Stepan Pavlovich Suprun
Stepan Pavlovich Suprun ( Russian Степан Павлович Супрун * July 20 . Jul / 2. August 1907 greg. In Retschki near Sumy , † 4. July 1941 in Vitebsk ) was a Soviet test pilot , fighter pilot and two-time Hero of the Soviet Union .
Life
Suprun joined the Red Army in 1929 and became a member of the CPSU a year later . Also in 1930 he graduated from the school for aircraft "sub-specialists" and in 1931 the military aviation school. He then became a test pilot and was involved in the testing of numerous types of aircraft, such as the I-16 , I-21 , Jak-1 and LaGG-1 / LaGG-3 . On December 12, 1937, Suprun was elected to the Supreme Soviet for the Sevastopol constituency.
In October 1939, Suprun traveled to Germany as part of a delegation whose purpose was to find out more about the country's aviation industry and to acquire flight technology. In this context, he tested the He 100 fighter plane while visiting the Heinkel factory in Rostock-Marienehe . Although he did not know this type and had only received a brief briefing from the factory staff, he flew it without any complaints. Ernst Heinkel himself mentioned this episode in his biography and praised Suprun's flying abilities. In 1939/1940 he volunteered in the Sino-Japanese War, where he flew an I-16 and shot down six Japanese planes. On May 20, 1940, he was therefore promoted to major and named Hero of the Soviet Union.
Shortly after the German attack on the Soviet Union , Suprun put test pilots into the 401st fighter regiment equipped with MiG-3 . b. V., which was used on June 30, 1941. Suprun was able to shoot down a German aircraft on his first mission at the front, another a short time later. On July 4, 1941, he was killed in an aerial battle . On July 22nd, he was posthumously awarded the title of "Hero of the Soviet Union" for a second time in the rank of lieutenant colonel.
Suprun was also a two-time holder of the Order of Lenin .
literature
- Wilfried Copenhagen : Lexicon Soviet Aviation . Elbe-Dnjepr, Klitzschen 2007, ISBN 978-3-933395-90-0 .
Web links
- Article Stepan Pawlowitsch Suprun in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia (BSE) , 3rd edition 1969–1978 (Russian)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Dimitri Alexejewitsch Sobolew: German traces in Soviet aviation history . The participation of German companies and professionals in aviation development in the USSR. Mittler, Hamburg 2000, ISBN 3-8132-0675-0 , p. 107 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Suprun, Stepan Pavlovich |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Супрун, Степан Павлович (Russian) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | soviet pilot |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 2nd August 1907 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Rechki |
| DATE OF DEATH | 4th July 1941 |
| Place of death | near Vitebsk |