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Po-2 "Kukuruznik"

A Po-2 at a museum in Dresden, Germany

Type Utility biplane
Manufacturer Polikarpov
Maiden flight 7 January 1928
Introduced 1929
Primary users Soviet Air Force and civilian aviation
Air Force of the Polish Army
Produced 1929-1959
Number built 40,000+

The Polikarpov U-2 or Po-2 served as a general-purpose Soviet biplane, nicknamed Kukuruznik (Russian: Кукурузник, from Russian "kukuruza" (кукуруза) for maize), NATO reporting name of "Mule". An aerospace manufacturer is a company or individual involved in the various aspects of designing building testing selling and maintaining Aircraft, Aircraft parts Polikarpov Design Bureau was a Soviet OKB (design bureau for aircraft led by Nikolai Nikolaevich Polikarpov. The maiden flight of an Aircraft is the first occasion on which an aircraft leaves the ground of its own accord This is a list of Aviation -related events from 1928: Events January January 6 - 8 - Lt Christian Schilt This is a list of Aviation -related events from 1929: Events Greatest number of fatal civil aircraft crashes in US history The Soviet Air Force, also known under the abbreviation VVS, transliterated from Russian: ВВС, Военно-воздушные силы ( Voenno-Vozdushnye The Air Force of the Polish Army (Lotnictwo Wojska Polskiego unofficially known as the People's Polish Air Force is the name of the Soviet-controlled Polish Air Force Polikarpov Design Bureau was a Soviet OKB (design bureau for aircraft led by Nikolai Nikolaevich Polikarpov. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 A biplane is a Fixed-wing aircraft with two main Wings The first powered heavier-than-air Aircraft, the Wright brothers' Wright Flyer Russian ( transliteration:,) is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages Maize (ˈmeɪz ( Zea mays L. ssp mays) known as corn in some countries is a cereal grain domesticated in Mesoamerica [1] The reliable, uncomplicated and forgiving aircraft served as a trainer and crop-duster. An agricultural aircraft is an Aircraft that has been built or converted for Agricultural use - usually Aerial application of Pesticides It is the second most produced aircraft, and the most produced biplane, in the history of aviation. Aircraft with a production run greater than 5000 aircraft Numbers in list are based on numbers in each aircraft article

Contents

Design and development

Prototype of the U-2, powered by a 99 hp (74 kW) Shvetsov air-cooled radial engine, first flew on 7 January 1928. Shvetsov was a Soviet design bureau founded in Perm, USSR in 1934 to produce the Wright Cyclone -derived Shvetsov M-25. It was designed by Nikolai Polikarpov to replace the U-1 trainer (Avro 504). Nikolai Nikolaevich Polikarpov (Никола́й Никола́евич Полика́рпов ( July 8 1892 - July 30 1944) was a Soviet aircraft The Avro 504 was a World War I Biplane Aircraft made by the Avro aircraft company and under licence by others Its name was changed to Po-2 in 1944, after Polikarpov's death, according to the new Soviet naming system using designer's initials. This is a list of Aviation -related events from 1944: Events January January 11 - in one of their largest air raids to

Operational history

From the beginning, the U-2 became the basic Soviet civil and military trainer aircraft, mass produced in a factory "Red Flyer" near Moscow. It was also used for transport, and as a military liaison aircraft, due to its STOL capabilities. A liaison aircraft is a small usually unarmed Aircraft developed before World War II and primarily used by military forces for artillery observation or transporting STOL is an Initialism for short take-off and landing, a term used to describe Aircraft with very short Runway requirements Also from the beginning it was produced in an agricultural aircraft variant, what earned it its nickname Kukuruznik. Although entirely outclassed by contemporary aircraft, the Kukuruznik served extensively on the Eastern Front in World War II, primarily as a liaison, medevac and general supply aircraft. The Eastern Front of World War II (die Ostfront 1941-1945, der Rußlandfeldzug 1941-1945 (Russian campaign or der Ostfeldzug 1941-1945 (Eastern Campaign World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Medical evacuation, often termed MEDEVAC or medivac, is the timely and efficient movement and en route care provided by medical personnel to the wounded being It was especially useful for supplying Soviet partisans behind front line. The Soviet partisans were members of a Resistance movement which fought a Guerrilla war against the Axis occupation of the Soviet Union Its low cost and easy maintenance led to a production run of over 40,000. Manufacturing of the Po-2 in the USSR ceased in 1949, but until 1959 a number were assembled in Aeroflot repair workshops.

After first trials of arming the machine with bombs in 1941, from 1942 it was adapted as a light night ground attack plane. Wehrmacht troops nicknamed it Nähmaschine (sewing machine) for its rattling sound. Wehrmacht (literally "defense force" was the name of the unified Armed forces of Germany from 1935 to 1945 The material effects of these missions was mostly insignificant, but the psychological effect on German troops was much more noticeable. They typically attacked by complete surprise in the dead of night, denying German troops sleep and keeping them constantly on their guard, contributing yet further to the already exceptionally high stress of combat on the Eastern front. 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 targeted troops with only the eerie whistling of the wind in the wings' bracing-wires as an indication of the impending attack. Terminology A "glider" is an unpowered Aircraft. The most common types of glider are today used for sporting purposes A bomb is any of a range of devices that typically rely on the Exothermic Chemical reaction of an Explosive material to produce an extremely Luftwaffe fighters found it extremely hard to shoot down the Kukuruznik because of three main factors: the rudimentary aircraft could take an enormous amount of damage and stay in the air, the pilots used the defensive tactic of flying at treetop level, and the stall speed of both the Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 was similar to the Soviet craft's maximum cruise speed. ( German 'luftvafe is a generic German term for an Air force. A fighter aircraft is a Military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat with other Aircraft, as opposed to a Bomber, which is designed For other uses see Stall. In Aerodynamics, a stall is a sudden reduction in the lift forces generated by an Airfoil WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout [2] The U-2 was known as the plane used by the 588th Night Bomber Regiment, composed of all-women pilots and ground crew. The Night Witches ( Nachthexen in German, Ночные ведьмы in Russian) was the nickname the Germans gave to the World War II The unit became notorious for its daring low-altitude night raids on German rear-area positions, with veteran pilots Katya Ryabova and Nadya Popova on one occasion flying 18 such missions in a single night. The women pilots observed that the enemy suffered a further degree of demoralization simply due to their antagonists being female. As such, the pilots earned the nickname "Night Witches" (German Nachthexen, Russian Ночные Ведьмы/Nočnye Ved’my). The unit earned numerous Hero of the Soviet Union citations 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. The title Hero of the Soviet Union ( Russian: Герой Советского Союза Geroy Sovyetskovo Soyuza) was the highest distinction in the Soviet Recipients The order was awarded to individuals as well as whole formations who then For the bombing campaign on Berlin by the RAF from November 1943 to March 1944 see Battle of Berlin (air.

