Yevgraph Kruten " Podpolkovnik " Yevgraph Nikolaevich Kruten was a World War I flying ace credited with seven aerial victories . He began World War I as an aerial observer with three years experience in military aviation . After a year ' s seasoning , he was recommended for , and graduated from , pilot ' s training in September 1914 . He rose through the ranks , to be appointed as his unit ' s commander on 6 June 1916 . With his victory tally at three , he was forwarded to service with the French . While learning French aerial tactics , Kruten shot down a German aircraft during February 1917 . After his return to Russia in March 1917 , he shared his new - found knowledge in a flurry of booklets on military aviation . He commanded his battle group of three detachments , and ran his victory total to seven before dying in a landing accident on 19 June 1917 . Early life and service . Yevgraf Kruten was born into a family with a military tradition ; both his father and his mother ' s father were colonel s . He entered the world on 29 December 1890 in Kiev . In 1901 , aged 11 , he attended the Kiev Military Cadet Corps School . He was forwarded to horse artillery in 1908 as an ensign . In 1911 , he was commissioned with the rank of " podporuchik " upon graduation from Konstantin Artillery School . In April 1912 , he was transferred to Kiev . He was selected in June 1913 for a study of the potential use of heavier - than - air by the Imperial Russian Army . The test of five airplanes was conducted by the leader of the pilot contingent at Brovary , Pyotr Nesterov . Kruten was required to fly as part of Russia ' s maiden attempt at artillery spotting . The several flights he took sparked his interest . He found his way to the Third Air Company , which was located at Sviatoshyn Airfield in Kiev near his duty station . By August 1913 , he was flying as an aerial observer in military maneuvers . He made six flights in foggy rainy weather with Nesterov , including one at night . As a result of his friendship with Nesterov , the aviator wrote a letter recommending Kruten ' s admission to aviation training . Kruten was one of the spectators when Nesterov flew the first aerial loop in history on 9 September 1913 . In January 1914 , Kruten began aviation training at the Katchinsky military school near Sevastopol . His natural talent can be seen in his flying his own loops on 23 August 1914 . Kruten graduated as a military pilot in September 1914 . Flying service in World War I . At the outbreak of war , Kruten began flying reconnaissance and bombing missions as a member of the 21st Corps Air Detachment . He reached the front and began flying combat in October 1914 . He flew reconnaissance and bombing missions ; by February 1915 , he had flown over 40 sortie s without crossing paths with any enemy aircraft . He switched to the 2nd Army Air Detachment ; when he scored his first aerial victory on 6 March 1915 , piloting a Voisin he was awarded the Order of Saint Anne Fourth Class . His observer / gunner , Captain Ducimetier of the General Staff , both shot down the plane and confirmed the victory . The successful duo flew back through crippling antiaircraft fire that stopped their engine and forced their landing near the Russian 2nd Caucasian Corps . The following month , April 1915 , saw Kruten fly more than 25 long range missions . On the 18th , he partook in his unit ' s first night bombing sortie . Kruten continued to serve in the unit as it was redesignated as the 2nd Fighter Aviation Detachment . On 5 June , Captain Ducimeter was again his observer when they suffered a runaway propeller on their aircraft . Kruten got them home safely ; the staff captain ' s report on the incident recommended Kruten ' s promotion to Captain . A month later , he received his captaincy , as well as the Order of St . Vladimir Fourth Class with Swords and Ribbon . In early 1916 , Kruten ' s unit re - equipped with Nieuport 11 s . During his orientation on the new machine , he realized that other pilots were unready for aerial battle . For them , Kruten wrote the first of several little pamphlets on the subject . It defined the assault sequence as : Altitude — Speed — Maneuver — Fire . In April 1916 , Kruten was ordered to Smolensk to test fly aircraft for the new fighter groups being formed . He was brought back to Smolensk a second time , on 20 May 1916 . He was given command of the brand new 2nd " Boevaya Aviatsionnaya Gruppa " ( Battle Aviation Group ) on 6 June . When the group was formed from the detachments from the 3rd , 7th , and 8th Corps , it was still short pilots . It would not be completed and committed to action until late July 1916 ; it reached its base at Nesvizh on 7 August . Kruten led from the front , scoring two more victories in August 1916 . On 13 November , he was selected as one of a party assigned to the Western Front for cross - training with French aviators . He was posted to Pau in January 1917 ; later , he transferred to the flying school at Cazau . In February , he was serving with Felix Brocard ' s " Escadrille 3 " ; he was credited with a victory while with them . He returned to Russia in March 1917 , after hearing of Czar Nicholas ' s abdication . The French had awarded him a " Croix de guerre " for his victory . The assignment to the French left him of the opinion that , " There is nothing about flying that we could learn from foreigners . . . " When he arrived back in Russia on 24 March 1917 , he began writing a pamphlet , " Invasion of Foreigners " , protesting French aid to the Russians . This was the second of his pamphlets on Russian use of air power ; he wrote at least eight booklets on the subject . In the meantime , he reassumed command of the 2nd BAG in early April 1917 . The group was equipped with a mix of Nieuport 17 and Nieuport 21 fighters . One of each was reserved for Kruten ' s use . Both Nieuport 17 serial number 2232 and Nieuport 21 number 4572 were marked with Kruten ' s insignia of a medieval knight . From mid - April 1917 , his Battle Group was stationed in Plotych , ten kilometers north of Tarnopol . Kruten threw himself into combat , leading from the front . On 30 May 1917 , for instance , he fought six times without result . Interspersed with his dogfight s were photo - reconnaissance and artillery adjustment missions . He would score three more victories during May and June 1917 . His final victory , on 6 June 1917 , was unusual ; he ran out of fuel during his attack , but still managed to down his foe while gliding to a forced landing . On 19 June 1917 at 0925 hours , while returning from a combat mission , as his landing Nieuport sank through 100 meters altitude , Yevgraf Kruten spun in and crashed . Once removed from the wreckage , he lingered only a short while after the crash . He was posthumously promoted to " Podpolkovnik " . He was buried at the Nicholsky Military Cathedral in Kiev . In 1930 , he was reinterred in Luk ' yanovskoe Cemetery , still in his native Kiev . List of aerial victories . See also Aerial victory standards of World War I , List of World War I flying aces from the Russian Empire Confirmed victories are numbered and listed chronologically .