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Polikarpov Po-2

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Po-2 "Kukuruznik"
An airworthy Po-2 in Soviet markings at the Moscow MAKS air show.
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 (Template:Lang-ru, from Russian "kukuruza" (кукуруза) for maize).[1] The reliable, uncomplicated and forgiving aircraft served as a trainer and crop-duster. It is the second most produced aircraft, and the most produced biplane, in the history of aviation.

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. It was designed by Nikolai Polikarpov to replace the U-1 trainer (Avro 504). Its name was changed to Po-2 in 1944, after Polikarpov's death, according to the new Soviet naming system using designer's initials.

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. 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. It was especially useful for supplying Soviet partisans behind front line. Its low cost and easy maintenance led to a production run of over 40,000. Manufacture 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. 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. Luftwaffe fighters found it extremely hard to shoot down the Kukuruznik, because the stall speed (sic) of both the Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 exceeded the Soviet craft's maximum speed. The U-2 became famous especially as the plane used by the 588th Night Bomber Regiment, composed of all-women pilots and ground crew. 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. It is also likely that further demoralization to the enemy occurred due to the pilots being female, and causing significant but mostly intangible losses. As such, they earned the nickname "Night Witches" (German Nachthexen, Russian Ночные Ведьмы). 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).

North Korean forces used the Po-2 in a similar role in the Korean War (1950–1953). A significant number of Po-2s was fielded by the Korean People's Air Force, inflicting serious damage during night raids on Allied bases.[2] 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.

Variants and design stages

  • U-2: Basic model, built in large numbers as a two-seat primary trainer. It was also built in many different versions, both as civil and military aircraft. The U-2 variants also included a light transport, utility, reconnaissance and training aircraft. Power plant was the M-11 radial piston engine of 100 hp (75 kW). Later models were also equipped with uprated M-11 engines of 150 hp (110 kW). Some aircraft were fitted with a rear closed cabin, other were fitted with sledges or floats.
  • U-2A: Two-seat agricultural crop dusting aircraft, powered by a 115-hp (86-kW) M-11K radial piston engine. Later redesignated Po-2A after 1944.
  • U-2AO: Two-seat agricultural aircraft.
  • U-2AP: Agricultural aircraft, with a rear cab replaced with a container for 200-250 kg of chemicals. 1235 were built in 1930-1940.
  • U-2G: This experimental aircraft had all the controls linked to the control column. One aircraft only.
  • U-2KL: Two aircraft fitted with a bulged canopy over the rear cabin.
  • U-2LSh: Two-seat ground-attack, close-support aircraft . The aircraft were armed with one 7.7-mm (0.303-inch) ShKAS machine-gun in the rear cockpit. It could also carry up to 264-lb (120-kg) of bombs and four RS-82 rockets. Also known as the U-2VOM-1.
  • U-2LPL: Experimental prone-pilot research aircraft.
  • U-2M: This floatplane version was fitted with a large central float and two small stabilishing floats. Not built in large numbers. Also known as the MU-2.
  • U-2P: Floatplane version, built only in limited numbers, in several variants with different designations.
  • U-2S: Air ambulance version, built from 1934. It could take a physician and an injured on a stretcher on a rear fuselage, under a cover. Variant U-2S-1 from 1939 had a raised fuselage top upon the stretcher. From 1941 there were also used two containers for stretechers, that could be fitted over lower wings or two containers for two seating injured each, fitted under lower wings.
  • U-2SS: Air ambulance aircraft.
  • U-2ShS: Staff liaison version, built from 1943. It had a wider fuselage and a closed 4-place rear cab.
  • U-2SP: Civil transport version, could carry two passengers in open individual cabs, built from 1933. Other roles included aerial survey, and aerial photography. 861 were buiilt between 1934 and 1939.
  • U-2SPL: This limousune version was fitted with rear cabin for two passengers.
  • U-2UT: Two-seat training aircraft, powered by a 115-hp (86-kW) M-11D radial piston engine. Built in limited numbers.
  • U-2LNB: Soviet Air Force night attack version, built from 1942. Armed with one 7.62 mm (0.303-inch) ShKAS machine gun, plus up to 250 kg of bombs under the wings for land support. Earlier aircraft were converted to improvised bombers from 1941.
  • 'U-2VS : Two-seat training and utility aircraft. Later redesignated Po-2VS after 1944.
  • U-2NAK: Two-seat night artillery observation, reconnaissance aircraft. Built from 1943.
  • U-3: Improved flying training model, fitted a 200-hp (149-kW) M-48 engine.
  • U-4: Cleaned-up version with slimmer fuselage. Not built in large numbers.
  • -(Total U-2 manufacture: 33,000)
  • Po-2: Basic post-war trainer variant.
  • Po-2A: Post-war agricultural variant.
  • Po-2GN: "Voice from the sky" propaganda aircraft, fitted with a loud speaker.
  • Po-2L : Limousone version with an enclosed passenger cabin.
  • Po-2P : Post-war flotplane version. Built in small numbers.
  • Po-2S: Post-war air ambulance variant, with a closed rear cab.
  • Po-2S-1: Post-war ambulance version, similar to the pre-war U-2S.
  • Po-2S-2: Post-war ambulance version, powered by a M-11D radial piston engine.
  • Po-2S-3: Post-war ambulance version, which had two underwing containers, each one was designed to transport one stretcher patient. Also known as the Po-2SKF.
  • Po-2ShS: Staff communications aircraft, fitted with an enclosed cabin for the pilot and two or three passengers.
  • Po-2SP: Post-war aerial photography, geographic survey aircraft.
  • RV-23: This floatplane version of the U-2 was built in 1937. It was used in a number of seaplane altitude record attempts. The RV-23 was powered by a 710-hp (529-kW) R-1820-F3 Cyclone radial piston engine.
  • CSS-13: Polish licence version, built in Poland in WSK-Okęcie and WSK-Mielec after World War II (about 500 built in 1948-1956).
  • CSS S-13: Polish ambulance version with a closed rear cab and cockpit and Townend ring (53 built in WSK-Okęcie in 1954-1955, 38 converted to S-13).
  • E-23: Research version, built in the Soviet Union in 1934, for research into inverted flight.

