Polikarpov I-16 top ace - Vasilii Golubyev ?

[stukapilot]

Originally Posted by knusel

Hello Stukapilot,

thanks a lot for posting.
I see again a Spain score for Shestakov of 2+1sh kills.
Can you tell me who "invented" the Shestakov Spain score of 8+31sh that is so often to be found ? What is the story behind that ?

Cheers,

Michael

it's the quotation from wikipedia:

According to research by Tomas Polak and Christopher Shores, Shestakov rates as The Soviet Union's all-time second-ranking fighter pilot, ahead of Ivan Kozhedub (62) and behind Vasiliy Naydenko (99). Most other lists rank Naydenko much lower, with Kozhedub first

i think that's the book Stalin's Falcons: The Aces of the Red Star

[knusel]

Hello there Gentlemen,

in the quest for the top I-16 ace, I compiled the following most promising candidates and their I-16 scores:
#Golubyev
---Polak: 23+12
---Bykov: 5+16
#Shestakov
---Polak: 11+39
---Bykov: 5+9
#Muravitzky
---Polak: 12+35
---Bykov: 5+10
#Pilipenko
---Polak: 13+29
---Bykov: 13+10
#Gritsevets
---Polak: 14+26
---Bykov: 9+24

Cheers,

Michael

[knusel]

Good evening,

the ranking I-16 pilot is one of the top aces that is most difficult to determine, because

• the I-16 fought in 5 different wars
• the victory logs of the aces given by different sources hardly ever match
• the decimals of the shared kills are often unknown

To address the last point I calculated the average of all the Soviet shared kills whose decimals I ever found. The result was 0,35, which I assume might be to high.
Based on this I tried to compare the I-16 scores of the most promising aces:

• if we take the scores given in the book of Polak serious, Golubyev indeed might be the top I-16 ace with about 23+12sh kills in that type
• based on the scores in the book of Bykov, the I-16 top ace might be Gritsevets with 9+24sh kills in that type
• based on the scores given in the Polikarpov book of Maslov the most successful I-16 pilot might be Muravitzkiy with 12+35sh kills in the I-16

Thanks for your input,

Michael

[knusel]

...according to this website
http://soviet-aces-1936-53.ru/abc/g/golubev_vf.htm
Vasilii Golubyev has a total of 17+16shared kills only.
Can anybody tell me the story behind the well-known photo that shows him in front of an aircraft with 39 victory stars ?

Cheers,

Michael

[knusel]

Good morning,

one of the top I-16 pilots is Boris Safonov.
http://soviet-aces-1936-53.ru/abc/s/safonov.htm
I've just read "Boris Safonov, L'As du Grand Nord" by Yourii Rybin.
He indicates that Safonov scored 13 kills until October 1941.
I think this includes his kill on 5Aug which seems to have been confirmed belatedly but neither his kill on 6Aug nor his group kills.

Cheers,

Michael

[knusel]

Good evening Gentlemen,

Safonov is the 3rd or 4th ranking I-16 ace depending on the decimals of Gritsewets' group kills. Will we ever know these ?:

rank/name/I-16 kills (group kills counted as decimals)
1. Грицевец Сергей Иванович = 10-21 [9+24]
2. Пидтыкан Иван Дмитриевич = 16,14 [12+10]
3. Харитонов Василий Николаевич = 14,48 [10+16]
4. Сафонов Борис Феоктистович = 13,83 [13+5] according to Yourii Rybin
5. Пилипенко Иван Маркович = 12,96 [10+13]
6. Оскаленко Дмитрий Ефимович = 12,45-12,95 [12+3]
7. Абрамов Пётр Петрович = 7,42-14,92 [5+25]
8. Игнатьев Николай Петрович = 12,51 [8+13]
9. Цоколаев Геннадий Дмитриевич = 11,95 [9+10]
10. Кравченко Григорий Пантелеевич = 11,79 [11+5] ?
11. Кузнецов Николай Фёдорович = 11,57 [8+11]
12. Баранов Михаил Семёнович = 11,33 [10+3]

Michael