Falcon girls

[Ron S]

beautiful girls next to beautiful air crafts..

 

[DaRk WaVe]

Usual feminist rant plus Extreme disregard to practical considerations.
Thats all I have I can conclude.

U think all of this is RANT & not PRACTICAL EXAMPLES...
Hats off for you

Night Witches​

One cold spring day in 1943, two junior lieutenants, Tamara Pamyatnykh and Raisa Surnachevskaya, were on a routine patrol over a Soviet railway junction. Suddenly they were confronted by an armada of 42 German bombers - they reacted immediately.

Diving with the sun behind them, the women opened fire on the centre of the Junkers formation. Each pilot shot down two enemy planes. Tamara ran out of ammunition and was going to ram another bomber with her airplane, when her wing was shot off. She bailed out and landed in a field.

Men and women civilians rushed over to help. "They undid the parachute straps and offered me a glass of vodka, which I refused", she recalls. "Nobody couldn't understand why the brave lad who had taken on a Nazi squadron wouldn't drink vodka!"


Then Tamara took off her helmet and the astonished crowd saw the dashing young aviator was a woman.

Tamara is among the surviving veterans Lucy Ash has tracked down in Moscow and southern Russia. The Soviet Union was the first nation to allow women to fly combat missions. Women pilots in other countries flew military aircraft in support roles and some were fired on by enemies. But only Soviet women pilots could fire back; only Soviet women dropped bombs and fought in air battles.

Celebrity influence

Why? Partly because a young woman called Marina Raskova had the ear of Joseph Stalin. Raskova was a national celebrity, a Soviet Amelia Earhart. Before the war, she and two women co–pilots made a record breaking, non stop flight from Moscow to the Russian Far East. Just days after the Germans attacked the USSR in 1941, Raskova persuaded Stalin to establish three female units grouped into separate fighter, dive bomber and night bomber regiments. She trained her personnel as pilots, navigators, maintenance and ground crews, and deployed them to devastating effect.

Nadezhda Popova, now a great grandmother, was a pilot in the 46th Night Bombers Guards Regiment. "The Germans called us Night Witches because we never let them get any sleep", she says. "They spread a rumour that we had been injected with some unknown chemicals that enabled us to see so clearly in the pitch black.!"

Every May 2nd she joins the surviving members of her regiment oputside the Bolshoi theatre in Moscow to reminisce about their daring raids in flimsy bi-planes without radios or even any parachutes.

Initially, at least, the women struggled to gain the respect of their male comrades. One general at the front complained bitterly about being sent a "a bunch of girlies" with such high pitched voices, that he felt he was in a kindergarten. But the women soon proved him wrong and showed their valour even if they did like to decorate their planes with flowers and use their navigation pencils to colour their lips and eyebrows.

On a more sombre note, the number one fear expressed by nearly all female aircrew was what might occur if they were ever captured alive by the Germans. Galina Beltsova, a navigator with the Dive Bombers regiment says: "All of us were provided with one extra bullet and if I could see I was being circled by the enemy of course I could take out my pistol and shoot myself – as a last resort."

Lucy talks to these formidable women veterans who played such a crucial role in the skies over Stalingrad and elsewhere on the Eastern Front. She discovers that they have not only motivated a new generation of female pilots but that their bravery has also inspired tributes from American airwomen, comic book artists and even a Dutch heavy metal band.

