivanovich, who did not suffer injustice, cowardice and inertness, said, regardless of his faces and ranks, what he thought. Of course, such behavior led to complications in the relationship of the pilot with his superiors. It was in the rear that the leaders of the regiment, using their power, decided to settle accounts with him, remembering not flying according to the charter, and the downed Su-2, and the case when he sheltered the children of a pilot - the “enemy of the people”. The presentation of Alexander Ivanovich to the title of Hero was withdrawn. A case was started on the ace, accusing him of violating the instructions and instructions on the actions of fighters. Pokryshkin, who was under investigation and sitting on guardhouse, was expelled from party members and from the staff of the air regiment. The pilot himself, in anticipation of the tribunal, continued to develop new tactics that could, in his words, "come in handy for fellow pilots." Fortunately, this whole unpleasant story ended happily. The division commander found out about the persecution of the already-known ace and took measures to rehabilitate the hero. The “business” was stopped at one moment, and the party meeting of the regiment was also assembled, at which Alexander Ivanovich was publicly acquitted.

In his memoirs, Pokryshkin noted that in those difficult days he was thinking about suicide, and was saved by the support of a young nurse Mari Korzhuk, whom he met 1942 in the summer when he visited a wounded friend in the hospital. It was love at first sight, they soon got married, and the pilot retained his feelings for Maria Kuzminichna for life. Subsequently, they had two children - Alexander and Svetlana.

By March, the 1943 in the USSR, finally, arrived under the lend-lease of P-39, nicknamed "airacobra." The Americans themselves considered these aircraft heavy and rather dangerous to operate (there were problems with the withdrawal of the machines from the flat spin). However, the Soviet pilots managed to cope with these shortcomings, and the excellent radio communication and powerful armament of the Aircraft turned these aircraft into one of the most effective during the years of World War II. At the same time, during a personal conversation with Pokryshkin, Major General Naumenko (commander of the fourth air army) offered him the post of deputy regiment commander. It was a tempting offer, but Alexander Ivanovich asked the commander to leave him the squadron commander. It was with this squadron trained by Pokryshkin’s own system that Alexander Ivanovich, who was in excellent combat form, returned to the front in the spring of 1943.

At this time, in the combat activities of the air regiment, a new stage began - the largest and most violent air battle in the sky over the Kuban. This air battle was unparalleled in World War on the concentration of aircraft in a narrow section of the front and the density of battles. To keep the strategic important Taman bridgehead, the German command concentrated more than a thousand aircraft on the airfields of Taman, the Crimea and southern Ukraine. Here came the elite fighter squadrons - the third "Udet" and the fifty-first "Melders", bearing the names in honor of the national hero-pilots of Germany. Every day, up to fifty group air battles with the simultaneous participation of up to two hundred aircraft took place over the line of enemy defense. According to eyewitnesses, a “real meat grinder” was created in the air. It was at this time that the initiative in the air passed to the “Stalinist falcons”, and in the Luftwaffe actions for the first time lethargy and indecision began to be observed.

Especially famous in those battles scrounged the sixteenth guards air regiment, the first squadron of which led Pokryshkin. In one of the first battles in early April, Alexander Ivanovich, in front of the front air force commander Konstantin Vershinin, drove four Messerschmitt into the ground. For this feat the pilot was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. In another legendary battle (29 on April 1943), the eight “aerocab”, led by Pokryshkin, dispersed three echelons of U-87 (by the way, these are about eighty aircraft), which were covered by a dozen of Me-109. While two Soviet pilots pinned down enemy fighters, six others fired powerful bullet fire through the arrows of twenty-seven bombers to meet more than four hundred bullets per second — twelve Junkers were shot twice (four of which were on account of Pokryshkin).

A few weeks later, the name of the pilot thundered in both the central and front-line press. Correspondents wrote: "He does not shoot, he is piling up with all the fire and burns like a blast furnace." Starting from the Kuban, when Pokryshkin appeared in the airspace, the warning posts of the enemy sounded the alarm. There are cases when one of his comrades took off on the plane of Alexander Ivanovich, but it was difficult for them to find the enemy - the Luftwaffe pilots avoided a fight. Alone against eight, three against twenty-three, the four against fifty fought the legendary pilot. In each battle, the Siberian warrior, omnipresent in the sky and enduring the unthinkable for most pilots overload, took on the attack of the leading enemy groups. He also learned from the 1941-1942 battles that with the quantitative superiority of the enemy, the only way to change the course of the battle is to destroy the enemy ace commander. This immediately deprived the Germans of confidence and control.

