AH: Where were you stationed after the resolution of the Khalkin Gol incident?

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Stepanov: Following my command in Mongolia, I was posted as an adviser to air force units that fought in an operation referred to as the liberation of western Belorussia (the occupation of eastern Poland) in September 1939, and during the armed conflict with Finland in the winter of 1939.

AH: After the German invasion on June 22, 1941, you served in the Moscow air defense system. Did you see combat while engaged in those duties?

Stepanov: No, I did not. Initially, I was a flight inspector for the air force in the Moscow Military District. Later, I became head of that district's pilot training department.

AH: What were your activities after World War II?

Stepanov: During the Great Patriotic War and subsequently, I served in air academies of the Soviet army, performing various duties. After the war, I headed the air sports department of the Chkalov Central Air Club, led Soviet delegations to international parachuting competitions in Prague and Paris, and participated in conferences of the Fédération de l'Aviation Internationale (FAI) in Paris and Istanbul. For a number of years, I was vice president of the FAI.

AH: Looking back, what do you consider to have been the best fighter aircraft of the 1930s–and of the early 1940s?

Stepanov: During the 1930s, I think the best fighter was the I-16 and its modifications. During World War II, there were three: the Yakovlev Yak-3, the Lavochkin La-5 and the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3.

This article originally appeared in the July 1995 issue of Aviation History Magazine. For more great articles subscribe to Aviation History magazine today!

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