Full documentary is here : BBC World Service - Documentaries - Night Witches

Thousands of Russian women and girls courageously fought for their Rodina (Motherland), serving with the Voyenno-Vozdushniye Sily (Air Forces, in Russian). In 1942, three air regiments were formed from female volunteers:
The 586th Women's Fighter Regiment (initially equipped with Yakovlyev YaK-1s and later YaK-7Bs)
The 587th Women's Day Bomber Regiment (flying Petlyakov Pe-2 2-engined bombers)
The 588th Women's Night Bomber Regiment, the famous "Night Witches" (flying Polikarpov Po-2 biplanes)
Many other women also served integrated with men with other aviation units. For example, in 1944, 1,749 girls served with Zabaikalsky Front, 3,000 women and girls served with the Far East 10th Air Army, 437 women served with the 4th Air Army of the Second Belorussian Front that comprised the crack 46th Guards Women Air Regiment that comprised 237 women-officers, 862 sergeants, 1,125 enlisted women and 2,117 auxiliaries. They also served flying and as gunners in the famous Il-2 and Il-2M3 Shturmovik tank busters, the "Flying Bathtub".

Women-pilots of female air regiments engaged in dogfights, cleared the way for the advancing infantry and supported them in ground support missions. The fighter pilots of the all-women 586th IAP (Russian abbreviation for Fighter Aviation Regiment, same as Fighter Air Regiment) flew a total of 4,419 sorties (per pilot) and participated in more than 125 separate air battles, in which they massed a total of 38 confirmed kills. That is, the sorties when the enemy was actually encountered.

Sexism in the V-VS was high initially, male pilots refusing to fly with women as "wingmen", or fly airplanes that had been repaired or serviced by women mechanics and ground crew. But the demonstrated, and often superior, courage and great skill of these female soldiers proved their better than average competence to fullfil their duty. The USSR highly praised the combat deeds of female pilots: thousands won orders and medals. 29 won titles of Hero of the Soviet Union. 23 of these went to the Night Witches.

Sabiha Gökçen​

​

Sabiha Gökçen is the world's first female fighter pilot. Born in Bursa, Turkey in 1913, she was orphaned early in life. Fortune began to smile on her in 1925, when the founder and President of the new Republic of Turkey, Kemal Atatürk, took her under his wing. He gave her the name Gökçen ("related to the sky") and brought her to Ankara for more education. She completed her education at Üsküdar Girls College in Istanbul. In 1935, with war clouds over the horizon in Europe, the Turkish Aeronautical Association opened the country's first civil aviation school. Atatürk participated in the opening ceremony and named the school Türkkusu (Turkish Bird).

He enrolled Gökçen as the first female student. It was a revolutionary move in an Islamic country. Following initial glider training, she attended advanced training in the USSR with seven male Turkish students. All hoped to teach flying. Gökçen was an apt pilot and within a year returned to Turkey bearing her glider instructor's diploma. In 1936, she went on to military flight school in Eskisehir. Gökçen endured more than a year of rigorous basic and advanced training. Successful again, she earned her pilot wings in 1937. Flying extensively in French-built Breguet XIX and American-built Curtiss Hawk biplanes, Gökçen earned a place in history as the world's first combat-ready female pilot.

In 1937, she took part in maneuvers in Turkish Thrace and on the country's Aegean coast, and in combat operations in Eastern Anatolia. In the Dersim Operation, the First Air Regiment moved to Elazig to provide close air support for Turkish ground forces combating a foreign-provoked rebellion. Gökçen and other male pilots flew daily shifts. Her performance was superior, both as a pilot and observer. For this she was awarded the Turkish Aeronautical Association's first "Jeweled Medal." In 1938, she was invited to tour several nations of southeastern Europe. On 16 June, she began a 5-day tour flying a Vultee-V bomber. From Istanbul, she flew to Athens and Thessalonika in Greece, and then to Sofia, Bulgaria.

At her next stop, in Belgrade, the Chief of Yugoslavia's General Staff awarded her the "White Eagle," the country's highest military decoration. Her last stop was Bucharest, Romania. On this tour, she had flown nearly 2000 miles over the rugged mountains of the Balkans. Next, Gökçen was named Chief Instructor at the Türkkusu Flight School, where 3 years before she had earned her glider wings. In the 1950's, Gökçen made two trips to the United States, and in 1990 she was invited to India. She retired from active flying in 1964, having flown a long list of aircraft from France, Great Britain, Germany, the United States, and Turkey. The Fédéderation Aéronautique Internationale awarded Gökçen its Gold Medal in 1991 for outstanding achievements in aviation.

