In March 1942, leitenant Gerorgiy Belyakov served in the 71 IAP-KBF.

On 27 March, Finnish forces invaded Gogland. This resulted in some heavy air combats over the island. On 28 March, 2/LLv 30 flew a cap mission to Gogland at dawn with kapteeni Veikko Karu’s seven Fokkers engaging a formation of about twenty fighters flying in two groups. During a ten-minute turning fight the Finns sent down two aircraft, when the enemy planes split and began to break off. The Fokkers entered a fruitless chase. Luutnantti Veikko Sauru claimed one and one shared fighters:

“At 05:45-06:10, altitude 1,500-100m. When I observed the enemy formation I attacked directly towards those flying at the lowest height. During the approach I reached the same altitude of a formation consisting of six I-153s. I got a chance to turn into one I-153 and shooting I saw smoke puff out of the aircraft. After this vänrikk Helle stayed to follow this plane. Soon after this I shot from opposite directions at one I-153. I avoided colliding by pulling over the Chaika in the last moment. Vänrikki Mattila and kersantti Krohn, who were following this encounter saw the I-153 go in a spin and hit the deck. I fired at a few other I-153s and one I-16.
My plane FR-124.”

“At 07:00 (Moscow time) nine I-153s of 71 IAP-KBF’s commander podpolkovnik Aleksey Koronets engaged on a ground attack mission 8 km north of Gogland nine Fokkers and two Curtiss and the escort detachment made a frontal attack. In this attack Koronets was killed. The I-153s of the strike detachment joined the combat after dropping their bombs on the ice. The combat lasted for ten minutes as individual clashes, were Grigoriy Shakbaz, shot down one Fokker, but he himself did not return from the mission.”

At 07:45-08:15, altitude 2,000-10m. I flew in the top patrol with kersantti Huotari. Over the Suurkylä shore at Gogland I observed beneath me enemy fighters and we went to attack. During the combat I followed one I-153 shooting at it several time from 50m, until it suddenly flipped from 200 metres altitude to the ice. Then I chased with kersantti Huotari two I-153s to Lavansaari, Where I shot the aircraft burning on the west shore. The Russians were shooting rocket projectiles, which when exploding created a black cloud reminding an explosion of heavy flak, though a bit bigger. They exploded 100-200m ahead of my plane. I-153s had four of them under both wings.
My plane BW-364.”

“At 09:05 kapitan Solov’yev’s ten I-153 fighters of 71 IAP had just commenced the second pass of strafing the enemy troops, when four Curtiss and eight Fokkers attacked from above. The enemy was flying staggered in three altitudes: two Finnish I-153s were at 500m, the Fokkers were at 1,000m and the Curtiss were at 2,000m. The Soviet aircraft were in two groups, five planes in both the strike and escort groups. The aerial battle was fought in two altitudes, 100 and 1,000m. Two I-153s were shot down piloted by starshiy leitenant Mazurenko and serzhant Aleksander Pavlov. In addition, starshiy leitenant Vladimir Abramov made a forced landing near Seiskari with his damaged I-153 fighter.”

“When I was leading a flight of six Curtiss in protection of Gogland, I received a message 4/1 west from Seivasto. I took my flight west of Lavansaari. Then the radio informed that west of Gogland first 8, then 11 and then 10 unknown aircraft at 3,000 metres. I climbed to 3,000 m above the clouds and then saw the streaks of the aircraft at about 2,000 m and right after the 8 aircraft themselves, part I-153s and part I-16s. I carried out an attack, when I got to shoot at one I-16 three good bursts from a close range at the side and behind. The aircraft shed fragments and went down out of control. After this I fired at three I-153s from behind and aside. The I- 153, which I shot from the side and behind descended smoking, but I had to pull up again due to other I-153s. The Russians had no will for fighting and rather wanted to head to St. Petersburg and Harjavalta. I did not observe the Russian firing their m-gs, instead they shot their rocket projectiles.
I-16 is an inferior op-ponent compared with 1-153. The Chaikas did not use a turn to opposite direction for dodging, but a climbing turn to port or starboard and then straight towards St. Petersburg direction (obviously extremely low on fuel).
My plane CU-571.”

“At 18:40 twelve 71 IAP’s 1-153 fighters of kapitan Petr Biskup and six 11 IAP’s I-16 fighters had just completed the strafing of the enemy troops on the ground, when 15 Messerschmitts and 8 Fokkers attacked at 1,000 metres altitude. Serzhant Vasiliy Fedorov, who fought alone with eight Fokkers, had to make a forced landing near Lavansaari after running out of fuel. The aircraft flipped on its back without injuring the pilot. Observation points at Seiskari and Lavansaari reported three Fokkers and one PZL-24 down.”

Late in the day on 3 April 1942, luutnantti Veikko Sauru’s five Fokkers from 2/LLv 30 was attacked by a dozen Chaikas on a mission to Seiskari area. The Finns claimed two enemy fighters as reported by kersantti Otto Karme:

“At 16:05, altitude 500 m. Our five-plane formation led by luutnantti Sauru headed west towards Seiskari. A six-plane enemy formation flew towards our detachment (another six-plane formation, which I did not observe at that moment was flying higher). The observed enemy aircraft were I-153s. We attacked straight on coming from slightly below. I observed the burst I fired hit the engine of the I-153, but I could not tell the impact. Right after I pulled a steep right-hand curve and simultaneously saw on my left side a burning plane in dive. I could not follow up any longer as I observed four other I-153s coming towards me. One of these flew a bit higher than the others. I gained altitude and then the I-153 above the others made a slight curve to the right and got in a firing position straight from the side. I continued firing and got all the time in a better position somewhat from behind and aside and also slightly underneath. I saw my bursts hit all the time the enemy aircraft and then saw a puff of smoke and then the plane fell in a dive seemingly out of control. When this shooting took place we were inside the layers of the clouds. I could not follow the aircraft down to the deck. My own plane FRw-130 suffered no damage.”

