The P-400 Airacobra tags from the FIGHTERTAGS release were cut from the port-side underwing panel of a former Royal Air Force P-400. Remarkably, the panel was in an incredibly well-preserved condition, still carrying its original 1941 RAF roundel in almost unbelievably well-preserved state after 80+ years! Unfortunately, when I acquired the panel for FIGHTERTAGS in late 2023, I knew almost nothing about its history, other than it belonged to a Soviet pilot named Bochkov and the aircraft number was “168”. So, before the release, I set out to uncover its story. What I discovered was that the panel’s history was just as fascinating as its condition. This article dives into the story of the P-400 Airacobra, aircraft “168” and its final fateful flight with Bochkov.
The P-400 was the American designation for the export version of the P-39 Airacobra, originally intended for sale to Allied nations. The P-39’s initial design was envisioned as a fighter ahead of its time. While most Allied aircraft of the era struggled to exceed 370 mph, Bell Aircraft Company -during the design stage of the Airacobra- claimed the P-39 would surpass 400 mph. This impressive speed would come largely from its streamlined fuselage —a result of placing the engine in mid-fuselage rather than in the nose, which was the standard configuration for fighters at the time. This layout also made space for a powerful 37 mm cannon in the nose, a groundbreaking choice when most fighters of the time were still equipped with rifle-caliber machine guns. The mid-mounted engine further allowed the use of a nose landing gear, creating a tricycle undercarriage which was another new feature that would become standard in post-war jet fighters.
With its promised speed and heavy firepower, the P-39 quickly drew the interest of foreign buyers. And, when the German’s started their large-scale night attacks to Great Britain, known as the Blitz, in September 1940, the British immediately tested the P-39 and ordered 675 Airacobras to Bell Aircraft. The British Airacobra, which was designated as P-400, was virtually identical to the USAAF P-39D, but the slower-firing 37-mm nose cannon was replaced with the faster-firing and more reliable Hispano 20-mm cannon with 60 rounds. The 20 mm cannon was considered more appropriate for the role of low-altitude fighter by the British which they needed to stop the German bombers during their low altitude bombings over Britain.
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Delivery of the first P-400s started a year later, in September 1941. Though Americans initially named it as “Caribou”, the British named it as “Airacobra Mk I”. All P-400s were assigned to the No. 601 Squadron based in Manston. The squadron was notable for being the first RAF unit where American pilots flew combat missions during World War II. Indeed, two of them, William Fiske and William Rhodes-Moorhouse, lost their lives in combat during the Battle of Britain. As other American volunteers remained with the unit until the United States officially entered the war in December 1941, it is likely that some of them flew the squadron’s P-400 Airacobras, at least during training missions.
On 9 October, four No. 601 Squadron Airacobras attacked enemy barges near Dunkirk, marking the type’s first and only operational action with the RAF. The mission was part of a broader effort to disrupt German supply lines along the French coast. Following the Dunkirk mission, the squadron continued to train with the Airacobra, evaluating its performance. Despite some positive aspects however, RAF found that the P-400 was way beyond their expectations. It had inadequate climb rate and poor performance in high-altitude missions.
The problem was the lack of a turbocharger on the Allison V-1710 engines which cause a significant drop in performance above 12000 feet (3600 meters). This might have been acceptable a year earlier, during the Battle of Britain, when the RAF was still engaged in low-altitude combat. However, by the time the P-400s were delivered, the air war had already shifted to the skies over France. Therefore, to cover longer distances and maximize fuel efficiency, RAF fighters needed to cross the Channel and operate at high altitudes where the turbocharger was a must. Many dogfights also occurred at those altitudes against German Messerschmitt Bf 109s, which had exceptional high-altitude performance. Though the No. 601 Squadron did not lose any aircraft on its combat mission, it was evident that without its turbocharger, the P-400 stood no chance against German fighters over Europe.
Line up of early production 601 Squadron P-400 Airacobras with 6 exhaust stacks at Manston. The later production P-400s had 12 stack exhausts and the difference was only because the use of different manifolds.
As the RAF already had Spitfire Mk Vs and Mustang Is to carry out fighter cover missions over Europe, the British government quickly decided to transfer all of its P-400s to the Soviet Union, which at the time was urgently seeking modern fighters to halt the German advance along its western front. This transfer was set to include even those aircraft still in production at the Bell factory in the United States. However, everything changed in December 1941, when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. In response, the USAAF immediately requisitioned more than 200 P-400s that were awaiting delivery at the Bell plant, diverting them to its own units. As a result, only around 200 of the RAF’s P-400s ultimately made their way to the Soviet Union.