She is a member of many international associations, including the Ninety-Nines, the premier organization of American female aviators since 1925. There are statues of her at Türkkusu and at Headquarters, Turkish Air Force. The Turkish Aeronautical Association published her book, My Life Following in Atatürk's Footsteps, on the 100th anniversary of Atatürk's birth.
Welcome to the Air Command and Staff College Gathering of Eagles Homepage!

​

Lilya was born in Moscow in August 18, 1921. Lilya was her nickname, as her actual name was Lidiya. She was regarded by all as a "strikingly beautiful woman", which helped earn her public appreciation and, added to her success as a fighter pilot, served the propaganda ministry well.

She began her service in the all-woman 586th IAP, where she flew mostly defense missions from January to August 1942. In August she was posted to "male" squadrons because of her merits. The first was the 286th Fighter Division (IAD), then to the 437 IAP, which had recently been equipped with the new Lavochkin La-5. With this unit she got her first 2 air victories in September 13, 1943. She was sent as an attachment to the female flight of the 287 IAD, and served briefly in the 9th Guards IAP.

In the end of January, 1943, she was transferred to the 296th along with 2 other skilled women fighter pilots. On February 17, 1943, she was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. Two days later she was promoted to Junior Lieutenant and soon after to Senior Lieutenant.

On each side of her YaK-1's cockpit she painted a white lily, often confused for a rose—hence the nickname. She was so fond of flowers, that she often picked wildflowers and carried them aloft on her missions. According to her mechanic, Inna Pasportnikova, she had a postcard with yellow roses in her instrument panel. The white rose on the fuselage became famous among the Germans, who knew better than to try to dogfight the familiar YaK-1, and usually tried to make good their escape before Litvyak got too close.

Litvyak was injured 3 times during her combat tour. All three injuries occured during the Spring and Summer of 1943, a period of intense combat activity. The first time was on March 15, the same day that she shot down a Junkers Ju-88 bomber, but got hit by their escorting Me-109s (she continued to fly and bagged another Ju-88!). She managed to land at her base, and passed out and she remained in a hospital until May.

When she came back, the 296th IAP had been renamed the 73 Guards IAP for their exploits in battle. She was wounded again in combat in July 16 and 18 (the death-date of her comrade Katya Budanova). Both times she landed in German-ocuppied territory, but got back to base on foot the first time, and was rescued by another fighter pilot who landed after her the second.

She was repeatedly successful in flying missions, although was finally killed in action over Orel, while escorting a unit of Shturmoviks returning from an attack in August 1, 1943. Because of her notoriety amongst the Germans, eight Messerschmitt Me-109's concentrated solely on Lilya's YaK-1, and it took all eight of them to finally shoot down the "White Rose of Stalingrad". Her body and aircraft were not found during the war, but a marble monument, with 12 gold stars—one for each enemy plane that she had shot down—was erected in her memory in Krasy Luch, in the Donetsk region. Litvyak had completed 168 missions, and had 3 shared victories in addition to her personal twelve. She was 22 years old when she died.

Note: Some sources claim that she died in September the 1st, and not August. As with most details from the Great Patriotic War, 46 years of censorship has made it hard to be sure about anything.

Her remains were found at last in 1979, buried under her fallen YaK-1's wing, near the village of Dmitriyevka. Ten years later her body was recovered for an official burial; and in May 5, 1990 she was posthumously conferred the title of Hero of the Soviet Union by then Premier Mikhail Gorbachov.

​

Captain Katya Budanova flew with Lilya Litvyak in the 296 IAP, later renamed 73 Gv. IAP (Guards IAP). In the skies over Stalingrad, she once fought with a wingman against 12 enemy aircraft, ALONE against 13, and once with 3 other fighters against 19!

