Fotii Morozov
 

Good morning Gentlemen,

Fotii Morozov is considered the Soviet fighter pilot who flew the most missions (857).
When did he or his unit transition from the Yak-1 to the Yak-7 ?

Cheers,

Michael

Re: Fotii Morozov
 

...this is his profile:
http://soviet-aces-1936-53.ru/abc/m/morozov_fy.htm

Re: Fotii Morozov
 

When checking Soviet AC assignments to certain groups you should forget about specific dates since they used multiple aircraft types side-by-side for a long time. Morozov's 31 GvIAP, for instance, lost Yak-1B even in May, 1945, when officially they used the Yak-9 as their main model. Morozov also lost a Yak-1B in September, 1944 when Yak-7s were also in his regiment, etc.
Gabor

Re: Fotii Morozov
 

Re: Fotii Morozov
 

Good morning kirche and HGabor,

would you assume that Morozov never scored in the Yak-7 ?

I wish you a very happy Easter, sincerely,

Michael

Re: Fotii Morozov
 

I do not know. If you want to know his Yak-7 scores, you should check his logbook. He lost a Yak-1B (c/n: 20179) in September, 1944, so perhaps he never flew any Yak-7s. Again: forget the oversimplified system of 'one AC type at a time'. It never looked like that. They always used all planes they could, often different models together. Even small, mixed flights were deployed together, like: 6 plane fighter escort of 4 Yak-1Bs and 2 Yak-9Ms, or 1 Yak-1B with a Yak-9 wingman on a recce. sortie, etc. Soviet pilots usually flew their 'assigned' planes, but in case of mechanical problems, combat damages (and it happened a lot, I mean: A LOT!!!) They flew whatever was available at the moment. Overall the old Yak-1B was far more popular still in 1945 than what people usually think. Surely by January 1, 1945 the VVS was full of modern Yak-3s and Yak-9s, but for instance the 17 VA still had 116 Yak-1Bs in service. (107 operational, 9 under repair) Most 17 VA Yak-1Bs (from their 236 IAD) were handed over to the new Yugoslav Air Force in late April, 1945 as its main fighter model. (The Soviet mechanical reports list them by c/n numbers.)

And yes: happy Easter to Everyone. Christ is Risen!
Gabor

Re: Fotii Morozov
 

Found it:

On April 27, 1945 the 17 VA gave the new Yugoslav Air Force:

77 Il-2m3
3 Yak-3
9 Po-2
4 Yak-9M
84 Yak-1B
4 UIl-2 (trainer ver.)
10 Yak-9T
2 Yak-7 (trainer ver.)
2 UT-2
1 UT-1
3 Yak-9 (trainer ver.)

(Source: TsAMO RF: fu.35, inv.11258, f.335, p.138 (B side)

Gabor

Re: Fotii Morozov
 

Hello Gabor,

the Yak-9 was the second-most-produced Allied fighter plane ever. I wonder why there seems to be no higher scorer than Ivan Stepanenko (21,25 Yak-9 kills) while there are 11 pilots with 25 or more kills in the P-39 and even more with 25 or more kills in the La-5.

Cheers,

Michael

Re: Fotii Morozov
 

I don't know, it could have multiple reasons. First, the La-5, P-39 and Yak-1 had longer combat service than the Yak-9. Many aces scored their first few claims on the Yak-1, Yak-7, or later on the Yak-3 and only a few on the Yak-9.

Also, a large part of the Yak-9 production was built AFTER the war, eg. the Yak-9P, which was the last standard pre-jet era fighter of the Eastern-Block countries. (A few still fought in North-Korea, but that's it.)

Another large part of the Yak-9 production was the Yak-9T (with 37mm tank-hunter cannon) which was mainly used against enemy tanks and ground targets just like the Il-2 Sturmovik. I can imagine that these pilots got involved in dogfights less frequently than the other Yak-9 models at higher altitudes. When they started their operations, the Axis fighters usually flew at higher, safer altitudes to avoid the deadly Soviet AAA fire.