A Fighter for Survival
When the decision was made in October 1941 to transfer RAF P-400 Airacobras to the Soviet Air Force, the situation in the USSR was desperate. Operation Barbarossa—the German invasion of the Soviet Union—was still in full force. The German Army had already occupied the southwest of the country and was less than 100 km (60 miles) from Moscow. In the north, Finnish forces were advancing toward Murmansk. Millions of Soviet troops had been captured or killed, and the Soviet Air Force had suffered devastating losses. During the opening days of Operation Barbarossa, over 3,900 Soviet aircraft were destroyed in just the first three days. Although the rate of loss decreased later, the Soviets – with their outdated aircraft types- had no chance to gain air superiority against the highly advanced and experienced Luftwaffe.
Their most modern Soviet fighter at the time, the Yak-1, carried only a single cannon. The ex-RAF P-40B/C Tomahawks and Hurricane Mk IIs they received were equipped with rifle-caliber machine guns—insufficient to inflict serious damage on the well-armored German aircraft.
What the Soviets urgently needed was a heavily armed fighter capable of both attacking ground targets and protecting their IL-2 Sturmovik assault aircraft from enemy fighters. The Airacobra was a perfect fit not only with its heavy gunpower but also other features. Compared to the P-40s and Hurricanes, which had narrow landing gear, the P-400’s tricycle landing gear made it much better suited for the rough and often primitive Soviet airstrips, which were frequently little more than gravel fields.
Furthermore, unlike the high-altitude dogfights common over Western Europe, air combat on the Eastern Front took place mostly at low to medium altitudes (below 15,000 feet / 4,500 meters)—an environment where the Airacobra thrived.
Under these conditions, the Airacobra provided exactly what the Soviets needed—a rugged, hard-hitting fighter well-suited to the demands of the Front.
The Research
Prior to founding FIGHTERTAGS in April 2024, I was purchasing several fuselage panels from various military aircraft to make stocks for my future releases. One of those panels was from an Airacobra. What made it extraordinary was that it still had its original RAF roundel, with a Soviet red star partially painted over it, and despite the panel being over 80 years old, both emblems were exceptionally well-preserved.
While I was very lucky to find a panel in such a condition, it came with almost no documentation. The only information the seller provided was that it had been removed from an Airacobra—which I initially assumed was a USAAF P-39—and that it had the serial number 168. He also mentioned that it had been flown by the Soviet ace Иван Бочков (Ivan Bochkov). That was all. Despite my repeated inquiries, the seller could not—or would not—offer any further details. At that point, I had no idea who Bochkov was, and the mystery deepened.
My initial online research yielded some fragmented information about Bochkov, but the serial number “168” led nowhere. This three-digit number did not match the USAAF’s standard serial number format. Soviet Air Force P-39s typically carried one- or two-digit bort numbers, and “168” did not fit that system either. But researching each of them one by one to uncover their histories and identify which one was Bochkov’s aircraft would take long time. So I opted to shift my focus on the pilot, Ivan Bochkov.
I reached out to a Russian aviation historian who had helped me a few years prior with a different research project. He did not have any information on Bochkov but kindly connected me with a colleague. A few days later, I received a photo of a laptop screen showing a paragraph from a Microsoft Word document. It was a short text describing the loss of Bochkov. According to that document, the aircraft he was flying was serial number 42-24871, and he was shot down by a Bf 109G on April 4, 1943.
What stood out to me was that next to the 42-24871, another number was written in brackets, 168!
Photo of the MS Word document I received detailing Bochkov’s death. According to the text, the aircraft was a P-39M, which was shot down over Yurkino and crashed on the bank of the Tuloma River.
However, there was a problem: serial number 42-24871 belonged to a B-29, not an Airacobra. Having spent years studying aviation history, I knew typographical errors in records were common, particularly the repetition of numbers. In this case, it seemed likely that an extra “2” was added. While 42-24871 was a B-29, 42-4871 was a P-39M, a modified variant of the P-39G that entered production in late 1942. While this clarified one part of the puzzle, there was still a problem. My research from Russian books of P-39s revealed that only a few P-39Ms ended up in the Soviet Union, and those were deployed to southern units. Bochkov’s unit, on the other hand, was based in the far north at Murmansk.