In addition to remarkable personal victories, Alexander Ivanovich became the author of many tactical innovations that, with 1943, became the basis for the actions of Russian fighter aircraft and ensured its superiority over the enemy. Pokryshkin himself, possessing a clear syllable, appeared in the military press with articles. Without dwelling on his laurels, Alexander Ivanovich developed his own method of training aces. At the same time, he attached great importance to flying squadrons and military friendship. More than once he had to leave a German who had already been caught in sight in order to save his comrade. But until the end of his days, Pokryshkin was most proud of not medals, but the fact that not one of those whom he led into the battle died through his fault.

24 May 1943 Alexander Ivanovich for the first time became the Hero of the Soviet Union. The war continued, and Pokryshkin also continued to increase the score of downed enemy aircraft. In late August, 1943 Alexander Ivanovich was awarded the title Hero for the second time. And in September, another memorable battle of the pilot with the U-88 group took place in the sky over Zaporozhye, which took place in front of hundreds of spectators from the ground. In one of his books, Pokryshkin wrote: “By that time, we had witnessed atrocities by fascists more than once. In my heart there was a tangle of cruel hatred ... I entered into operation of the bombers, caught the lead in the sight. One turn, and in front of me a huge ball of fire. The wing of the exploded U-88 flew past me and hit a bomber walking nearby. I did not have time to react, pierced the center of the fireball and found myself in the ranks of German aircraft. "Junkers", in a panic throwing bombs, began to turn around in the opposite direction. I threw the car to the closest right. The queue on the right wing, and from the engine smoke streams appeared. However, the bomber pulls to the line of defense. He aimed at the left engine and gave a turn to point-blank. Yu-88 falls on the steep bank of the Molochnaya ... ”. By the way, Pokryshkin, who had returned to the airfield, was informed that the second bomber was the regiment commander not counted as the master of the explosion ignited.

In November, 1943 Pokryshkin during a free-hunt sortie shot down four U-52 U-52 vehicles on the enemy’s air routes over the Black Sea. According to one historian of fighter aircraft, the discovery of these single aircraft, two hundred kilometers from the coast, "can only be explained by the genius of the pilot." Alexander Ivanovich himself described these flights in a characteristic laconic style: “In the fourth flight I discovered U-XNUMX over the sea. He was sneaking at a height of seventy meters, hiding in a fringe of clouds. I walked up to him from below and with a queue of everything. weapons hit the cab. The enemy rushed abruptly to the water, I immediately followed the second round of his “stomach”. I jumped over the tail of a falling plane just a few meters away ... The mood is vile - I almost collided. ” This incident was learned by Lieutenant-General Khryukin, who was the commander of the eighth air army. Soon, Pokryshkin was banned from flying over the sea, which he was very sorry about.

In February, 1944 Alexander Ivanovich was summoned to the high authorities. The pilot was offered the general's post of chief of combat training of fighter aircraft. Without even thinking about it, Pokryshkin refused and returned to the front. In the spring of 1944, he became commander of the sixteenth guards air regiment, and in July 1944, having received the rank of colonel, was commander of the ninth guards fighter air division. The divisional commanders flew rarely on combat missions — the aviation control and staff work did not allow them to conduct air battles. However, Pokryshkin became a flying divisional commander. For example, in July 1944, replacing a wounded comrade, led a strike force of eight fighters to a group of Xy-129 and U-87, numbering more than fifty cars. In that battle, he won three personal victories.

In August, 1944 for fifty-three aircraft of the enemy Alexander Ivanovich was shot down for the next, third time (!) The title of Hero of the Soviet Union. The commander of the Eighth Air Army, Timofey Khryukin, wrote in the award list: "The best Soviet ace, leader, the bravest of the brave." Corps commander Alexander Utin, congratulating Pokryshkin, said the prophetic words to him: “I am glad for you! You deserved this title by right. Wear it with pride, but remember - three Stars, this is a crown of thorns, which will hurt you all your life ... ”.

