| Fruit Pie Jones |
29-09-2005 08:24 PM |
Before it was a band, high-altitude recon jet, or submarine, it was one of these:
http://www.pilotfriend.com/century-o...images2/27.jpg
Polikarpov U-2 (later Po-2) biplane
From Wikipedia:
Quote:
The U-2 became famous as the plane used by the 588 NBAP (588th Night Bomber Regiment), composed of all-women pilots and ground crew. The unit became known for its daring low-altitude night raids on German rear-area positions, veteran pilots Katya Ryabova and Nadya Popova on one occasion flying 18 such missions in a single night. German troops considered them more than a nuisance, and gave them the nickname Nachthexen (night witches). The unit earned numerous Hero of the Soviet Union and dozens of Order of the Red Banner medals; most surviving pilots had flown nearly 1000 combat missions at the end of the war and had taken part in the Battle of Berlin (1945). Their usual tactics involved flying only a few meters above the ground, rising for the final approach, cutting off the engine and making a gliding bombing run, leaving the targetted troops with only the eerie whistling of the wind in the wings' bracing-wires as an indication of the impending attack. Luftwaffe fighters found it extremely hard to shoot down the Kukuruznik, because the stall speed of both the Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 exceeded the Soviet craft's maximum speed.
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That's just nifty. To get back on-topic, U2 was the first band I ever saw in concert, on March 21, 1992, in Albany, NY. Great show. |
