Nikolai Sutyagin. Biography. Fighting. Ranks. Awards. Photo.

Nikolay owns almost all records of air battles on jet technology. He was able to win the largest number of victories - 21. Sutyagin shot down 19 jet aircraft. He achieved the best result in air fights in one month - 5 Americans shot down. IN US Air Force there was no pilot, and close equal to Nikolai Sutyagin in skill and courage in the "reactive" war.

The same day in March, the pilots 1951 303-th Air Division remember - an unusual order came to the headquarters of the formation. He urgently demanded to disassemble all the planes, put them in boxes in parts. An order is an order, and the pilots and technicians began to disassemble the aircraft. Rumors were floating around. Some assured that the division would be redeployed. Others, on the contrary, believed that the planes had so far moved not by land, but by air, so the assembled MIGs will obviously be sold.

About a month later the pilots 17-th Regiment, Nikolai Sutyagin was one of them, on alert. Gathered in the headquarters reported: a day depart to China on a business trip. On the day charges.

The Soviet pilots were met by the Mukden airfield. A new order followed: to assemble the planes, fly over them. It became clear to everyone that Korea was ahead - by that time, the war on the peninsula was in full swing. Formally, the USSR did not participate in it, but actively helped North Korea with equipment and weapons.

News reached Mukden from the Andong airfield bordering Korea that the pilots of Kozhedub's division, which arrived a little earlier, were already fighting the Americans. Soon the 303rd Division departed for Andong. Sutyagin entered the air battles practically without swinging. The first sortie took place on June 14, and on June 19 he opened the score for the victories in the "jet" war. His prey was F-86 "Sabre" - the newest fighter advertised by the Americans, our pilots at first were afraid of these aircraft.

The whole division envied Sutyagin's ability to fight the Americans. For Nikolai, the summer of 51 was productive - 6 American planes were shot down, autumn was even more effective - 8 destroyed. In December, Sutyagin was able to win 5 aerial victories. At the beginning of the next year, he began to fly less often, he was instructed, as an ace, to speak before the pilots of the second echelon who were preparing for battle. But in January 52, he was able to shoot down 3 aircraft.

Total Nikolai Sutyagin made 149 flights, conducted 66 fights, knocked 21 aircraft - the highest result of the war.

The life of the first "jet" ace after this war developed as follows. In 1956 he graduated from the Air Force Academy. In 1964, the Military was headed by the Kharkov Higher School of Pilots. In 1970, Nikolai was sent to Vietnam as a military adviser. He retired to the reserve, being in the rank of major general in 1978. His fate is interesting, rich, bright.

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