What a man ...... ! The legendary fighter pilot Boris Safonov was the first Soviet pilot to become two times Hero of the Soviet Union. He was nicknamed as the Suvorov of the Dogfight, in apparent reference to the invincible Russian military commander of the 18th century Alexander Suvorov. “You should use your head first thing when you fight, and only then the machine guns and cannons, the dogfight is more about brains than guns, remember that,” he instructed the young pilots. 2GvSAP - Boris Safonov Soviet Aces of World War 2 - Google Book Search WW II ACE STORIES http://www.elknet.pl/acestory/safonov/safonov.htmb
A great man who always seems to be spoken well of. If you judge the great aces by their leadership and inspiration as well as by their score, Boris Safunov has to be among the greatest. Shame it was the American P40, over-complex and not really superior to the opposition, that was probably responsible for his death; if he had lived to fly the Russion Lavochkins or Yak-9s which were as good as anything on the Eastern Front he may have been among the very top aces.