To resolve this, I contacted two more Russian aviation historians. Both responded quickly, providing detailed information about Bochkov and his Airacobra. Even though the information from different sources was inconsistent—and sometimes even contradictory—I was able to piece together the story of Bochkov and the mystery behind the “168”, thanks to the help of those two Russian historians and, later on, a German historian I got in touch with.
Ivan Bochkov, 168 and their last flight
The first P-400s began arriving at Soviet ports in December 1941, marking the introduction of the Airacobra to the Soviet Air Force — and the beginning of the “Аэрокобра” legend in the USSR. The airframes arrived disassembled in large shipping crates. However, with the German advance already in full force, the Soviets had no time to lose. Instead of assembling the aircraft at centralized depots, the crates were sent directly to frontline air regiments.
There, engineers and technicians — unfamiliar with the new aircraft — began assembling the P-400s with no factory support. Pilots, too, had to adapt quickly, using flight manuals translated from English with the help of basic dictionaries, often resulting in makeshift and improvised training methods.
The P-400s still wore their original RAF camouflage and markings. Prior their operational missions however Soviet ground crews painted over their British roundels and replaced them with Soviet red stars. To cover the roundels on the undersides of the wings, crews used light blue paint — matching the underside color typical of Soviet aircraft of the time.
A two-digit bort (tactical) number was also painted on the vertical stabilizer of each Airacobra. The first digit indicated the squadron, whereas the second denoted the pilot’s rank or role in the unit. For example, aircraft number 11 belonged to the squadron commander, while number 12 was flown by the squadron’s executive officer.
The 19th Guards Fighter Air Regiment (GIAP) became the first Soviet unit to receive the P-400s. Operating in the Murmansk region along the Finnish border, their mission was to halt the German advance on the Arctic front. Their conversion training to the new fighter was completed without incident by May 10, and that same day, the squadron flew its first combat sortie from Shongui airfield, immediately encountering German fighters. While no losses occurred on either side during that mission, the Airacobra flown by Senior Lieutenant Gaidayenko was damaged in a dogfight with eight Messerschmitt Bf 109s the following day. He managed to make an emergency landing, but the aircraft was written off. This incident marked the first Soviet Airacobra loss of the Second World War.
Ground crews loading ammunition into the nose cannon of an Airacobra from 19th GIAP. The long barrel of the cannon and the two-tone RAF camouflage pattern clearly identify it as a P-400. Additionally, the presence of a 12-stack exhausts indicates that it is a late-production model, likely from the BX series.
Four days later, on May 15, 1942, six P-400 Airacobras from the 1st Squadron of the 19 GIAP, led by the units executive officer 1st Lt. Ivan Bochkov, intercepted six Messerschmitt Me 110s escorted by 16 Bf 109s of Jagdgeschwader 5 (JG5) over the west of Murmansk. The battle lasted 45 minutes and Bochkov managed to shoot down an Me 110, which marked the first Soviet Airacobra victory.
Unfortunately, the 19 GIAP also lost one P-400 during that engagement. It was shot down by a young German pilot, Unteroffizier Walter Schuck, who was credited with his first kill during this encounter. As a newly arrived pilot in the theater, Uffz. Schuck misidentified the P-400 as a MiG-3. It is a common occurrence during fast-paced dogfights where the pilots could see their opponents only for a few seconds.
Lt. Bochkov on the far right in the photo. Standing next to him is Kutakhov—the pilot he saved during his final mission.
The 19th Guards Fighter Air Regiment (19 GIAP) saw frequent action against JG5 while flying their P-400 Airacobras. On May 22, 1942, Captain Bochkov’s aircraft, “Number 12,” was lost in combat. He successfully bailed out and survived. Following this incident, he began flying “Number 15”. The RAF registration of Number 15 was BX 168!
While Bochkov flew more than 300 combat missions and scored seven confirmed kills over the course of the war, the exact number of his aerial victories Bochkov achieved in BX 168 is unclear. Nevertheless most Russian sources that I found refer to BX 168 as his primary combat aircraft until his death. Although he was promoted to captain and took command of the 1st Squadron in June 1942, he kept on flying “Number 15”, the BX 168 in his combat missions.