In the last years of the war, Alexander Ivanovich proved to be an excellent komdivom. Despite all the restrictions, he continued, although less often, to lead fighter groups in air battles. In addition, he organized the best training for pilots on the ground, organized the aerodrome service best of all, more accurately and quickly redeployed. The illustrious ace himself liked to repeat: “In order to act quickly in the air, it is necessary to prepare even on the ground.” In Germany, in February, 1945, when there were not enough stationary airfields, and the fields were mined or degraded, the division commander Pokryshkin was the first to use sections of highways as runways, in particular, part of the Breslau-Berlin motorway. The width of the concrete or asphalt canvass was three meters narrow and, despite a certain risk, the entire fighter air division had operated for about two months in such conditions without having a single accident. Such an innovation allowed the fighters to provide reliable support from the air for ground forces, bombers and attack aircraft, who ravaged Hitler's lair.

In total, during the war, Alexander Ivanovich made six hundred and fifty sorties, participated in one and a half hundred air battles, personally shot down fifty-nine enemy aircraft and six more in the group. It is worth noting that the unofficial list of victories of the pilot (as, incidentally, all the aviators of the Red Army) is much more. For example, only during 1941 ac won fifteen victories that were not included in the total score. The reason for this was the destruction of all the papers of the headquarters of the fighter regiment during the retreat. In addition, until 1943, enemy planes were shot down only when they fell on territory controlled by Soviet troops, and all vehicles shot down behind the front line were not counted. Pokryshkin, meanwhile, widely used the tactics of intercepting German bombers at a considerable distance from the front, while they were not united with the fighter cover. Another point was indicated in his book by Grigori Dolnikov, Colonel-General of Aviation: “Pokryshkin often shared his victories with his subordinates. It was a fairly common occurrence at the front, a sort of stimulation and support for young pilots ... I am sure that Alexander Ivanovich’s personal account was much more than a hundred. ” By the way, the famous aviator himself never attached any importance to the figures: “Even if you didn’t knock down the enemy, but made him drop bombs, thereby saving many soldiers on the ground, isn’t it a victory?”

The post-war life of Alexander Ivanovich began 24 June 1945 with the Victory Parade, in which ace was honored to carry the banner of the combined regiment of the first Ukrainian front. And in July of this year, Pokryshkin, as a listener, crossed the threshold of the Frunze Military Academy. He graduated from it, by the way, in 1948 with a gold medal. The pilot also studied at the Military Academy of the General Staff (at 1956), after which he defended his thesis and wrote many scientific papers, as well as a number of works of art.

It is worth noting that after the war, Lieutenant General Vasily Stalin, the former commander of the air force of the Moscow Military District, invited Colonel Pokryshkin, the former commander of the air division, to take his place as one of the deputies. At the appointed time, the division commander came to Stalin in order to discuss this proposal, but in the reception room the adjutant told him that Vasily Iosifovich had gone to the hippodrome. The hero of the war patiently sat in the waiting room for several hours, after which he left the room, expressing to the adjutant with Siberian directness everything he thinks of such disorder. A similar attitude towards the chief's son did not remain unnoticed, and only after the death of Joseph Stalin, in August 1953 three times gave the Hero the first general's rank. During these years (from 1949 to 1951) he served as deputy commander of the thirty-third IAK air defense, and then (from 1951 to 1955) commander of the eighty-eighth IAK air defense in destroyed after the war, Rzhev. After that, he commanded a fighter of the North Caucasian Air Defense Army for one year, and from 1959 to 1968 served in Kiev as commander of the eighth separate air defense army. In 1968, Pokryshkina was transferred to Moscow by the deputy commander of the country's defense. It is worth noting that all the connections under the command of Alexander Ivanovich became the best, however, they never appointed the brave pilot to the highest posts. The reason for this was his inflexible character - he never went for compromises, and always preferred to call things by their proper names. As an example - despite the strong pressure, Pokryshkin refused to glorify Leonid Brezhnev and his role in the battles for the Kuban.

In 1972, Alexander Ivanovich was finally given the rank of Air Marshal. In the summer of the same year, he became chairman of the DOSAAF Central Committee and remained in that position for ten years, having done much to strengthen the prestige of military service. Under the leadership of the legendary pilot, the aerodrome network was developed, the fleet of helicopters and airplanes was replenished, and the training of specialists for the aircraft was effectively improved. Two aviation schools were created in the DOSAAF system, which made it possible to solve most of the problems of the aviation transport clubs. Pokryshkin paid much attention and time to military-patriotic work with the younger generation. Conducting such vigorous activity, Alexander Ivanovich continued to fly on various types of jet aircraft owned by the fighter aircraft of the country. Pokryshkin was also a prominent state and public figure - from 1946 to 1984 he was elected deputy of the Supreme Council, headed delegations on foreign trips, and participated in the work of the foreign affairs committee. His apartment was always full of fellow soldiers, friends, voters, who arrived on deputy affairs. It is worth noting that Alexander Ivanovich highly appreciated people, their work and initiative. When, after one complex operation, the doctors recommended that he work no more than two hours a day, Pokryshkin filed a report on dismissal. The report was returned with the words: "Continue to work, you also have deputies ...". To this Pokryshkin replied: “No way. I don’t want people to look at my back when I’m going home before the end of the shift ... ”

