Viktor Gavrilov was born on 2 January 1915 in the Smolensk region.

He joined the Red Army on 15 August 1935 and graduated from the Naval Aviation School in 1937.

In 1938, he served as an instructor with the rank of mladshiy Leitenant.

He joined the Baltic Fleet (KBF) in September 1938.

Gavrilov took part in Winter-war between Soviet Union and Finland between 30 November 1939 and 13 March 1940.

In April 1940, he was posted to 12 IAP-KBF.

He was awarded the Order of the Red Banner on 21 April 1940.

On 16 September 1940, he was posted as commander of the 4th eskadrilya of 71 IAP-KBF.

He was promoted to starshiy leitenant.

At 15:45 on 5 September 1941, seven I-153s from 71 IAP-KBF met four Bf 109s at 700m altitude over the Tamengont district. One of the German fighters was claimed by Gavrilov. One Soviet pilot was lost when Tumasev was shot down and killed

On 21 September 1941, six I-153s from 71 IAP-KBF flew a reconnaissance mission looking for enemy troops in the Krasny Bor area. They intercepted and engaged two Bf 109s and three Ju 88s. Starshiy leitenant Pavel Chinyakov claimed one Bf 109 over the Uritsk district. Starshiy leitenant Chinyakov and Mazurenko returned from the combat wounded while starshiy leitenant Gavrilov was killed.

At the time of his death, Gavrilov was credited with 1 biplane victory.

Claims:

Kill no.	Date	Time	Number	Type	Result	Plane type	Serial no.	Locality	Unit
	1941
1	05/09/41	15:45	1	Bf 109	Destroyed	I-153		Tamengont district	71 IAP-KBF

Biplane victories: 1 destroyed.
TOTAL: 1 destroyed.

Sources:
Airmen of World
Soviet Aces of World War 2 - Hugh Morgan, 1998
Stalin's Eagles - Hans D. Seidl, 1998 Schiffer Publishing, ISBN 0-7643-0476-3
Stalin's Falcons - Tomas Polak and Christhoper Shores, 1999 Grub Street, London, ISBN 1-902304-01-2
Suomen Ilmavoimat part III – 1941 – Kalevi Keskinen and Kari Stenman, 2007, ISBN 978-952-99743-1-3