Nina was a pilot and flight commander in the 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment during World War II. Among many close calls with death, she twice survived being shot down in a Po-2 biplane.
Her mother died when Nina was just ten years old. Before enlisting in the military she worked as a geologist in mines.
On one mission in 1942 after a standard bombing attack, the Polikarpov Po-2 Nina was flying was hit by anti-aircraft fire from Axis forces. To avoid more fire, she maneuvered the plane into a steep dive leading Axis forces into thinking they had been shot down; when she began to increase altitude over a lake, her navigator noticed that the oil tank had been punctured from the fire. Despite the damage to the plane, both aviators survived the incident after dropping their bombs and landing at their designated airfield.
On another mission that same year her Po-2 was again hit by anti-aircraft fire, this time causing more damage to the aircraft. The fuel tank exploded and sprayed fuel over the cabin, damaged the engines, and seriously injured her navigator Larissa Radchikova.
The plane landed on a minefield but all crew members were rescued by an artillery unit commissioner sent to search for them. Having sustained several injuries requiring surgery, Nina received surgery and returned to active duty in less than two months. During the battle for Crimea she survived another close call after being shot down again; after making an emergency landing, she almost taxied into a trench and hit an anti-tank mine, yet still managed to survive.
She died at the age of 95 in Mytischi Moscow.
~ Wikipedia
Her mother died when Nina was just ten years old. Before enlisting in the military she worked as a geologist in mines.
On one mission in 1942 after a standard bombing attack, the Polikarpov Po-2 Nina was flying was hit by anti-aircraft fire from Axis forces. To avoid more fire, she maneuvered the plane into a steep dive leading Axis forces into thinking they had been shot down; when she began to increase altitude over a lake, her navigator noticed that the oil tank had been punctured from the fire. Despite the damage to the plane, both aviators survived the incident after dropping their bombs and landing at their designated airfield.
On another mission that same year her Po-2 was again hit by anti-aircraft fire, this time causing more damage to the aircraft. The fuel tank exploded and sprayed fuel over the cabin, damaged the engines, and seriously injured her navigator Larissa Radchikova.
The plane landed on a minefield but all crew members were rescued by an artillery unit commissioner sent to search for them. Having sustained several injuries requiring surgery, Nina received surgery and returned to active duty in less than two months. During the battle for Crimea she survived another close call after being shot down again; after making an emergency landing, she almost taxied into a trench and hit an anti-tank mine, yet still managed to survive.
She died at the age of 95 in Mytischi Moscow.
~ Wikipedia
Nina was a pilot and flight commander in the 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment during World War II. Among many close calls with death, she twice survived being shot down in a Po-2 biplane.
Her mother died when Nina was just ten years old. Before enlisting in the military she worked as a geologist in mines.
On one mission in 1942 after a standard bombing attack, the Polikarpov Po-2 Nina was flying was hit by anti-aircraft fire from Axis forces. To avoid more fire, she maneuvered the plane into a steep dive leading Axis forces into thinking they had been shot down; when she began to increase altitude over a lake, her navigator noticed that the oil tank had been punctured from the fire. Despite the damage to the plane, both aviators survived the incident after dropping their bombs and landing at their designated airfield.
On another mission that same year her Po-2 was again hit by anti-aircraft fire, this time causing more damage to the aircraft. The fuel tank exploded and sprayed fuel over the cabin, damaged the engines, and seriously injured her navigator Larissa Radchikova.
The plane landed on a minefield but all crew members were rescued by an artillery unit commissioner sent to search for them. Having sustained several injuries requiring surgery, Nina received surgery and returned to active duty in less than two months. During the battle for Crimea she survived another close call after being shot down again; after making an emergency landing, she almost taxied into a trench and hit an anti-tank mine, yet still managed to survive.
She died at the age of 95 in Mytischi Moscow.
~ Wikipedia
Her mother died when Nina was just ten years old. Before enlisting in the military she worked as a geologist in mines.
On one mission in 1942 after a standard bombing attack, the Polikarpov Po-2 Nina was flying was hit by anti-aircraft fire from Axis forces. To avoid more fire, she maneuvered the plane into a steep dive leading Axis forces into thinking they had been shot down; when she began to increase altitude over a lake, her navigator noticed that the oil tank had been punctured from the fire. Despite the damage to the plane, both aviators survived the incident after dropping their bombs and landing at their designated airfield.
On another mission that same year her Po-2 was again hit by anti-aircraft fire, this time causing more damage to the aircraft. The fuel tank exploded and sprayed fuel over the cabin, damaged the engines, and seriously injured her navigator Larissa Radchikova.
The plane landed on a minefield but all crew members were rescued by an artillery unit commissioner sent to search for them. Having sustained several injuries requiring surgery, Nina received surgery and returned to active duty in less than two months. During the battle for Crimea she survived another close call after being shot down again; after making an emergency landing, she almost taxied into a trench and hit an anti-tank mine, yet still managed to survive.
She died at the age of 95 in Mytischi Moscow.
~ Wikipedia
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