The tactics of conducting an air battle, developed by the famous ace, did not lose relevance even in the post-war time. The famous pilot Konstantin Sukhov told a story about how during the years of the Arab-Israeli war, while working in Syria as a military adviser for aviation, he suggested that local pilots organize a raid on enemy positions using certain tactics. In response, he heard: "We will not do that, Pokryshkin suggests otherwise!" They showed him a book published in Arabic on a questioning glance of Konstantin Vasilyevich. It turned out that the Commander-in-Chief of the Syrian Air Force translated and published with his own money in five thousand copies the book “The Sky of War” by Alexander Ivanovich.

In 1983, Pokryshkin became a military inspector, advisor to the Inspector General at the Ministry of Defense. In this post, he visited various military units, communicated with military personnel, sharing his vast combat experience. At the same time, his health began to fail, and increasingly, Alexander Ivanovich was in the hospital ward. From the last post he left.

The legendary pilot died at the age of seventy-two years 13 November 1985. A few years earlier, doctors discovered Pokryshkin's cancer. Being seriously ill, Alexander Ivanovich went to the Kremlin hospital for a complex examination and as a result of ill-considered actions of physicians he lost consciousness, and after a few days died. He was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery.

According to the materials of the book A.V. Timofeev "Pokryshkin" and the site http://www.biografguru.ru
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  1. +3
    13 November 2015 06: 51
    Pokryshkin and Kozhedub are our best aces, and besides, thinkers. Both attached great importance not only to tactics, but to the physical training of the pilot himself, who was able to withstand overloads with vigorous maneuvering.
    1. +4
      13 November 2015 10: 56
      They are one of the best. They deserve even more respect because they broke the ridge to a better and more powerful enemy. Real people.
      1. +1
        14 November 2015 07: 24
        That's who the youth should be like, who to take an example from!
  2. +6
    13 November 2015 06: 56
    During passed away. Glory to God did not live to 1992 year.
  3. +4
    13 November 2015 07: 03
    "Nails would be made of these people, the world would not be stronger than nails!"
    1. +3
      13 November 2015 15: 36
      “I’m asking my offspring to take my example: to start every business with the blessing of God, to be gasped to be faithful to the Fatherland, to run off luxury, idleness, greed and seek glory through truth and virtue ...”
      A.V. Suvorov

      These words are yes to our officials in the ears. Serdyukov all. And other dandruff dandruff, which has settled in committees and thoughts throughout the country.
  4. +8
    13 November 2015 07: 15
    Nice article about the great ace. It is a pity that the "Kuban Shelf" - a truly devastating formation of Soviet aircraft for the Germans, was not mentioned.

    Pokryshkin describes whatnot as:

    ... the battle order "whatnot" held the first exam in this flight. The battle order of the group, with the dispersion of the pairs along the front and the height, was similar to the steps of the porch, leaving the leading pair to the side and up. Such a group construction provided a large space for finding a goal. At the same time, it was difficult for an adversary to detect a group. The opening of the pairs along the front and the height did not hinder the pilots, prevented aircraft from colliding in the air, while at the same time allowing more attention to be paid to circular search.
    Now it was not necessary for each pilot to constantly monitor the rear hemisphere. Mutual search for pairs allowed detecting the enemy at a great distance and preventing attacks from the rear hemisphere.

    The maneuverability of the couples and the entire group was as high as that of a single aircraft. And this is very important for the rapid execution of attacks by our fighters and the frustration of the enemy.
    1. +1
      13 November 2015 14: 06
      And if the Germans will move towards the upper floor?
  5. +4
    13 November 2015 08: 04
    Pilot-thinker. Alexander Ivanovich Pokryshkin..What's to add here .. That's right .. Thanks, for the article ..
  6. +2
    13 November 2015 08: 45
    I read his book "The Sky of War", I consider it the best book about fighters.
    1. 0
      13 November 2015 14: 13
      "Stalin's falcons against the aces of the Luftwaffe" - Baevsky - is also an interesting book, which debunks the myth of the huge number of aircraft shot down by the Germans.
    2. 0
      13 November 2015 23: 06
      And also "Know thyself in battle".
  7. +2
    13 November 2015 09: 24
    And what about the article pluses a little?
    1. 0
      13 November 2015 19: 41
      Put a plus sign hi
  8. +4
    13 November 2015 09: 42
    After two months of the war, Pokryshkin’s regiment flying on the I-153 and I-15 was re-equipped on the MiG.

