Soviet Fighter Pilots

[Andrey Dikov]

>On 2 May 1943, Finn ace Iikka Torronen was shot down over Oranienbaum. The Soviet victor, according to my sources, was a staff sergeant flying a LaGG-3 from 10.GIAP. The name I have is Kutsherenko.

Kucherenko piloted I-153. His claim (MS-406) - 10-12 km north-east of Lavansaari. That was a shared victory with a St.Sgt. Rozov.

In the same mission another three claims were claimed - mostly north-west of Lavansaari by LaGGs and I-16s (1 Me-109, 1 BW, 1 Fiat G.50).


> I was wondering if this Soviet pilot was in fact the little known N. Y. Kutsenko?

Who is him?

> My sources have next to nothing on this reputedly high scoring ace (33 kills of which 13 were shared).

Never heard.

[MikeFox]

Hello Andrey,

My source for N. Y. Kutsenko is "Stalin's Falcons" by Tomas Polak and I quote - "Little is known of this reputedly quite high scoring pilot, said to have claimed 33 victories (13 shared) during the Great Patriotic War." I searched the net for him and a few sites mention him but provide no good data. "Stalin's Eagles" by Seidl, my other primary source on Soviet pilots, has absolutely nothing on Kutsenko. I find it hard to believe that such a successful pilot is so little known.

Thanks for the info on the Torronen combat.

Mike

[Andrey Dikov]

Just throw away the "Stalin Falcons". Pure junk.

[Jukka Juutinen]

Andrei, how do you rate Hans Seidl´s "Stalin´s Eagles"? I´d assume it is better than the other Stalin´s birds book...