Operators

File:World operators of the Po-2.png
Po-2 operators
File:Po-2LNB PICT0044.jpg
U-2LNB night attack plane of the Polish 2nd Night Bomber Regiment "Kraków"
(in Polish Aviation Museum)
File:Polikarpov Po 2.jpg
Polikarpov Po-2 with Yugoslav markings, Museum of Aviation in Belgrade, Serbia
Template:ALB
Template:PRC
Template:CZS
Template:FIN
Template:FRA
Template:Country data Germany
Template:DDR
Template:HUN
Template:MGL
Template:PRK
Template:POL
Template:ROM
Template:USSR
Template:TUR
  • Turkish Air League (Turk Hava Kurumu) received two U-2s which were given to Turkey as a gift from Russia in 1933 on the occasion of the 10 years anniversary of the Turkish Republic.
Template:YUG
Yugoslavian Air Force
  • 4th Bomber Aviation Division
  • Independent Units
    • Reconnaissance Aviation Regt - Sarajevo
    • 1st Transport Aviation Regt - Beograd

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.

Specifications (U-2)

General characteristics

  • Crew: 1, pilot/instructor
  • Capacity: 1, passenger/student
  • Length: 8.17 m (26 ft 10 in)
  • Wingspan: 11.40 m (37 ft 5 in)
  • Height: 3.10 m (10 ft 2 in)
  • Wing area: 33.2 m² (357 ft²)
  • Empty weight: 770 kg (1,700 lb)
  • Loaded weight: 1,030 kg (2,266 lb)
  • Useful load: 260 kg (572 lb)
  • Max takeoff weight: 1,350 kg (2,980 lb)
  • Powerplant: 1× Shvetsov M-11D 5-cylinder radial engine, 92 kW (125 hp)

Performance

Armament

(U-2VS / LNB only)


References

  1. ↑ , NATO reporting name of "Mule". [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.
  2. ↑ Dorr 2003, p. 50
  3. ↑ "Historical Listings", World Air Forces
  • Dorr, Robert F. B-29 Superfortress units of the Korean War, Oxford 2003, Osprey Publishing, ISBN 1-84176654-2
  • Szewczyk, Witold. Samolot wielozadaniowy Po-2, TBiU #74, Wydawnictwo MON, Warsaw 1981, ISBN 83-11-06668-X Template:Pl icon

External links

See also

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v • d • e
Lists relating to aviation
GeneralTimeline of aviation · Aircraft · Aircraft manufacturers · Aircraft engines · Aircraft engine manufacturers · Airports · Airlines
MilitaryAir forces · Aircraft weapons · Missiles · Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) · Experimental aircraft
Notable incidents
and accidents		Military aviation · Airliners · General aviation · Famous aviation-related deaths
RecordsFlight airspeed record · Flight distance record · Flight altitude record · Flight endurance record · Most produced aircraft

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