Posted on 07/08/2025 11:09:02 AM PDT by SmokingJoe
Marina Raskova (March 28, 1912 – January 4, 1943) was a pioneering Soviet aviator, navigator, and military commander, often compared to Amelia Earhart for her fame and achievements. Born in Moscow to a middle-class family, she initially pursued music, dreaming of becoming an opera singer like her father, Mikhail Malinin. After his death in 1919 and a middle ear infection that ended her singing ambitions, she turned to aviation. Raskova became the first woman in the Soviet Union to earn a professional air navigator diploma in 1933 and the first female instructor at the Zhukovsky Air Force Academy. She set multiple long-distance flight records, including the famous 1938 "Flight of the Rodina," a 5,908.61 km journey from Moscow to the Far East with Polina Osipenko and Valentina Grizodubova, earning them the Hero of the Soviet Union award—the first women to receive it.During World War II, Raskova leveraged her influence with Joseph Stalin to form three all-female air regiments: the 586th Fighter Aviation Regiment, the 587th Bomber Aviation Regiment (which she led), and the 588th Night Bomber Regiment, later known as the "Night Witches." These units flew over 30,000 sorties, with the 587th using Petlyakov Pe-2 dive bombers. Her regiments produced at least 30 Heroes of the Soviet Union.Raskova died in a plane crash near Saratov in 1943 during a ferry mission in poor weather. She received the first state funeral of the war, and her ashes were interred in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis. Her legacy endures in Russia, with streets, schools, and a postage stamp honoring her.
Aviation Ping!...................
There is a Soviet Night Witch airplane (fully restored and flyable) at the Flying Heritage Collection in Everett WA.
To fly one of these at night, let alone bomb and harass from them, was remarkable in itself.
My former fiancée from the 90s was heavily involved in this historical event in a commemorative
She was a fine west Texas girl
Her and Reba McIntyres pilot recreated the Rodina flute
https://musicrow.com/2013/07/lifenotes-nikki-mitchell/
Wow...
“ To fly one of these at night, let alone bomb and harass from them, was remarkable in itself. ”
Seriously. For that reason I tend to doubt that “weather “ did her in as they seemed to imply. Crap weather and an equipment malfunction maybe.
One of only three women I’ve loved in my 67 years
Her daddy flew air America for decades and ranched
She was top shelf but I wanted a family and she wanted more
To be somebody
I’m glad for three years with her
She loved daddy which is always good
It took a lot to pull me away from her and seek someone more in line with my conventional goals in marriage
I got to know Waylon and Jesse fairly well and they were wonderful to my dad as he died
Especially Jesse
Which my dad of course loved lol
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