She was killed in combat in July 18, 1943, when 2 Messerschmitt Me-109s attacked her. Budanova dispensed with one, but the second managed to shoot her down and escape the battle with a damaged plane. She had a final score of 11 confirmed kills. The archivist of 586 IAP, Yekaterina Polunina, accounts that "she downed over 20 aircraft".

​

Leutenant Natalya Myeklin was a pilot for the Night Witches. She joined the Night Witches in 1942 when she was 19 years old, and flew 840 missions in three years.

She survived the war a very condecorated veteran, with medals including the Order of Lenin and the Soviet highest honor, the Hero of the Soviet Union gold star.

Actually the thing is you have got nothing absolutely nothing, to prove your point

 

[mkiyani]

Wow... beautiful girls ... women in uniform hot as hell ...

 

[Naradmuni]

U think all of this is RANT & not PRACTICAL EXAMPLES...
Hats off for you



Actually the thing is you have got nothing absolutely nothing, to prove your point

There is absoultely nothing to prove here. I am not against women.

I am sure wisdom will continue to prevail in armed forces of India. Their policies so far reflect my belief that National defence is no "show business".

All those examples - feel good stuff from the 40's of a 'communist' soviet regime !! Not sure what happened to them after that. Last heard was that USSR gradually discontinued the trend of female pilots untill 1970 and post that, female pilots were never assigned combat duties.

 

[DaRk WaVe]

There is absoultely nothing to prove here. I am not against women.

I am sure wisdom will continue to prevail in armed forces of India. Their policies so far reflect my belief that National defence is no "show business".

Of course you have nothing to prove, there is no way a person can prove his/her rant

Women dying, Bringing down experienced Luftwaffe Me-109 Pilots with inferior planes, Doing Night Bombing raids, a total of 4,419 sorties (per pilot), 29 Hero of the Soviet Union titles,15 to 18 missions a night, A woman convinced Stalin Stalin to allow her to organize three regiments of women flyers when Russians had very mere resources (as if Stalin was a dumb head) Is a SHOW BUSINESS
BTW do you know BSF recently deployed some Females ahem ahem

All those examples - feel good stuff from the 40's of a 'communist' soviet regime !! They stopped having female fighter pilots after that.

now Who's ranting?

 

[Naradmuni]

now Who's ranting?

Even in US and erstwhile USSR, having female pilots was more of a political decision rather than strategic one. Keeping 40's nostalgia aside, there have never been combat ops assigned to women ever, for reasons best known to the respective armies.

BTW do you know BSF recently deployed some Females ahem ahem

So what's the point? Dont try to make two twos a five.

I am not preaching talibanisation against women here.

If you are not aware already, according to the latest statistics there are 918 women officers serving in non-combat roles in the Indian army.

 

[DaRk WaVe]

Even in US and erstwhile USSR, having female pilots was more of a political decision rather than strategic one.

POLITICAL.......

How exactly???

For God sake man, they died for their country, Stalin was convinced by Roska to raise 3 more regiments in times when Russians were literally Doomed by Nazis & they had extreme shortage of weapons & stuff
read history...

So what's the point? Dont try to make two twos a five.

Ooops i think some one just got taste of his own medicine...

 

[Naradmuni]

POLITICAL.......

How exactly???

For the sake of being seen as the champions and promoters of "Gender equality".

As I have mentioned before, USSR gradually discontinued the trend of using female pilots for combat untill 1970 and post that, female pilots were never assigned combat duties. Neither have been anyone, anywhere else later, be it the Gulf wars, vietnam war, Afghan war, 6 day war, indo pak wars, NATO bombing yugoslavia, pakistans recent pounding of NW/SW etc.

For the very same reason that although politically advisible, it is strategically not feasible.