North Korean forces used the Po-2 in a similar role in the Korean War. North Korea is the commonly used short form name for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (or DPRK) a State located in East Asia, The Korean War refers to a period of military conflict between North Korean and South Korean regimes with major hostilities lasting from June 25 1950 until the A significant number of Po-2s was fielded by the Korean People's Air Force, inflicting serious damage during night raids on Allied bases. The Korean People's Air Force (aka North Korean Air Force) is the Air force of North Korea. The United Nations Command (Korea is the unified command structure for the multinational military forces supporting the Republic of Korea (South Korea or ROK during and after [3] UN forces named it Bedcheck Charlie and had great difficulty in shooting it down — even though night fighters had radar as standard equipment in the 1950s, the wood-and-fabric-construction of the Po-2 gave only a minimal radar echo, making it hard for a hostile fighter pilot to acquire his target. A night fighter (also all-weather fighter) is a Fighter aircraft adapted for use at night or in other times of bad visibility Radar is a system that uses electromagnetic waves to identify the range altitude direction or speed of both moving and fixed objects such as Aircraft, ships

Variants and design stages

Operators

Po-2 operators
Po-2 operators
U-2LNB night attack plane of the Polish 2nd Night Bomber Regiment "Kraków"(in Polish Aviation Museum)
U-2LNB night attack plane of the Polish 2nd Night Bomber Regiment "Kraków"
(in Polish Aviation Museum)
Polikarpov Po-2 with Yugoslav markings, Museum of Aviation in Belgrade, Serbia
Polikarpov Po-2 with Yugoslav markings, Museum of Aviation in Belgrade, Serbia
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Flag of France France
Flag of Germany Germany
Flag of the German Democratic Republic East Germany
Flag of Hungary Hungary
Flag of Mongolia Mongolia
Flag of North Korea North Korea
Flag of Poland Poland
Flag of Romania Romania
Flag of the Soviet Union Soviet Union
Flag of Turkey Turkey
Flag of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Yugoslavia
Yugoslavian Air Force

Po-2 in popular culture

The Po-2 is featured, as the U-2, in the Harry Turtledove alternate history series Worldwar, as one of the few examples of human machinery that has managed to evade destruction from a technologically superior invading alien force. The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia ( Serbo-Croatian, Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian, Slovene, Macedonian: The Yugoslav Air Force may refer to Yugoslav Royal Air Force, active from 1918 to 1941 TemplateInfobox City for more fields--> Sarajevo is the Capital city and largest urban center of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with TemplateInfobox City for more fields--> Sarajevo is the Capital city and largest urban center of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with TemplateInfobox City for more fields--> Sarajevo is the Capital city and largest urban center of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with Belgrade (Београд Beograd is the Capital and largest city of Serbia. Harry Norman Turtledove (born June 14 1949) is an American historian and novelist who has written Historical fiction, Fantasy, and Worldwar is a series of four Alternate history Science fiction novels by Harry Turtledove. Because of the Po-2's wooden construction, low altitude, and slow speed, the aliens have an extremely hard time detecting it or shooting it down.

Specifications (U-2)

General characteristics

Performance

Armament (U-2VS / LNB only)

See also

Related lists

References

  1. ^ [1] Soviet people later used kukuruznik as a nickname for Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, notorious for his indiscriminating introduction of maize all over the Soviet Union, as well as for a plane with similar characteristics, the Antonov An-2. The ShKAS ( Sh pitalny- K omaritski A viatsionny S korostrelny Shpitalny-Komaritski rapid fire machine gun for aircraft; Russian This list of the military aircraft of the Soviet Union and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS includes experimental prototype and operational types regardless of Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (April 17 1894 – September 11 1971 served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 following Maize (ˈmeɪz ( Zea mays L. ssp mays) known as corn in some countries is a cereal grain domesticated in Mesoamerica The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout
  2. ^ Myles, Bruce (1997). Night Witches: The Amazing Story Of Russia's Women Pilots in World War II. Academy Chicago Publishers. ISBN 0897332881.  
  3. ^ Dorr 2003, p. 50
  4. ^ "Historical Listings", World Air Forces
  5. ^ Hayles, John. Bulgarian Air Force Aircraft Types - All-Time Listing. Aeroflight. co. uk, 10 November 2005. Events 1444 - Battle of Varna: The crusading forces of King Vladislaus III of Varna (aka Ulaszlo I of Hungary and Wladyslaw Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Retrieved 29 May 2008
  6. ^ Adam Jońca, Samoloty linii lotniczych 1945-1956, WKiŁ, Warsaw 1985, ISBN 83-206-0529-0

External links


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