Guards Lieutenant Natalya Fedorovna Meklin, Hero of the Soviet Union

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Guards Lieutenant Natalya Fedorovna Meklin, Hero of the Soviet Union. (Colorized by Olga Shirnina: “Color by Klimbim.” Image used with permission.)

23 February 1945: Guards Lieutenant Natalya Fedorovna Meklin, a senior pilot with the 46th Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment, 325th Night Bomber Aviation Division, 4th Air Army, was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union by decree of the Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. This was in acknowledgement of the 840 combat missions that Lieutenant Meklin had flown to date. She was also awarded the Order of Lenin with Gold Star. The medals were presented to her by Marshal Konstantin Rokossovsky, 8 March 1945, while she was on duty in Poland. By the end of The Great Patriotic War, she had flown 982 combat sorties.

Natalya Fedorovna Meklin, circa 1940

Natalya Fedorovna Meklin was born 8 September 1922, at Lubny, Poltava, Ukraine. As a teenager, she attended High School No. 79 in Kiev, where she participated in gymnastics and competitive small-bore rifle and pistol shooting. She graduated in 1940.

Following high school, Natalya Fedorovna learned to fly at the Kiev Young Pioneer Palace glider school. In 1941 she went to the Moscow Aviation Institute. During July and August the students were sent to Bryansk to dig tank traps as defense against the Nazi invasion.

Inspired by famed Soviet pilot Marina Mikailovna Raskova, in October 1941 Natalya Fedorovna joined the women’s aviation regiments being formed by Raskova. She was sent to the Engels Military Aviation School, near Saratov, Russia, where she spent seven months in training as a pilot and navigator. Graduating in May 1942, Lieutenant Meklin was assigned to the 588th Night Bomber Aviation Regiment as chief of communications. The unit was then fighting on the southern Caucasian Front.

The women in the night bomber regiments made night attacks behind enemy lines flying the Polikarpov U-2 light bomber. They often approached their target at very low altitude and made gliding attacks. Their effect was to demoralize enemy soldiers and keep them awake. The Germans called them die Nacthexen (the Night Witches).

Lieutenant Meklin circa April 1943. She is wearing the Order of the Red Star and Order of the Patriotic War.

Lieutenant Meklin was awarded the Order of the Red Star on 19 October 1942. In 1943, she became a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Comrade Melkin flew 380 combat sorties as a navigator, and was then assigned as a pilot.

In February 1943, the 588th Aviation Regiment was redesignated the 46th Guards Night Bomber Aviation Unit. On 27 April 1943, Guards Lieutenant Meklin was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, Second Class.

The following year, 14 April 1944, Lieutenant Meklin was awarded the first of three Orders of the Red Banner. A second followed on 14 December 1944, and the third, 15 June 1945.

Following The Great Patriotic War, Lieutenant Meklin’s status became that of a reserve officer. For the next two years, she studies at Moscow University, then in 1947, returned to active duty. She rose to the rank of major. She attended the Military Institute of Foreign Languages, graduating in 1953, and served as a translator in the 6th Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, where she was involved in the development of proposals for the production of various types of nuclear weapons, and preparation and coordination of tactical and technical requirements of nuclear weapons.

In January 1956, Major Meklin married  Yuri Fedorovich Kravtsov, and she assumed the name Kravtsova.

Major Natalya F. Kravtsova retired from the Air Force in September 1957. She was employed as a supervising editor at the Publishing House of Military Technical Literature in 1960, and then in 1961 as a translator/editor inn the Bureau of Foreign Military Literature.

On 11 March 1985, Natalya Fedorovna was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, First Class.

Natalya Fedorovna Kravtsova with her son, circa 1960.

Comrade Kravtsova was the author of many articles and books, the last being We Were Called Night Witches (published in 2005).

Natalya Fedorovna Kravtsova, Hero of the Soviet Union, died 5 June 2005, in Moscow. Her remains were interred at the Troyekurovskoye Cemetery in Moscow.