 

[dbc]

Neither have been anyone, anywhere else later, be it the Gulf wars, vietnam war, Afghan war, 6 day war, indo pak wars, NATO bombing yugoslavia, pakistans recent pounding of NA/SA etc.

Wrong not that I care about the mindless dribble posted by narrow minded sexists on PDF. But I don't want women aspiring to become combat aviators to read those words and become disheartened. Women pilots have flown combat missions during the first and subsequent gulf wars and continue to fly combat missions both in Afghanistan and Iraq. Women have on several occasions commanded multibillion dollar space shuttle missions.

Judging by IAF’s past performance including that of men like Brij Pal Singh Sikand I’d say send forth your women, at least they will not surrender without a flight and even if they do it won’t be as embarrassing for the IAF.

 

[Naradmuni]

Wrong not that I care about the mindless dribble posted by narrow minded sexists on PDF.

@ offtopic : I may be sexy, but definitely not a 'sexist'.

I go along with the wisdom of my armed forces. Nothing 'sexist' in that. Stop sounding like a gay rights activist.

Judging by IAF’s past performance including that of men like Brij Pal Singh Sikand I’d say send forth your women, at least they will not surrender

Wierd sense of logic. This implies, had Mrs. General A A K Niazi been the commanding officer of East pakistani army in 1971, the 90,000 odd soldiers would not have surrendered unconditionally without giving a fight.

 

[All-Green]

Women have served in conflicts and proved themselves able.
In a percentage there will be far less women that would qualify for such role than the men due to the bars being set high on the physical side of things...but those that qualify are not just a political statement...

Still from a perspective of love and affection for the fairer sex, i would hate to see them be killed in cold blood...war is murder...no denying that...it is always a hell to be in a war.

However i do not doubt that if a woman has what it takes to become a soldier, she can do a fine job of soldiering....mental discipline and an iron will make an excellent soldier...these qualities can be nurtured in any willing and resolute person, male or female.

 

[DANGER-ZONE]

I AM AGAINST IT
reason,
1-in starting and thruout the thread u've seen many guys commenting on styles,figures and appearence of f-pilots.
that cause our male pilots involved in CHANAY BAZI and then they will pay fully attention towards f-pilots and try to find different ways to impress them specially good ones.
RESULT-they will surly lose passion of flying and protection on country.
2-same reason can also be coated for f-pilots,that wat they will do do impress strong gud looking male pilots.
3-for female pilots merriage could become worse relationship for them,bcause thier husbend will never like to see their wives flying wid other m-pilots.i hope u people understand.
4-and after merriage f-pilots have to get a leave for 8-7 months.that will cause absence of good pilots in need

ya f-pilots can become deadliest fighter pilots but can cause deadliest disaster to m-pilots and to airforce as well.

acc to my point of view f-pilots are not necessary in PAF,but they must join as a DOC,acc to ISLAMIC history of GAZWAZ.where fmales take care of injurds and help them in bettle field

 

[dbc]

Wierd sense of logic. This implies, had Mrs. General A A K Niazi been the commanding officer of East pakistani army in 1971, the 90,000 odd soldiers would not have surrendered unconditionally without giving a fight.

You're not too bright are you? You had to go bring up East Pakistan, to help reinforce my point of view. A women, Indira Gandhi won you that war..

 

[Dr-Sangeen]

I have been contributing to this forum for almost two months now. During this i time i have fought with the sheer arrogance of the moderators and admins of this forum.

The final straw was when they closed my welcome thread, as some of my friends were posting there.

I asked them for a reason and the reply was and i quote " i shall consider myself lucky that it was allowed for that long..."

No I don't consider myself lucky at all, they shall consider themselves lucky that people, like myself, waste their time by posting on this web page.

As far as i am concern if my welcome thread is not good enough to be here then they don't deserve to have my other contributions to this forum either.

Hence i am withdrawing all my posts from this forum.

 

[Hulk]

Wow so hot fighter pilots, how of many of these are in service any idea?