Alexander Pokryshkin

Alexander Ivanovich Pokryshkin (Russian: Александр Иванович Покрышкин; 6 March [O.S. 21 February] 1913 – 13 November 1985) was a Soviet fighter pilot in World War II, and later a marshal of aviation. He was one of the highest-scoring Soviet aces, and the highest-scoring pilot ever to fly an American aircraft, having achieved the great majority of his kills in the Lend-Lease Bell P-39 Airacobra. During the war Pokryshkin earned the title Hero of the Soviet Union three times: 24 May 1943, 24 August 1943, and 19 August 1944. After the war, he served in the Soviet Air Defense Forces, reaching the rank of Marshal of Aviation; he retired in 1981.

During the war, he strongly promoted training in and use of improved aerial combat techniques, such as vertical maneuvers that newer fighter aircraft were capable of carrying out, and he spent much of his time studying aerobatics for combat situations.