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Jaroslav Šrámek
Colonel Jaroslav Šrámek (3 May 1929 – 16 February 2015)[1] was a fighter pilot, active during the Cold War. He was known as the only pilot from the Czechoslovak Air Force ever to have shot down an enemy jet-propelled plane.[2] Šrámek flew more than 2,000 operational hours during his career, which spanned from 1951 to 1989. BiographyŠrámek had an interest in aviation from a young age, making model aircraft as a child. Entering high school, he attended the Czechoslovak Air Force Academy, a move which began his career in aviation.[3] Later in his career, Šrámek became the first Czechoslovak to fly the MiG-23.[3] He flew in the Czechoslovak Air Force until the 1980s, where he piloted MiG-23 aircraft. Šrámek described the MiG-23 as the best aircraft he had flown, because "it was the fastest".[4] Šrámek ended his career with a total of 2,353 flight hours.[3] Air battle over MerklínOn 10 March 1953, Lt. Šrámek (5th Fighter Regiment, 2nd Squadron, Plzeň-Líně air base) had been flying close to the town of Domažlice in the west of Bohemia.[2][5] His unit was assigned to patrol the edge of Czechoslovak airspace, close to the frontier with West Germany.[5] Šrámek, who was flying a MiG-15, encountered two American F-84 Thunderjet planes above Merklín, a small village within Czechoslovak territory.[5] The two American aircraft split and one escaped. The remaining craft was piloted by Lt. Warren G. A. Brown, a veteran of the Korean War.[4] No missiles were fired; Šrámek fired two cannon shots. The American plane sustained two hits, with the second one, from the N-37 cannon, causing a fire to break out.[5][4] Brown ejected from the aircraft, which crash-landed in German territory, near Falkenstein, Bavaria, approximately 35 kilometres (22 mi) from the border, and survived.[5] References
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