"There they are". We prepared to attack. I told him I would check the airspace for eventual enemies, and did a 360 degree turn, all the while scanning our surroundings, without spotting anything. On the other hand the sun in the South made it difficult to spot eventual enemies. I turned North and as I spotted the enemy planes I decided to go for them. At the very moment I felt as if somebody had tapped on my shoulder, I turned back to check my rear once more.
At a distance of 30m I saw a big white prop spinner and tracers flying around me. I think I took some hits. Then I got going.
I pushed the stick ahead and to the right and kicked down my right pedal, which resulted in external barrel manouver. I knew that now he could not fire at me, not even keep me in his gunsight. I let go a couple of full turns, which made the loose objects, debris and sand in the cockpit to float freely around. After the third full turn I decided to pull out and see where the Russki is. It was a La-5, I had recognized him by the spinner and round engine. He was now 80m behind, I thought, what now? All the fighter tactics of the air force must have flashed through my mind but I did not recall anything about a situation like this. Anyway, I kept pushing the stick a little with the idea that if he aims just at me, his shells would pass over me. We continued like this for a moment and I was watching the enemy to see what he would do. Well, there he was, hanging behind me, I wondered why he did not try to shoot any more. I decided to pull up and the La followed me, a little to the side. I knew that the more I climb and turn, the more I shall lose speed. I climbed for a while, all the time keeping an eye at the one behind. He did climb to the side from me, and about 300m higher. Having lost speed I returned to level flying and began to pick up speed. There the La was staying, like a spectator, and I was wondering why he did not try to make use of his opportunity.
Having gained speed I pulled the nose up at the La and fired a couple of rounds with the cannon. The enemy reacted with an evasive manouver enabling me to cut the distance between us. As soon as he was flying straight, I fired another couple of rounds, he evaded by banking to opposite direction and againg I could cut the distance.
Finally I was at a range of 150m, in slight climb as I fired and hit him really good: his fuselage broke into two. The engine of the La kept running for a while until he turned into a vertical dive. I had hit him in the rear fuselage, the cockpit canopy was intact. Very soon the canopy flew off and the pilot bailed out. It was then as my hands and feet began to shake, as I began to think how near my death had been. When I had returned to the base, the mechanic found a bullet hole in the left wing. Examining the trajectory of the bullet with a fishing rod inserted in the hole it was found that the bullet had passed about 10cm above my head.
I did have an angel to guard me.
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The full story coming up at Finnish Virtual Pilots Association aviation history site in day or two...
Who is he? Any bets? (Finns not allowed to place bets)