Three-view illustration with dimensions in millimeters. (Самолет У-2 manual)
Михаи́л Миха́йлович Гро́мов

The Самолет У-2 (Airplane U-2) was designed by Nikolai Nikolaevich Poliparkov as a basic trainer. It made its first flight 7 January 1928 with test pilot M.M. Gromov. The airplane was produced in two- and three-place variants, some with an enclosed rear cabin. A float plane was also built.

Airplane U-2 was a single-engine, single bay biplane, constructed of a wire-braced wood framework, covered with fabric. There were ailerons on upper and lower wings. It was 8.170 meters (26 feet, 9.7 inches) long, with an upper wing span of 11.400 meters (37 feet, 4.8 inches), and lower span of 10.654 meters (34 feet, 10.9 inches). The wings’ chord was 1.650 meters (5 feet, 5 inches). The vertical gap between wings was 1.777 meters (5 feet, 10 inches), and the lower wing was staggered 0.800 meters (2 feet, 7.5 inches) behind the upper wing. The wings had 2° dihedral, and an angle of incidence of 2° 20′.

The U-2 was powered by a normally-aspirated, air-cooled, 8.590 liter (524.212-cubic-inch-displacement) Shvetsov M-11 five-cylinder radial engine, driving a two-bladed fixed-pitch wooden propeller. The engine produced 90 horsepower at 1,520–1,560 r.p.m.; 100 horsepower from 1,580–1,600 r.p.m.; and a maximum 110 horsepower at 1,650–1,670 r.p.m. The M-11 weighed 165 kilograms (364 pounds).

The U-2 was first armed in 1941. It could carry 350 kilograms (771 pounds) of bombs. A single 7.62×54mmR Shpitalny-Komaritskie (ShKAS) revolver machine gun was mounted in the rear cockpit.

The U-2 was redesignated Polikarpov Po-2 following the War. It was in production from 1928 to 1952. Sources vary as to the number built, ranging from 20,000 to 40,000.

Группа легких бомбардировщиков У-2 271-й ночной бомбардировочной авиационной дивизии летит на задание (“A group of U-2 light bombers of the 271st Night Bomber Aviation Division is flying on a mission.”)
Cemetery

© 2021, Bryan R. Swopes

22 February 1974

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ALLEN, Barbara Ann, LTJG, USN, by Martin Blahove, 1974
Lieutenant (j.g.) Barbara Ann Allen, U.S. Navy. Oil on canvas, by Marcus Blahove, 1974. (National Naval Aviation Museum, LI2004.001.001)

22 February 1974: At Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas, Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Barbara Ann Allen, United States Navy, received her Wings of Gold and designation as a Naval Aviator. She was the first woman to be so designated.

Barbara Ann Allen was born 20 August 1948 at Bethesda Naval Hospital, the third child of Bill Reed Allen, a U.S. Navy chief petty officer, and Marguerite Oleta Yates Allen. She attended Lakewood High School, Lakewood, California, graduating in 1966. She then studied at Long Beach City College where she was on the dean’s list for four consecutive semesters. She transferred to Whittier College, Whittier, California, where she graduated in 1969.

Miss Allen applied for and was accepted to the U.S. Navy Officer Candidate School at Newport, Rhode Island. On completion, she was commissioned as an Ensign, United States Naval Reserve, 18 December 1970.

Ensign Allen was assigned to at Amphibious Warfare Base, Little Creek, Virginia, followed by staff assignments at Atlantic Fleet headquarters, Norfolk, Virginia. She was promoted to lieutenant (junior grade), 18 March 1972. Lieutenant (j.g.) Allen was accepted for pilot training at NAS Pensacola, Florida, in February 1973.

