Nikolay Sutyagin Captain Nikolay Sutyagin ( 5 May 1923 - 12 November 1986 ) was a Russia n fighter pilot in the Second World War and the Korean War . He was the top ace of the Korean War talying 21 kills Biography . Nikolay Vasil ' yevich Sutyagin was born in 1923 near Nizhniy Novgorod , then known as Gorkiy . His parents were actors , and eventually moved to the city when Nikolay was 11 . Joining the Komsomol in 1939 , Nikolay was then able to get into the DOSAAF program where he was exposed to flying in the Polikarpov Po - 2 biplane . In March 1941 he was conscripted into the Red Army , but was then posted to the Soviet Air Force . He then went to pilot school , graduating in 1942 , and was sent to the 5th IAP in the Far East . He remained in the Far East until the end of the war , acquiring some combat experience in the war with Japan after the Soviets declared war on the Japanese Empire . After the war , Sutyagin learned to fly the American P - 63 Kingcobra , also flying as an instructor in the Soviet - converted UTI P - 63 two - seater . In April 1947 Sutyagin joined the 17th IAP , part of the 190th Fighter Aviation Division ( IAD ) in the Far East Military District . In 1950 the 17th was moved to the new 303rd IAD , which included the 523rd IAP and 18th Guards IAP , and the entire division was equipped with the new MiG - 15 jet fighter . Sutyagin completed 54 flights in the MiG - 15 before the division was ordered on a " secret tour " and reassigned to the 64th Fighter Aviation Corps at Mukden in Manchuria , with its regiments forward deployed to Myaogao and Antung airfields on the Korean border , in order to counter UN airpower over Korea . Sutyagin began combat operations in April 1951 . When he left Korea in February 1952 , Captain Sutyagin had been credited with shooting down 21 UN aircraft . He was the biggest ace in the Korean war , outscoring the top U . S ace Captain Joseph C . McConnell by 5 kills . Sutyagin was awarded the Gold Star and the title Hero of the Soviet Union , and was soon promoted to Major . By 1970 he was a chief instructor and Major - General of Aviation ( the equivalent of US rank of Brigadier general ) . Sutyagin served a further combat tour as chief instructor for flight training to the Vietnamese People ' s Air Force and taught combat tactics in 1970 - 1971 , flying the MiG - 21PF and MiG - 17 . Suffering ill health he returned to the USSR in May 1972 and was sent to GSFG in East Germany to recuperate . Due to his failing vision Sutyagin was removed from flight status and relegated to either trainers or transports . Sutyagin retired in May 1978 at the age of 55 , and spent the last years of his life with his family , dying in November 1986 at the age of 63 . Over the course of his career he flew 20 types of aircraft and logged over 3 , 300 flight hours . Sutyagin was the top Soviet fighter ace in the Korean War . He claimed 15 F - 86 Sabre s , two F - 84 Thunderjet s , two P - 80 Shooting Star s and two Gloster Meteor s shot down . Sutyagin ' s Korean War record was 149 combat missions , 66 aerial engagements and 21 enemy aircraft shot down . Sutyagin was awarded the Order of Lenin , three Orders of the Red Banner , Order of the Patriotic War First Class and a Hero of the Soviet Union in 1952 .