Night Witches by auntietk
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Description
From the Flying Heritage Collection, this is the tail section of a Soviet Polikarpov U-2/PO-2.
Originally designed as a crop duster, these biplanes saw action during WWII.
A group of female pilots flew PO-2s on daring night raids against German forces. They would come in slow, cut their engines, glide through the bombing run, (hopefully) re-start the engines in midair, and fly off. The PO-2 is an open-cockpit biplane, and the women would often just toss the bombs out over the side of the plane as they went by. Imagine what it would be like to cruise down the highway doing about 70 mph in the middle of winter in a convertible with the top down, tossing metal cylinders over the side. You'll have a good idea of how cold it was during these maneuvers!
The boming runs didn't do a lot of physical damage, but they kept the Germans up at night worrying about getting hit by a bunch of what they called Night Witches.
The iconic Soviet images on the far wall, together with this lovely biplane, are what got us to the museum that day to begin with. I had a shot from a previous trip to the Collection that hadn't turned out the way I wanted, and I was keen to go back and try again. Of course they move the planes around all the time, and the angle was totally different from our last trip. It was a challenge to get both the plane and the images in the same shot!
By the way ... the black and white photograph of the bullet-shaped plane on the far wall is NOT the plane in the photograph. That's a Type 24-Rata, for those of you who care.
Comments (20)
Faemike55
Instead of broom stick, these witches flew in biplanes! Neat!
Chipka
Marvelous! I can't say that I'm too friendly to the Soviets, but I like the idea that they had women's lib before women were libbed enough to call themselves women over on this side of the Iron Curtain...they built 'em tough in Russia, if Victor's relatives are any indication. As for this shot. WOW! I love the metal, the sheen, the curves, the sweep of fusilage and wings...the colors and that iconic Soviet pentagram...it all fits together so perfectly. This is a great shot!
Seaview123
That's an incredible story, and I can't imagine what they must have been feeling during this type of raid. For women, they showed some incredible bravery in the theater of battle. Thank you for this history lesson.
RodS
Great eye, Tara! I love the silvers, the angles, and the way you've framed the photos on the wall! Superb!
lyron
Nice shot!!
beachzz
I'd never heard that story before--it's fascinating!!
blinkings
Interesting. I never knew that!
helanker
Beautiful shot, Tara. I like the shiny surface of the metal :)
awjay
super pic and info...
bazza
Nice shot Tara and info, well done!!
durleybeachbum
Astonishing information! This is a very interesting and beautiful compostion.
cfulton
I like the tight crop and all the info! "The tail number honors the twenty-three Night Witches who earned "Hero of the Soviet Union" citations." Well done! Clive
DAVER2112
Fantastic composition!!! Excellent capture. :)
hipps13
interesting to view as is to read wonderful warm hugs, Linda Kaye
MrsRatbag
Fascinating history lesson, and I love your softening postwork as always!
danapommet
Interesting shot and fantastic narrative. Dana
Merrylee
Nice bit of history...like the name....nice shot
debbielove
Excellent shot, POV and info, Tara! But did you know they were mostly flown by women.. There you go.. Useless fact No: 1099! Great shot and well done! Rob
nikolais
thank you for the wonderful piece of Russian war history and the image, Tara!
bmac62
How did I miss this??? Perfect juxtapositioning to tell this little known story. All of us aviation nuts can learn from your artistic presentations. Outstanding!