Rybin, Y. Luftwaffe ace Walter Schuck researched / Christer Bergstrom, Yuriy Rybin. - Sweden : [s. l.], 2019. - 190 p. : ill.

WALTER SCHUCK Walter Schuck is interviewed by a war correspondent at Petsamo, 15 June 1944. June 1944 was piloted by Mladshiy Leytenant A. M. Mikhailov, with Mladshiy Serzhant V. M. Bulekov as rear gunner. It was their third combat mission in total, and both were captured by the Germans. The wreck of their 11-2 still is to be found where it crashed in the wil­ derness more than sixty years ago. + When Schuck approached Petsamo after the mission in the evening of 17 June, he knew that he had set a new record. In spite of his tiredness, he wanted to show the men on the ground that he had accomplished something special. After all, it was due to their ardous work that he could rely on the war machine which he flew with such success. The “standard” way of indicating an aerial victory in the Luftwaffe was to rock the wings as the aircraft flew past the runway at low altitude. However, Schuck’s many serial victories in the spring and sum­ mer of 1944 - six on 25 May, four on 26 May, and four in a single combat on 15 June - made him invent a new and more rational way to show the waiting men on the ground his tally in the latest air combat. Instead of rock­ ing the wings, he made barrel rolls above the airfield. When he came in to land at around twenty to ten in the evening of 17 June, he performed four barrel rolls. The men of the ground crew received “their” pilot with wild joy. “Four more,” they exclaimed: “That means a total of eleven today!” Schuck even found the energy to crack a weak joke. “Please prepare my aircraft, maybe I can double that before the day is over. ..” Then he went to his barrack for some badly needed sleep. Schuck was awoken very early next morning. The Leutnant from the radio interception post had called: The reconnaissance Spitfire is approaching, using Route Number One! Schuck got dressed in no time and dashed out. He looked into the sky. The midnight sun shone in his tired eyes, but after a few seconds he was able to distinguish a white condensation trail high in the blue sky. Gayko, who also had been alerted, tumbled out from another barrack. “It’s the photo Spitfire!” Schuck shouted at his wing­ man. “Let’s see about that,” Leutnant Gayko replied. “It could just as well be a Yak-9!” “Well, we’ll soon find out,” Schuck retorted. The two pilots entered their Me 109s as quickly as possible. The ground personnel were there to assist them, and soon the aircraft rolled out on the dusty run­ way. Heaved from the ground, they started to climb at full throttle. T