Pensacola, Florida: The first four women chosen to undergo flight training. From left, LTJG. Barbara Allen of Chula Vista, California; ENS. Jane M. Skiles of Des Moines, Iowa; LTJG. Judith A. Neuffer of Wooster, Ohio; and ENS. Kathleen L. McNary of Plainfield, Illinois.
These are the first four women chosen to undergo U.S. Naval flight training. Left to right: Lieutenant (j.g.) Barbara Ann Allen, Ensign Jane M. Skiles, Lieutenant (j.g.) Judith A. Neuffer and Ensign Kathleen L. McNary. (U.S. Navy)

After completing 230 hours of flight training at Pensacola and NAS Corpus Christi, Lieutenant (j.g.) Allen received her pilot’s wings. She was assigned to Fleet Logistics Support Squadron THIRTY (VR-30), based at NAS Alameda, California, where she flew the Grumman C-1A Trader, a twin-engine Carrier On-Board Delivery (“COD”) transport. She also became the first woman in the Navy to qualify in a jet-powered aircraft, the North American Aviation T-39 Sabreliner.

A Grumman C-1A Trader, Bu. No. 146053, circa 1974. (U.S. Navy)
A Grumman C-1A Trader, Bu. No. 146053, circa 1974. (U.S. Navy)

On 6 April 1974, Barbara Ann Allen married Lieutenant (j.g.) John C. Rainey, U.S. Navy, at Los Angeles, California. Lieutenant Rainey was a 1972 graduate of the United States Naval Academy, whom Lieutenant Allen had met during flight training. They would have two daughters, Cynthia and Katherine.

Lieutenant (j.g.) Allen (now, Rainey) was promoted to lieutenant, 1 January 1975. In 1977, she transferred to Fleet Logistics Support Squadron FIFTY-THREE (VR-53) at Dallas, Texas, where she flew the four-engine Douglas C-118B Liftmaster.

A U.S. Navy Douglas C-118B Liftmaster, Bu. No. 131600, of VR-53, 1978. (Unattributed)
A U.S. Navy Douglas C-118B Liftmaster, Bu. No. 131600, of VR-53, 1978. (Unattributed)

When she became pregnant, Lieutenant Barbara Rainey was released from active duty on her request, 23 November 1977. There was considerable coverage in the news media on the adverse effects of pregnacy and child-rearing on the career of a female naval officers.

On 14 October 1981, Lieutenant Commander Barbara Ann Allen Rainey was recalled to active duty with the rank of lieutenant commander and assigned as a flight instructor with Training Squadron THREE (VT-3) at NAS Whiting Field, Florida.

This Beech T-34C Turbo Mentor, Bu. No. 160955, is the sister ship of the airplane in which LCDR Rainey and her student, ENS Knowlton, were killed, 13 July 1982. (Photograph © Andrew J. Muller. Used with permission.)
This Beech T-34C Turbo Mentor, Bu. No. 160953, is the sister ship of the airplane in which LCDR Rainey and her student, ENS Knowlton, were killed, 13 July 1982. (Photograph © Andrew J. Muller. Used with permission.)

At 10:20 a.m., 13 July 1982, while practicing touch-and-go landings at Middleton Field, Alabama, Lieutenant Commander Barbara Ann Rainey and her student, Ensign Donald B. Knowlton, were killed in a crash. While in the traffic pattern, their Beechcraft T-34C Turbo Mentor, a single-engine, two-place training airplane, Bu. No. 160955, suddenly banked to the right, lost altitude and crashed. The cause of the accident is unknown. It is attributed to pilot error, but the engine had been operating at reduced power and there may have been a “rollback” (an uncommanded deceleration).

A product liability lawsuit, Beech Aircraft Corporation v. Rainey, was decided in the plaintiff’s favor by the Supreme Court of the United States. [488 U.S. 153 (1988)]

Lieutenant Commander Barbara Ann Allen Rainey, United States Naval Reserve, was buried at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia.

