On 11 November 2020, a research associate of the museum and educational department of Bolgar Museum-Reserve Krivosheyeva S. V. held a knowledge lecture on “Four great air aces of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945”.
The title “ace” was not given by order as the same “expert” of Germans. Heroes of the Soviet Union were considered aces by default. This rank could be given for ten bombers or fifteen other aircraft types shot down personally. It took a lot of work to deserve an informal title of ace, and, in general, pilot’s work in the sky was not determinative from the perspective of military bureaucracy. To receive the rank a pilot had to gather a number of documents and proves, but it was often not done in combat situations. That is why the lucky ones were on the list of aces, although all pilots fought to death with the enemy. This situation continued until 1943 – the destruction of German aircraft was counted only after confirming of the third party. Of course, the third party at best confirmed only half of defeats of total.
During the lecture, the participants learned about the feats of four pilots-aces of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 – Popkov V., Kozhedub I., Pokryshkin A. and Gulayev N.

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