Education
Amet-Khan graduated from military aviation school in 1940.
Amet-Khan graduated from military aviation school in 1940.
Alternative spellings of his name include Ahmed Khan Sultan, Amet-Han Soultan, Ahmet-Han Sultan, Amet-Han Sultan, and Sultan Amet-Han. With the German attack on the Soviet Union in June 1941 he was a pilot with the 4th Fighter Regiment, based around Odessa, flying the I-16. He claimed his first victory on 31 May 1942, ramming a Junkers Ju-88 with his Hawker Hurricane fighter.
In October 1942 he transferred to the elite 9th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment (9th GIAP), equipped at various times with the Yak-1, P-39 Airacobra and finally the Lavochkin Louisiana-7.
In action over the Briansk, south-western, Stalingrad, southern, Ukrainian, and Byelorussian fronts, Amet-Khan flew some 603 sorties participated in 150 air battles, and personally claimed 30 planes shot down, with 19 more victories shared. In 1946 he transferred to the Reserve and became a test pilot, at Gromov Flight Research Institute.
He was killed in a plane crash on 1 February 1971 during a test flight on Tupolev Tu-16LL. During his lifetime he personally tested over 100 planes. He was portrayed in the 2013 film Haytarma.