Naval Aviator Wings

© 2025, Bryan R. Swopes

22 February 1928

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Herbert John Louis Hinkler, AFC, DSM. (State Library of Queensland)
Herbert John Louis Hinkler, A.F.C., D.S.M. (State Library of Queensland)

22 February 1928: Herbert John Louis Hinkler arrived at Darwin, Northern Territories, Australia, after flying solo from Croydon, London, England. He had departed Croydon on 7 February, flying his Avro 581E Avian, G-EBOV. He had navigated by using a London Times atlas.

The previous record time for the 11,000 miles (18,000 kilometers) had been 28 days. An estimated 10,000 spectators watched his arrival.

The government of Australia awarded Bert Hinkler a prize of £2,000. He was appointed a squadron leader in the Royal Australian Air Force Reserve and awarded the Air Force Cross.

Herbert Hinkler, DSM, with his Avro 581E Avian, G-EBOV, before their departure from England, February 1928. (LIFE Magazine)
Herbert J. L. Hinkler, D.S.M., with his Avro 581E Avian, G-EBOV, before their departure from England, February 1928. (LIFE Magazine)
Petty Officer Herber J.L. Hinlker, RNAS, with No. 28 Squadron, 1918.
Petty Officer Herbert J. L. Hinkler, R.N.A.S., with No. 28 Squadron, 1918.

During World War I, Bert Hinkler had served as an aerial gunner in the Royal Naval Air Service. He served in France. He was trained as a pilot, serving in Italy with the Royal Air Force.

After the War, Hinkler went to work for A. V. Roe & Co.,, Ltd., where he was the Chief Test Pilot from 1921 to 1926. He then flew with England’s Schneider Trophy racing team.

Avro 581 Avian G-EBOV had been the prototype Avian. (Production Avians were designated 594.) The airplane had been successfully raced for several years in England before it was modified to the 581E standard for Hinkler’s flight to Australia. The airplane was powered by an 80 horsepower A.D.C. Aircraft Cirrus II engine.

Bert Hinkler was later the first pilot to fly an airplane solo across the South Atlantic Ocean. He was killed 7 January 1933 when he crashed into a mountain in Italy.

.Bert Hinkler arriving in Queensland, Australia with his Avro 581E Avian, G-EBOV, 1928.
Bert Hinkler arriving in Queensland, Australia with his Avro 581E Avian, G-EBOV, 1928.
Herbert J.L. Hinkler's Avro 581E Avian, G-EBOV, in the collection of the Queensland Museum South Bank, Corner of Grey & Melbourne Streets, South Bank, South Brisbane. (Detail from photograph by Peter Lewis)
Herbert J. L. Hinkler’s Avro 581E Avian, G-EBOV, in the collection of the Queensland Museum South Bank, Corner of Grey & Melbourne Streets, South Bank, South Brisbane. (Detail from photograph by Peter Lewis)

Hinkler’s airplane, G-EBOV, was the first A. V. Roe and Company, Limited, Avro 581 Avian prototype, c/n 5116. It received its Certificate of Registration 7 July 1926. The prototype was originally equipped with an air-cooled Armstrong Siddely Genet 5 cylinder radial engine. The radial engine was replaced with an A.D.C. Cirrus II inline 4-cylinder engine and the airplane was redesignated 581A.

The Avian was sold to Bert Hinkler and registered to him by the Air Ministry, 4 July 1927. G-EBOV received further modifications, including shortened wings, for Hinkler’s planned long distance flight. It was again redesignated, this time as 581E.

The A.D.C. Cirrus Mark II was an air-cooled, normally-aspirated 304.66-cubic-inch-displacement (4.993 liter) four-cylinder vertical inline engine. This was a right-hand tractor, direct-drive, overhead-valve engine with two valves per cylinder and a compression ratio of 4.9:1. It had a normal power rating of 75 horsepower at 1,800 r.p.m. and a maximum power rating of 80 horsepower at 2,000 r.p.m. The engine drove a two-bladed, fixed-pitch propeller. The Cirrus Mk.II was 3 feet, 9.3 inches (1.151 meters) long, 1 foot, 7 inches wide (0.483 meters) and 2 feet, 11.6 inches (0.904 meters) high. It weighed 280 pounds (127 kilograms).

