10 Facts About One Of The Most Massed Produced Aircraft

The Shuttleworth’s Polikarpov Po-2 is one of the few survivors from a production run that reached 40,000 examples of the type. Shuttleworth Collection volunteer and guide John Deane talks to HAFU’s Allan Udy about the aircraft and its history.

1. It was gifted by the Soviet Union to the Yugoslav forces

According to Deane, the Po-2 was eventually utilized for Yugoslav Club use, purchased out of Eastern Europe to Britain, went into some restoration in America before it went to New Zealand, and was put back in flying service in 2011.

2. It looked as if it came from a different era

It was a remarkable airplane in many ways. The plane itself was an original design from the 1920s, designed by famous Soviet engineer Nikolai Nikolaevich Polikarpov.

The Polikarpov Po-2 came into service in production in the late 1920s and 1939s and only finished production in the 1950s.

3. The Polikarpov Po-2  was so successful because it was capable of doing many, many things

Originally introduced as a trainer, they did many things different from that at the end of their service. From reconnaissance to transport of casualties, general communications work, and famously used by the Soviet Union during WWII.

4. These planes weren’t really that fast

The top speed is around 90 mph and the general cruising speed of around 70mph.

5. They were more capable of stealth attacks

The Po-2, however, could be throttled back, approach enemy lines, and enemy troop formations, then climb back up, far enough for them to drop their bombs.

In that maneuver with the engine cut back, because of the bracing wires, they would make a whistling noise, which was part of the psychological warfare. German soldiers even spent cold winter nights without fire to stay hidden from these planes.

6. The Po-2 was used in a very similar role by the Chinese during the Korean War

The tactics they used were basically just the same- a stealthy approach and also at a height and speed that rendered them not invulnerable to aerial attack, no fighter could go slow enough to hit them. From air-to-air attacks, they had the advantage of slow speed.

7. It had a very characteristic noise and was comparable to the Westland Lysander

The Po-2 was quite different than any other plane. It’s not like a smooth Merlin, and comparable to the Westland Lysander. The Lysander was built for army cooperation for Special Operations, built for close support of army forces, all the types of things that Po-2 was designed to do.

8. The Po-2 is so simple in a way that you won’t believe it

There’s no fuel gauge, no oil filter, there are lots of things that aren’t there, and yet tens of thousands end up being built.

9. The Po-2’s claim to fame is when it was utilized as a light night bomber

The plane’s slow speed meant that it had to fly at low altitude, which allowed pilots to precisely hit targets on the ground. In fact, these planes flew so low that pilots can target very specific items such as a German cigarette.

10. It was famously used by the 588th bomber regiment of Marina Raskova, who earned their famous nickname “Night Witches” by the Germans

The all-female regiment was silently attacking Germans from their Po-2s, they would idle the engines, then glide into darkness in the designated bombing area. This created a sound similar to a witch broom.