Polikarp Kal’chenko was born in Novospasovka on 7 March 1916.

He joined the Red Army on 8 August 1936 and on 12 December 1938, he graduated from the Voroshilovgrad Military Aviation Pilot School.

From 31 March 1940, he served as a junior pilot in the 133 IAP

On 1 October 1941, he was posted to 483 IAP, which was equipped with Polikarpov I-153s.

On 29 July, 483 IAP fought Bf 109s in the Moscow area and leytenant Aleksandr Belous claimed one south of Moscow while Kal’chenko claimed a second in a ”taran” ramming attack over Moscow.

On 3 August 1942, 12 pilots and their I-153s were posted to 68 IAP, while the rest were pulled out from the front for more training.

Kal’chenko was slightly wounded on 20 August 1942.

On 18 September, he was slightly wounded again.

He suffered his third slight wound on 4 October.

He left 68 IAP in December 1942.

He was posted to 84-A IAP in February 1943 (I-153) and left this unit in April the same year.

In April 1944, he was posted to 116 IAP and flew La-5s and La-7s with this unit.

Kal’chenko ended the war 2 biplane victories and a total of 11.
These victories were claimed on 289 sorties and around 70 air combats.
According to some sources, he was also credited with 14 shared victories, but these have not been possible to verify.

After the end of the war, he continued to serve in the Air Force but changed his name to "Vladimir".
On 13 November 1948 he graduated from the Higher Officer Flight and Tactical Courses (Lipetsk).

In 1959, he retired into the reserve as a podpolkovnik.

Kal’chenko died on 14 May 1973.

Claims:

Kill no.	Date	Time	Number	Type	Result	Plane type	Serial no.	Locality	Unit
	1942
1	29/07/42		1	Bf 109 (a)	Destroyed	I-153		Moscow	483 IAP
2	03/08/42		1	Bf 109	Destroyed	I-153		Sal’sk	483 IAP
	1944
3	24/04/44		1	FW 190	Destroyed	La-5		E Abokliya station	116 IAP
4	15/05/44		1	FW 190	Destroyed	La-5		S Vadu-Luivoda	116 IAP
5	15/05/44		1	FW 190	Destroyed	La-5		W Koshnitsa	116 IAP
6	11/12/44		1	Bf 109	Destroyed	La-5		E Sekeshfekhervar	116 IAP
7	24/12/44		1	Bf 109	Destroyed	La-5		NE Mad'yaralmash	116 IAP
	1945
8	14/01/45		1	Bf 109	Destroyed	La-5		SE Bichke	116 IAP
9	19/01/45		1	Ju 52/3m	Destroyed	La-5		W Yet'yek	116 IAP
10	22/01/45		1	Bf 109	Destroyed	Lavochkin		S Margonvashar	116 IAP
11	13/03/45		1	Bf 109	Destroyed	La-5		N Külshekanttor	116 IAP

Biplane victories: 2 destroyed.
TOTAL: 11 destroyed.
(a) Claimed in a ”taran” ramming attack.

Sources:
All aces of Stalin 1936–1953 – Mikhail Bykov, 2014
Soviet Aces 1936-1953