Colonel Evgeny Nikolayevitch Stepanov is one of a rare breed of Russian military aviators. Although the Soviet Union could claim many notable airmen during World War II, Stepanov represents a pioneering cadre of pilots who fought during the 1930s–years before the Nazi invasion of Russia and the ‘Great Patriotic War.’

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Politically, the late 1930s was a confusing time of shifting alliances based on ideology and perceived national interests. American volunteers fought Italians in Spain. But American and Italian advisers worked together uneasily to build an air force for Chiang Kai-shek’s Chinese Nationalist government, or Kuomintang. At the same time, the Soviets openly aided the Republican government in Spain and the Kuomintang in China. Then, in 1939, the Soviet Union came into direct conflict with Imperial Japan. At stake were the Khalkin Gol borderlands between the Socialist Republic of Mongolia and the Japanese client state of Manchukuo. The undeclared battle also represented a crucial test of strength between the armies and air arms of the two rival powers.

The 1930s were also important years in aviation, during which aircraft made the transition from refined World War I­style biplanes to the sleek monoplanes of World War II. One of the great aircraft of those formative years was the Polikarpov I-15 Chaika (gull). This airplane brought Soviet fighter aviation up to Western standards, and it became the first Soviet fighter to see action over Spain.

Evgeny Stepanov flew the I-15 in combat over both Spain and Khalkin Gol. He flew against some of the most formidable aerial opposition of the decade–the elite airmen of the Nazi Condor Legion and the veteran aces of the Japanese Army Air Force. During the fighting over Khalkin Gol, he commanded an eskadrilya (squadron) and was awarded the Gold Star of a Hero of the Soviet Union.

Now retired from aviation, Colonel Stepanov works at the Central House of Aviation and Cosmonautics in Moscow. In a recent interview for Aviation History, Stepanov discussed his flying career:

Aviation History: Could you share with us your early years and education?

Stepanov: I was born in Moscow in 1911. During the hungry years of 1919-1920, I used to go to a canteen set up in a community center by the American Relief Agency, where they provided free lunches for Russian children. By 1929, when I was 18, I had finished school. I graduated from a technical college as a qualified metalworker.

AH: Did you then become interested in flying or had you been interested earlier?

Stepanov: As a youngster I was into cycling and also joined the factory’s ham radio club. Living near a military airfield, I was often able to watch pilots practicing aerobatic maneuvers. That’s when I decided that I wanted to join them. In those days that was quite feasible, since the USSR was establishing an air force as rapidly as possible. Recruiting slogans, such as ‘Young People, Take to the Skies’ and ‘From Models to Gliders and from Gliders to Aircraft’ were successful and popular.

AH: Can you describe your aviation training? Was it typical of a Soviet pilot, civil or military?

Stepanov: In 1932, I qualified as a pilot after receiving lessons at a Moscow airfield, and in 1933 I entered a military pilots’ school for an intensive course. At the time, I had logged 80 hours of flying time. It is no exaggeration to say that this was then a typical route into the air force: flying club, air force academy, and then posting to a combat unit.

AH: What did you think of the state of Soviet military aviation in the 1930s?

Stepanov: Aviation was undergoing intensive expansion. Flying clubs, military colleges and academies were training personnel, and design and research bureaus were being organized throughout the industry. Also, an important role in building up the country’s air force was played by the voluntary societies established at various times, such as the Voluntary Society of Airmen, the Air Force Society, Society to Assist the Air Force and Chemical Defense, and others.

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