    One of the first in a new car took off Alexander Ivanovich



    After all, it’s no secret to anyone that Pokryshkin mastered the MiG-3 before the war, on which he met her.
  9. +1
    13 November 2015 10: 13
    And also there was the only one of its kind Kiev Higher Engineering Radio Engineering School of Air Defense named after Air Marshal Pokryshkina A.I.
    By the way, graduates of KVIRTU air defense at MAKS on the anniversary dates place an exposition dedicated to A.I. Pokryshkin.
  10. 0
    13 November 2015 11: 22
    Respect for the cool pilot !!!! It’s just not clear why he flew all the time on a cobra It was necessary to fly on our planes !!!!!!!!!!!!
    1. +3
      13 November 2015 13: 02
      Hello, bug.
      And he began to fly on ours.
      MIG-3, Yak-1, La-5 specially made for him, even some kind of "maize" piloted while flying to the rear.
      But Aerocobra welcomed more than others. Guns, guns ... the combined fire from all the barrels did not leave the enemy any chances.
      Fershteen zee?
      ...
      Even Messer was instructed to master it, and to fly on it in battle. He flew twice, and refused.
      So, as the "officers' daughters" say, not everything is so simple.
      German supermachines also did not appeal to him.
      1. -3
        13 November 2015 16: 26
        Zdarova Bashibuzuk !!! I mean, it’s just strange .. all of our cars praise like that .. and our guy both got on a cobra and it wasn’t possible to get him out of it .. something was wrong ...
      2. +1
        14 November 2015 18: 15
        Browning and not guns. She was only one on an aerocobra.
        same as on P-51 and P-47 ...
        the gun had a too low rate of fire and small ammunition, it was intended for long-range destruction of bombers.
  11. +4
    13 November 2015 13: 11
    My first book about air, "The Sky of War".
    Since then, he could not tear himself away from flying memoirs.
    ...
    Eternal memory to the great fighter pilot, Alexander Ivanovich Pokryshkin.
    ...
    By the way, he was a Bag-not-new, it began with I-15,153, I-16. About his commander writes, Viktor Ivanov, who was the master pilot of the I-16.
    And he mastered the MiG-3 in the regiment one of the first.
    By the way, Rechkalov, from his own regiment, and then the regiment commander in Pokryshkin’s division, is also an ace, about Alexander Ivanovich in general barely scratches.
    Oh, and Pokryshkin did not like "Chkalovism" and sloppiness.
    Like all "Chkalovtsy", however.
    I knew what it was - and how many buckets of "ski-p-e-d-a-ra with needles as an enema" would be used.
    ...
    ...
    Dear moderators, well, it’s impossible to come to this ... a word - a chemical liquid from a tree - is cut, because there is a word in it .... guess three times.
    Scream, damn it.
    1. +1
      13 November 2015 13: 31
      Quote: Bashibuzuk
      Dear moderators, well, it’s impossible to come to this ... a word - a chemical liquid from a tree - is cut, because there is a word in it .... guess three times.
      Scream, damn it.

      Thanks. Loved it.
    2. 0
      18 November 2015 23: 02
      Rechkalov is a good pilot, but a bad commander. It was because of him that the hero of the Soviet Union of Clubs died twice. Klubov crashed while landing at the airfield, on the runway of which Rechkalov did not bother to give orders to fill up shell funnels. When Pokryshkin found out about this, he nearly killed Rechkalov.
  12. +1
    13 November 2015 13: 17
    I read the book, Sky of War, twice.
    1. +1
      13 November 2015 13: 35
      Yes, the book is very good.
  13. +4
    13 November 2015 21: 28
    Cobra! Beautiful plane.
  14. +2
    14 November 2015 10: 46
    A bow to the ground to Alexander Ivanovich and his fighting friends. And eternal memory among the people.
  15. +1
    14 November 2015 16: 18
    Quote: Bijo
    Cobra! Beautiful plane.

    Like all US products, if you put politics aside!

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