On April 4, 1943, a formation of 19 GIAP P-400s took off from Shongui Airfield to intercept a group of Luftwaffe bombers escorted by Bf 109Gs from JG5 near Kandalaksha. Flying BX 168, Captain Bochkov successfully shot down a Bf 109G-2 piloted by Oberleutnant Lorenz “Lenz” Bauer, the Technical Officer of II./JG5. Bauer survived after bailing out.
Profile drawing of BX 168. The light blue paint used to cover the RAF roundel before applying the Red Star is particularly noteworthy.
As the Soviet fighters began returning to base, they were ambushed near a small town Yurkino by another group of Bf 109s from III./JG5. According to eyewitness accounts, Captain Bochkov attempted to assist his wingman, Pavel Kutakhov, who was about to be attacked by two Bf 109s. Kutakhov spotted the enemy fighters in time and managed to evade them by diving toward the ground. Unfortunately, it was already too late for Bochkov. The German fighters redirected their attack toward him and struck his P-400 from above. Bochkov was seen bailing out. Tragically, however as he was at a very low altitude, his parachute failed to fully deploy. He did not survive. Capt. Ivan Bochkov’s body was recovered weeks later, brought back to Shongui, and buried in a mass grave.
The wreck of BX 168 was located at the bank of Tuloma River. Only the tail section could be recovered by Soviet forces, as the rest of the aircraft had sunk deep into the frozen swamp. The wreck of BX 168 remained buried there until the early 1990s, when a group of Americans salvaged parts of it and transported them to the United States for use in various P-39 restoration projects.The German
The German
After uncovering the details of Bochkov’s last mission, I still wanted to identify the German pilot who shot him down. So, I reached out to Michael Balss, a German aviation historian specializing in Luftwaffe claims and losses. Michael provided the Luftwaffe’s claims for April 4, 1943, on the Eastern Front. There were nine claims and all I had to find which was made over Pechenga. All except the 3 claims of JG5 on that day were from far provinces in the Soviet Union. The claims of JG5 however were from Petsamo which was the Finnish name of Pechenga. One of the JG5 claims was an Il-2 Sturmovik which I quickly omitted, as the German pilots knew the Il-2 very well and could not mix it with an Airacobra in 1943. That left two potential claims and both of them were belong to Walter Schuck, the unteroffizier who made his first kill in the same dogfight with Bochkov on 15 May 1942, when the latter achieved the first Soviet Airacobra victory. They met again.
Given that Bochkov was shot down early in the engagement over Pechenga, it’s likely he was Schuck’s 30th victory. While Schuck claimed his target was a P-40, it was clearly another misidentification. The silhouettes of the P-40 and P-39 are notably similar when viewed from above.
Bochkov’s tragic end was not the final victory for Walter Schuck. Serving primarily on the Arctic Front with JG5, Schuck reached to 198 Soviet aircraft kills, many of them fighters. His exceptional record earned him command of 10./JG5 in August 1944, despite still being an NCO, and later a promotion to Oberleutnant in November. On February 16, 1945, he claimed his last two kills with JG5, shooting down two USAAF P-51 Mustangs of over Norway.
In February 1945, Schuck was transferred to Jagdgeschwader 7 to pilot the new Me 262 jet fighters. He ended the war with 206 confirmed victories, including four B-17 bombers. On April 10, 1945, he was shot down by a P-51 from the 22nd FG but managed to bail out of his Me 262. Though he survived, both his ankles were injured, and he was hospitalized. By the time he recovered, the war had ended.
RAF P-400s lined up. These are early P-400 Airacobras with 6 exhaust stacks. The later production P-400s had 12 stack exhausts and the difference was only because the use of different manifolds.
The Soviets were likely the air force that made the most effective use of the Airacobra during the war. They quickly recognized its strengths after their first combat experiences with the P-400s, and by mid-summer 1942, the Soviet Air Force had requested the USAAF to stop sending P-40s and instead supply as many P-39s as possible. Over the course of the war, the Soviets not only received a wide range of Western fighters through Lend-Lease but also developed highly capable domestic designs such as the Yak-9 and La-9, especially after 1943. Yet among all these aircraft, it was the Airacobra that achieved the highest number of kills against the Luftwaffe. The Soviets howevr also paid a heavy price for their success, losing a great number of their beloved Аэрокобра’s—one of which was, sadly the BX 168!