Between 18:00 and 19:10 on the same day, kapteeni Kullervo Lahtela’s eight Curtiss of 1/LLv 32 flew a reconnaissance mission to the Gulf of Finland and engaged around a dozen Chaikas in the Seiskari area. Five I-153s were claimed by Lahtela (CU-556), vänrikki Juho Nyholm (CU-564), luutnantti Esko Ruotsila (CU-558), kersantti Niilo Erkinheimo (CU-551) and lentomestari Viljo Ikonen (CU-568). Kersantti Eero Visuri (CU-572) was shot down and killed in the combat.
The Chronicle of KBF reports:

“At 18:24 began at 500 metres a combat lasting 15 minutes between starshiy leitenant Baturin’s eight I-153s from 71 IAP and twelve Fokkers. After the attack of the Soviets the enemy tried to get in the clouds. The separated (obviously less experienced pilots) planes aimed to form into pairs and swarms after which they returned to the battle just under the clouds. The more experienced pilots attacked straight from the clouds. To avoid the surprise attacks the Soviet pilots manoeuvred 200-250 metres below the clouds. Three aircraft were shot down in the vicinity of Seiskari and one aircraft broke off towards Koivisto. After the combat the enemy broke off to the north. No own losses.”

On 4 October 1942, luutnantti Paltila led a patrol of three I-153s on a reconnaissance flight to Lavansaari when it became involved in a dogfight with five Soviet I-153s. Early in the engagement, IT-17 was shot down and the pilot 28-years-old vääpeli Kaarlo Olavi Salminen drowned. Vänrikki Olavi Puro of 3/LeLv 6 reported:

“Mission time 08:10-09:25.
We were on a regular reconnaissance mission with three aircraft, luutnantti Paltila leading the patrol. When going around Lavansaari we went down to the deck due to strong flak. On the west side of the island three Russian Chaikas attacked us from above and after a while two more arrived on the scene. A fierce curving battle turned out and the Russians favoured shooting from opposite directions. Early in the combat I observed vääpeli Salminen’s plane IT-17 turn on its back at about 150 m altitude and then go in a vertical dive into the sea 2-3 km south of the island. I fired at several aircraft from straight ahead and in a turn without any significant results. Finally I got rid of the carousel and was able to climb 300-400 metres altitude, from where I could begin diving and hitting the Russians. Now I could surprise one Chaika approaching from the sun and shot a burst to its engine from 50 metres. A strong black-grey cloud of smoke puffed from the plane and it headed in a shallow dive towards Lavansaari airfield, turning on its back and going into the sea about 1.5 km from the shore. I fired at a few planes still, but then one took me by surprise from the sun hitting my aileron, which was damaged to such an extent that I was forced to break off.
My plane IT-18, which had 7 hits.
Ammunition spent 1,500 rounds.”

Belyakov ended the war with 1 biplane victory.

Claims:

Kill no.	Date	Time	Number	Type	Result	Plane type	Serial no.	Locality	Unit
	1942
	28/03/42		1/?	Fokker D.XXI (a)	Shared destroyed	I-153		Gogland area	71 IAP-KBF
	03/04/42	18:24-	1/8	Fokker D.XXI (b)	Shared destroyed	I-153		Seiskari area	71 IAP-KBF
	03/04/42	18:24-	1/8	Fokker D.XXI (b)	Shared destroyed	I-153		Seiskari area	71 IAP-KBF
	03/04/42	18:24-	1/8	Fokker D.XXI (b)	Shared destroyed	I-153		Seiskari area	71 IAP-KBF
	30/07/42		1/2	I-153	Shared destroyed	Ju 88		Lavansaari	71 IAP-KBF
	04/10/42	08:47-09:15	1/2	I-153 (c)	Shared destroyed	I-153		Lavansaari	71 IAP-KBF
	1943
1	02/03/43		1	Morane	Destroyed	I-153		Baltic Sea Fleet	71 IAP-KBF

Biplane victories:1 and 6 shared destroyed.
TOTAL: 1 and 6 shared destroyed.
(u) Claimed in combat with LLv24, LLv 30 and LLv 32, which claimed 25 fighters destroyed, 2 probables and 3 damaged during the day without losses. 71 IAP-KBF claimed 1 Brewster and 4 Fokker D.XXIs destroyed while losing (together with 11 IAP-KBF) 6 fighters.
(b) Claimed in combat with Curtiss 75As from 1/LLv 32, which claimed 5 I-153s while losing 1 Curtiss 75A (pilot KIA). 71 IAP-KBF claimed 3 Fokkers without losses.
(c) Claimed in combat with I-153s from 3/LeLv 6, which claimed 1 Russian I-153 while suffering 1 I-153 lost. 71 IAP-KBF claimed 2 Finnish I-153s without losses.

Sources:
All aces of Stalin 1936-1953 – Mikhail Bykov, 2014
Soviet Aces 1936-1953
Soviet Fighter Pilots 1936-1953 - Mikhail Bykov
Suomen Ilmavoimat part IV – 1942 – Kalevi Keskinen and Kari Stenman, 2007, ISBN 978-952-99743-2-0