Biplane fighter aces

Soviet Union

Starshiy Leitenant Ivan Grigor'yevich Kasatkin

1913 –

Decorations
Date Decoration Note
23/05/44 Order of the Red Banner 1st
03/11/44 Medal ”For Military Merit”  
15/11/50 Order of the Red Star  
05/11/54 Order of the Red Banner 2nd
11/03/85 Order of the Patriotic War, 1st Class  

Ivan Kasatkin was born in 1913.

He graduated from the Yeysk flight school in 1936.

Starshiy leitenant Kasatkin served in 12 OIAE-KBF of the Baltic Fleet during the Soviet-Finnish Winter War, taking part between February and March and flying Polikarpov I-153s.
Totally he flew eight combat missions during this conflict

When Germany invaded the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941, he served in 71 IAP-KBF, still flying I-153s.

Pavel Pavlov and starshiy leitenant Kasatkin claimed a shared Hs 126 over Rakvere on 4 August 1941.

He was posted away from 71 IAP-KBF in October 1941 and in December he was posted to 78 IAP-SF of the Northern Fleet. With this unit he flew Hurricanes,

In April 1942 he was posted from 78 IAP-KBF to 2 GIAP-SF.

On 13 May 1942, he was seriously wounded after force-landing after air combat.
After recovery he didn’t serve in the frontline but instead took up service in the rear.

Kasatkin ended the war with 1 biplane victory.
This had been claimed during more than 160 combat missions and 10 air battles.

Claims:
Kill no. Date Time Number Type Result Plane type Serial no. Locality Unit
  1941                
  04/08/41   1/2 Hs 126 Shared destroyed I-153   Rakvere 71 IAP-KBF
1 08/08/41   1 Hs 126 Destroyed I-153     71 IAP-KBF

Biplane victories: 1 and 1 shared destroyed.
TOTAL: 1 and 1 shared destroyed.

Sources:
All aces of Stalin 1936-1953 – Mikhail Bykov, 2014
Soviet Aces 1936-1953
Soviet Fighter Pilots 1936-1953 - Mikhail Bykov




Last modified 10 October 2021