The P-400 Airacobra: A Relic of Two Air Forces
The P-400 Airacobra tags from the FIGHTERTAGS release were cut from the port-side underwing panel of a former Royal Air Force P-400. Remarkably, the panel was in an incredibly well-preserved condition, still carrying its original 1941 RAF roundel in almost unbelievably well-preserved state after 80+ years! Unfortunately, when I acquired the panel for FIGHTERTAGS in late 2023, I knew almost nothing about its history, other than it belonged to a Soviet pilot named Bochkov and the aircraft number was “168”. So, before the release, I set out to uncover its story. What I discovered was that the panel’s history was just as fascinating as its condition. This article dives into the story of the P-400 Airacobra, aircraft “168” and its final fateful flight with Bochkov.
The P-400 was the American designation for the export version of the P-39 Airacobra, originally intended for sale to Allied nations. The P-39’s initial design was envisioned as a fighter ahead of its time. While most Allied aircraft of the era struggled to exceed 370 mph, Bell Aircraft Company -during the design stage of the Airacobra- claimed the P-39 would surpass 400 mph. This impressive speed would come largely from its streamlined fuselage —a result of placing the engine in mid-fuselage rather than in the nose, which was the standard configuration for fighters at the time. This layout also made space for a powerful 37 mm cannon in the nose, a groundbreaking choice when most fighters of the time were still equipped with rifle-caliber machine guns. The mid-mounted engine further allowed the use of a nose landing gear, creating a tricycle undercarriage which was another new feature that would become standard in post-war jet fighters.
With its promised speed and heavy firepower, the P-39 quickly drew the interest of foreign buyers. And, when the German’s started their large-scale night attacks to Great Britain, known as the Blitz, in September 1940, the British immediately tested the P-39 and ordered 675 Airacobras to Bell Aircraft. The British Airacobra, which was designated as P-400, was virtually identical to the USAAF P-39D, but the slower-firing 37-mm nose cannon was replaced with the faster-firing and more reliable Hispano 20-mm cannon with 60 rounds. The 20 mm cannon was considered more appropriate for the role of low-altitude fighter by the British which they needed to stop the German bombers during their low altitude bombings over Britain.
Delivery of the first P-400s started a year later, in September 1941. Though Americans initially named it as “Caribou”, the British named it as “Airacobra Mk I”. All P-400s were assigned to the No. 601 Squadron based in Manston. The squadron was notable for being the first RAF unit where American pilots flew combat missions during World War II. Indeed, two of them, William Fiske and William Rhodes-Moorhouse, lost their lives in combat during the Battle of Britain. As other American volunteers remained with the unit until the United States officially entered the war in December 1941, it is likely that some of them flew the squadron’s P-400 Airacobras, at least during training missions.
On 9 October, four No. 601 Squadron Airacobras attacked enemy barges near Dunkirk, marking the type’s first and only operational action with the RAF. The mission was part of a broader effort to disrupt German supply lines along the French coast. Following the Dunkirk mission, the squadron continued to train with the Airacobra, evaluating its performance. Despite some positive aspects however, RAF found that the P-400 was way beyond their expectations. It had inadequate climb rate and poor performance in high-altitude missions.
The problem was the lack of a turbocharger on the Allison V-1710 engines which cause a significant drop in performance above 12000 feet (3600 meters). This might have been acceptable a year earlier, during the Battle of Britain, when the RAF was still engaged in low-altitude combat. However, by the time the P-400s were delivered, the air war had already shifted to the skies over France. Therefore, to cover longer distances and maximize fuel efficiency, RAF fighters needed to cross the Channel and operate at high altitudes where the turbocharger was a must. Many dogfights also occurred at those altitudes against German Messerschmitt Bf 109s, which had exceptional high-altitude performance. Though the No. 601 Squadron did not lose any aircraft on its combat mission, it was evident that without its turbocharger, the P-400 stood no chance against German fighters over Europe.
Line up of early production 601 Squadron P-400 Airacobras with 6 exhaust stacks at Manston. The later production P-400s had 12 stack exhausts and the difference was only because the use of different manifolds.
As the RAF already had Spitfire Mk Vs and Mustang Is to carry out fighter cover missions over Europe, the British government quickly decided to transfer all of its P-400s to the Soviet Union, which at the time was urgently seeking modern fighters to halt the German advance along its western front. This transfer was set to include even those aircraft still in production at the Bell factory in the United States. However, everything changed in December 1941, when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. In response, the USAAF immediately requisitioned more than 200 P-400s that were awaiting delivery at the Bell plant, diverting them to its own units. As a result, only around 200 of the RAF’s P-400s ultimately made their way to the Soviet Union.