This can explain the relative small numbers.
Gabor

Re: Fotii Morozov
 

Hello Michael,
Since 1941, there was a practice when fighter regiments could use both Yak-1 and Yak-7 (later Yak-1 and Yak-9). This was especially often the case when, upon the departure of one regiment for reformation and re-equipment, all remaining aircraft were given to another regiment of the same division. And this was normal, since they were almost identical aircraft in terms of flight data and maintenance. The pilot could fly one type of aircraft in the morning and another in the evening if the first one was damaged or not ready for departure for some other reason. Also, in many regiments, the Yak-7 is listed as being in service with the second type, even if there were only 1-2 aircraft in the regiment for special tasks (training or reconnaissance). To know which machines an individual pilot flew, you need to look at the operational logs of the regiment's combat operations, operational reports for each day or the flight book of this pilot.
Best regards,
Kirill

Re: Fotii Morozov
 

31.01.1943 Morozov - Yak-1 №3579

In October-November 1942, there were five Yak-7bs in the 274 IAP, of which only one was serviceable (the others, Nos. 2548, 2561, 2510, 23109 were without engines). A serviceable aircraft flew combat sorties. On 10/30/1942, the Yak-7b was flown by St. Sergeant Levshenko.
From December 1942 to March (or April) 1943, there was only one Yak-7 No. 23109 in the 31st Gw.IAP (it was obtained from 274 IAP and apparently did not fly combat missions)

Re: Fotii Morozov
 

Good evening kirche and HGabor,

that sounds reasonable. Thanks for your posts.
I also invite you to my Soviet-top-aces-by-plane-thread:
http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showth...+aircraft+aces

Do you think that those who declared the P-51 the top-scoring Allied warplane have safely excluded the Soviet types ?

Cheers,

Michael

Re: Fotii Morozov
 

Thank you Michael,
But I would not answer this question... These victory figures (claims) are just empty numbers, without a full investigation, it is impossible to tell whether they are correct or not. These claims were reported from many different fronts (West, East, South and North) so I think there is no human being on Earth who could start such a gigantic investigation in all available archives. (Not to mention that many Axis docs have been lost forever, so in some cases this investigation would be simply impossible.) Official claims can be compared easily (you listed them too), but as I said, they do not have too much historical value, since many of them could be full of overclaims.
Cheers,
Gabor

Re: Fotii Morozov
 

Hello HGabor,

in the abscence of complete loss records official victory listings are still worthwhile figures to compare. I wondered if those who name the P-51 the Allied top scorer (5666 USAAF kills + ??? RAF kills) have taken the time to estimate the total scores of the Spitfire, the Hurricane, the La-5, the P-39 and the Yak-9.

Have a nice evening,

Michael

Re: Fotii Morozov
 

Hello Michael,
My opinion is that the best Allied fighters that destroyed the most enemy aircraft are "USAAF + RAF bombers" and "Russian tanks and infantry". And you can count and compare anything and however you like, the main thing is not to look at how many it's percentages from the enemy produced and any conclusions will still be biased subjective opinion.
Kirill

Re: Fotii Morozov
 

Hello Kirill,

you mean that Russians tanks destroyed a large number of aircraft ?

Michael

Re: Fotii Morozov
 

Personally I doubt that the Soviet tanks destroyed so many Axis aircrafts in combat.

I know about a single Junkers downed by a 9 GvMK, 46 GvTBr, 1st battalion M4A2 Sherman tank (commanded by Lt. Grigorii Timofeevich Verbovii) from the side of a railway line on December 11, 1944. This tank, by the way, was destroyed too just a few minutes later. Other sources say that this plane was downed by the 388th Guards Flak Regiment at Homok.

It is possible that many Axis planes were lost when Soviet tanks overrun their airfields, but they were captured, rather than destroyed in combat. Interestingly some Soviet Air Regiments had some tanks (mainly T-34s) as well beside their airplanes in order to provide continuous ground protection for their airbases.
Personally I think the Soviet AAA destroyed much more planes than the tank crews themselves, however, I have never seen any trustworthy study on this subject yet.

Gabor

Re: Fotii Morozov
 

Good morning Gabor and Kirill,

a similar issue is the question how feasible it is to verify the destruction of a tank by an aircraft. I often wondered which criteria Hans-Ulrich Rudel used to report the successful attack against a tank. Smoke from the tank ? Explosions ?? The tank stopping its drive ???

Cheers,

Michael

Re: Fotii Morozov
 

Has there ever been made a list that ranks the Soviet fighter pilots by their number of missions?