Ilmari Juutilainen

Ilmari Juutilainen
Birth name	Eino Ilmari Juutilainen
Nickname(s)	Illu
Born	(1914-02-21)21 February 1914 Lieksa, Grand Duchy of Finland, Russian Empire
Died	21 February 1999(1999-02-21) (aged 85) Tuusula, Finland
Allegiance	Finland
Service/branch	Finnish Air Force
Years of service	1932–1947
Rank	Sergeant Major
Unit	LeLv 24 LeLv 34
Battles/wars	World War II Winter War Continuation War
Awards	Mannerheim Cross, 2nd Class (2) Cross of Liberty, 3rd Class with Oak Leaves and Swords Cross of Liberty, 4th Class with Oak Leaves and Swords (2) Medal of Liberty, 2nd Class Iron Cross, 1st Class (Germany) Iron Cross, 2nd Class (Germany)
Relations	Aarne Juutilainen (brother)
Other work	Professional pilot

Eino Ilmari "Illu" Juutilainen (21 February 1914 – 21 February 1999) was a fighter pilot of the Ilmavoimat (Finnish Air Force), and the top scoring non-German fighter pilot of all time. The top flying ace of the Finnish Air Force, he led all Finnish pilots in score against Soviet aircraft in World War II (1939–40 and 1941–44), with 94 confirmed aerial combat victories (he himself claimed further kills for a total of 126 victories, but these were unconfirmed) in 437 sorties.^[1] He achieved 58 of his victories while flying a Messerschmitt Bf 109G and 34 with a Brewster Buffalo.^[2]

One of the four double recipients of the Mannerheim Cross 2nd Class, Juutilainen was born in Lieksa, and died in Tuusula. His brother was the Finnish Army Captain Aarne Juutilainen, nicknamed "The Terror of Morocco".^[3]