A Fighter for Survival
When the decision was made in October 1941 to transfer RAF P-400 Airacobras to the Soviet Air Force, the situation in the USSR was desperate. Operation Barbarossa—the German invasion of the Soviet Union—was still in full force. The German Army had already occupied the southwest of the country and was less than 100 km (60 miles) from Moscow. In the north, Finnish forces were advancing toward Murmansk. Millions of Soviet troops had been captured or killed, and the Soviet Air Force had suffered devastating losses. During the opening days of Operation Barbarossa, over 3,900 Soviet aircraft were destroyed in just the first three days. Although the rate of loss decreased later, the Soviets – with their outdated aircraft types- had no chance to gain air superiority against the highly advanced and experienced Luftwaffe.
Their most modern Soviet fighter at the time, the Yak-1, carried only a single cannon. The ex-RAF P-40B/C Tomahawks and Hurricane Mk IIs they received were equipped with rifle-caliber machine guns—insufficient to inflict serious damage on the well-armored German aircraft.
What the Soviets urgently needed was a heavily armed fighter capable of both attacking ground targets and protecting their IL-2 Sturmovik assault aircraft from enemy fighters. The Airacobra was a perfect fit not only with its heavy gunpower but also other features. Compared to the P-40s and Hurricanes, which had narrow landing gear, the P-400’s tricycle landing gear made it much better suited for the rough and often primitive Soviet airstrips, which were frequently little more than gravel fields.
Furthermore, unlike the high-altitude dogfights common over Western Europe, air combat on the Eastern Front took place mostly at low to medium altitudes (below 15,000 feet / 4,500 meters)—an environment where the Airacobra thrived.
Under these conditions, the Airacobra provided exactly what the Soviets needed—a rugged, hard-hitting fighter well-suited to the demands of the Front.
The Research
Prior to founding FIGHTERTAGS in April 2024, I was purchasing several fuselage panels from various military aircraft to make stocks for my future releases. One of those panels was from an Airacobra. What made it extraordinary was that it still had its original RAF roundel, with a Soviet red star partially painted over it, and despite the panel being over 80 years old, both emblems were exceptionally well-preserved.
While I was very lucky to find a panel in such a condition, it came with almost no documentation. The only information the seller provided was that it had been removed from an Airacobra—which I initially assumed was a USAAF P-39—and that it had the serial number 168. He also mentioned that it had been flown by the Soviet ace Иван Бочков (Ivan Bochkov). That was all. Despite my repeated inquiries, the seller could not—or would not—offer any further details. At that point, I had no idea who Bochkov was, and the mystery deepened.
My initial online research yielded some fragmented information about Bochkov, but the serial number “168” led nowhere. This three-digit number did not match the USAAF’s standard serial number format. Soviet Air Force P-39s typically carried one- or two-digit bort numbers, and “168” did not fit that system either. But researching each of them one by one to uncover their histories and identify which one was Bochkov’s aircraft would take long time. So I opted to shift my focus on the pilot, Ivan Bochkov.
I reached out to a Russian aviation historian who had helped me a few years prior with a different research project. He did not have any information on Bochkov but kindly connected me with a colleague. A few days later, I received a photo of a laptop screen showing a paragraph from a Microsoft Word document. It was a short text describing the loss of Bochkov. According to that document, the aircraft he was flying was serial number 42-24871, and he was shot down by a Bf 109G on April 4, 1943.
What stood out to me was that next to the 42-24871, another number was written in brackets, 168!
Photo of the MS Word document I received detailing Bochkov’s death. According to the text, the aircraft was a P-39M, which was shot down over Yurkino and crashed on the bank of the Tuloma River.
However, there was a problem: serial number 42-24871 belonged to a B-29, not an Airacobra. Having spent years studying aviation history, I knew typographical errors in records were common, particularly the repetition of numbers. In this case, it seemed likely that an extra “2” was added. While 42-24871 was a B-29, 42-4871 was a P-39M, a modified variant of the P-39G that entered production in late 1942. While this clarified one part of the puzzle, there was still a problem. My research from Russian books of P-39s revealed that only a few P-39Ms ended up in the Soviet Union, and those were deployed to southern units. Bochkov’s unit, on the other hand, was based in the far north at Murmansk.
To resolve this, I contacted two more Russian aviation historians. Both responded quickly, providing detailed information about Bochkov and his Airacobra. Even though the information from different sources was inconsistent—and sometimes even contradictory—I was able to piece together the story of Bochkov and the mystery behind the “168”, thanks to the help of those two Russian historians and, later on, a German historian I got in touch with.
Ivan Bochkov, 168 and their last flight
The first P-400s began arriving at Soviet ports in December 1941, marking the introduction of the Airacobra to the Soviet Air Force — and the beginning of the “Аэрокобра” legend in the USSR. The airframes arrived disassembled in large shipping crates. However, with the German advance already in full force, the Soviets had no time to lose. Instead of assembling the aircraft at centralized depots, the crates were sent directly to frontline air regiments.
There, engineers and technicians — unfamiliar with the new aircraft — began assembling the P-400s with no factory support. Pilots, too, had to adapt quickly, using flight manuals translated from English with the help of basic dictionaries, often resulting in makeshift and improvised training methods.
The P-400s still wore their original RAF camouflage and markings. Prior their operational missions however Soviet ground crews painted over their British roundels and replaced them with Soviet red stars. To cover the roundels on the undersides of the wings, crews used light blue paint — matching the underside color typical of Soviet aircraft of the time.
A two-digit bort (tactical) number was also painted on the vertical stabilizer of each Airacobra. The first digit indicated the squadron, whereas the second denoted the pilot’s rank or role in the unit. For example, aircraft number 11 belonged to the squadron commander, while number 12 was flown by the squadron’s executive officer.
The 19th Guards Fighter Air Regiment (GIAP) became the first Soviet unit to receive the P-400s. Operating in the Murmansk region along the Finnish border, their mission was to halt the German advance on the Arctic front. Their conversion training to the new fighter was completed without incident by May 10, and that same day, the squadron flew its first combat sortie from Shongui airfield, immediately encountering German fighters. While no losses occurred on either side during that mission, the Airacobra flown by Senior Lieutenant Gaidayenko was damaged in a dogfight with eight Messerschmitt Bf 109s the following day. He managed to make an emergency landing, but the aircraft was written off. This incident marked the first Soviet Airacobra loss of the Second World War.
Ground crews loading ammunition into the nose cannon of an Airacobra from 19th GIAP. The long barrel of the cannon and the two-tone RAF camouflage pattern clearly identify it as a P-400. Additionally, the presence of a 12-stack exhausts indicates that it is a late-production model, likely from the BX series.
Four days later, on May 15, 1942, six P-400 Airacobras from the 1st Squadron of the 19 GIAP, led by the units executive officer 1st Lt. Ivan Bochkov, intercepted six Messerschmitt Me 110s escorted by 16 Bf 109s of Jagdgeschwader 5 (JG5) over the west of Murmansk. The battle lasted 45 minutes and Bochkov managed to shoot down an Me 110, which marked the first Soviet Airacobra victory.
Unfortunately, the 19 GIAP also lost one P-400 during that engagement. It was shot down by a young German pilot, Unteroffizier Walter Schuck, who was credited with his first kill during this encounter. As a newly arrived pilot in the theater, Uffz. Schuck misidentified the P-400 as a MiG-3. It is a common occurrence during fast-paced dogfights where the pilots could see their opponents only for a few seconds.
Lt. Bochkov on the far right in the photo. Standing next to him is Kutakhov—the pilot he saved during his final mission.
The 19th Guards Fighter Air Regiment (19 GIAP) saw frequent action against JG5 while flying their P-400 Airacobras. On May 22, 1942, Captain Bochkov’s aircraft, “Number 12,” was lost in combat. He successfully bailed out and survived. Following this incident, he began flying “Number 15”. The RAF registration of Number 15 was BX 168!
While Bochkov flew more than 300 combat missions and scored seven confirmed kills over the course of the war, the exact number of his aerial victories Bochkov achieved in BX 168 is unclear. Nevertheless most Russian sources that I found refer to BX 168 as his primary combat aircraft until his death. Although he was promoted to captain and took command of the 1st Squadron in June 1942, he kept on flying “Number 15”, the BX 168 in his combat missions.
On April 4, 1943, a formation of 19 GIAP P-400s took off from Shongui Airfield to intercept a group of Luftwaffe bombers escorted by Bf 109Gs from JG5 near Kandalaksha. Flying BX 168, Captain Bochkov successfully shot down a Bf 109G-2 piloted by Oberleutnant Lorenz “Lenz” Bauer, the Technical Officer of II./JG5. Bauer survived after bailing out.
Profile drawing of BX 168. The light blue paint used to cover the RAF roundel before applying the Red Star is particularly noteworthy.
As the Soviet fighters began returning to base, they were ambushed near a small town Yurkino by another group of Bf 109s from III./JG5. According to eyewitness accounts, Captain Bochkov attempted to assist his wingman, Pavel Kutakhov, who was about to be attacked by two Bf 109s. Kutakhov spotted the enemy fighters in time and managed to evade them by diving toward the ground. Unfortunately, it was already too late for Bochkov. The German fighters redirected their attack toward him and struck his P-400 from above. Bochkov was seen bailing out. Tragically, however as he was at a very low altitude, his parachute failed to fully deploy. He did not survive. Capt. Ivan Bochkov’s body was recovered weeks later, brought back to Shongui, and buried in a mass grave.
The wreck of BX 168 was located at the bank of Tuloma River. Only the tail section could be recovered by Soviet forces, as the rest of the aircraft had sunk deep into the frozen swamp. The wreck of BX 168 remained buried there until the early 1990s, when a group of Americans salvaged parts of it and transported them to the United States for use in various P-39 restoration projects.The German
The German
After uncovering the details of Bochkov’s last mission, I still wanted to identify the German pilot who shot him down. So, I reached out to Michael Balss, a German aviation historian specializing in Luftwaffe claims and losses. Michael provided the Luftwaffe’s claims for April 4, 1943, on the Eastern Front. There were nine claims and all I had to find which was made over Pechenga. All except the 3 claims of JG5 on that day were from far provinces in the Soviet Union. The claims of JG5 however were from Petsamo which was the Finnish name of Pechenga. One of the JG5 claims was an Il-2 Sturmovik which I quickly omitted, as the German pilots knew the Il-2 very well and could not mix it with an Airacobra in 1943. That left two potential claims and both of them were belong to Walter Schuck, the unteroffizier who made his first kill in the same dogfight with Bochkov on 15 May 1942, when the latter achieved the first Soviet Airacobra victory. They met again.
Given that Bochkov was shot down early in the engagement over Pechenga, it’s likely he was Schuck’s 30th victory. While Schuck claimed his target was a P-40, it was clearly another misidentification. The silhouettes of the P-40 and P-39 are notably similar when viewed from above.
Bochkov’s tragic end was not the final victory for Walter Schuck. Serving primarily on the Arctic Front with JG5, Schuck reached to 198 Soviet aircraft kills, many of them fighters. His exceptional record earned him command of 10./JG5 in August 1944, despite still being an NCO, and later a promotion to Oberleutnant in November. On February 16, 1945, he claimed his last two kills with JG5, shooting down two USAAF P-51 Mustangs of over Norway.
In February 1945, Schuck was transferred to Jagdgeschwader 7 to pilot the new Me 262 jet fighters. He ended the war with 206 confirmed victories, including four B-17 bombers. On April 10, 1945, he was shot down by a P-51 from the 22nd FG but managed to bail out of his Me 262. Though he survived, both his ankles were injured, and he was hospitalized. By the time he recovered, the war had ended.
RAF P-400s lined up. These are early P-400 Airacobras with 6 exhaust stacks. The later production P-400s had 12 stack exhausts and the difference was only because the use of different manifolds.
The Soviets were likely the air force that made the most effective use of the Airacobra during the war. They quickly recognized its strengths after their first combat experiences with the P-400s, and by mid-summer 1942, the Soviet Air Force had requested the USAAF to stop sending P-40s and instead supply as many P-39s as possible. Over the course of the war, the Soviets not only received a wide range of Western fighters through Lend-Lease but also developed highly capable domestic designs such as the Yak-9 and La-9, especially after 1943. Yet among all these aircraft, it was the Airacobra that achieved the highest number of kills against the Luftwaffe. The Soviets howevr also paid a heavy price for their success, losing a great number of their beloved Аэрокобра’s—one of which was, sadly the BX 168!