© 2019, Bryan R. Swopes

22 February 1925

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Captain Sir Geoffrey de Havilland, OM, CBE, AFC, RDI, FRAeS (27 July 1882–21 May 1965)
Captain Geoffrey de Havilland, O.B.E., in the cockpit of an airplane, circa 1925. (Topical Press Agency/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

22 February 1925: At the de Havilland Aircraft Company airfield at Stag Lane, Edgware, London, Geoffrey de Havilland, O.B.E., took his new DH.60 Moth, c/n 168 (later registered G-EBKT), for its first flight.

The DH.60 was a light-weight, two-place, single-engine, single-bay biplane. The fuselage was constructed of plywood and the wings and tail surfaces were covered with fabric. The Moth was 23 feet, 5½ inches (7.150 meters) long with a wingspan of 29 feet, 0 inches (8.839 meters) and overall height of 8 feet, 9½ inches (2.680 meters). The airplane was designed so that the wings could be folded parallel to the fuselage, giving it an approximate width of 9 feet (2.7 meters).

The wings had a chord of 4 feet, 3 inches and the lower wing was staggered slightly behind the upper. Their total area was 229.0 square feet (21.3 square meters). The vertical gap between the wings was 4 feet, 10 inches (1.473 meters) and lower wing was staggered 3 inches (7.62 centimeters) behind the upper. Both wings had 3.5° angle of incidence and 3.5° dihedral. There was no sweep.

The DH.60 had an empty weight of 764 pounds (346.6 kilograms) and its gross weight was 1,650 pounds (748 kilograms).

An A.D.C. Cirrus aircraft engine at the Science Museum, London. (Nimbus227)

The Moth was powered by an air-cooled, normally-aspirated 4.503 liter (274.771-cubic-inch-displacement A.D.C. Aircraft Ltd., Cirrus inline 4-cylinder overhead valve engine with two valves per cylinder and a compression ratio of 5.4:1. The direct-drive engine produced 60 horsepower at 1,800 r.p.m., and 65 horsepower at 2,000 r.p.m. The Cirrus was 0.983 meters (3.225 feet) long, 0.908 meters (2.979 feet) high and 0.450 meters (1.476 feet) wide. It weighed 260 pounds (118 kilograms). The A.D.C. Cirrus was designed by Major Frank Bernard Halford, who later designed the de Havilland Gipsy engine, as well as the Goblin and Ghost turbojet engines.

De Havilland built 8 pre-production and 31 production DH.60 Moths. 595 DH.60s of all variants were produced at Stag Lane.

The prototype de Havilland Aircraft Company DH.60 Moth, G-EBKT.
The prototype de Havilland Aircraft Company DH.60 Moth, G-EBKT. (Unattributed)

On 29 May 1925, Alan Cobham flew the prototype from Croydon to Zurich and back in 14 hours, 49 minutes. Cobham also flew the Moth in The Kings Cup Air Race, though weather forced him to land short of the finish. It placed second in a follow-up race.

The G-EBKT was used as a demonstrator for de Havilland for a brief time before being sold to Sophie C. Elliot Lynn, 26 March 1926. She flew the Moth in the Paris Concours d’Avions Economiques in August 1926. (Mrs. Elliott Lynn later became Mary, Lady Heath.)

Sophie Elliott Lynn with her pale blue de Havilland DH.60 Moth, G-EBKT. (Unattributed)
Sophie Catherine Elliot Lynn with her pale blue de Havilland DH.60 Moth, G-EBKT. (A Fleeting Peace)

In 1927, G-EBKT was sold to the London Aeroplane Club. It crashed at Dennis Lane, Stanmore, Middlesex, 21 August 1927, injuring the pilot and a passenger:

On Sunday afternoon, Pilot Officer Stanley Pritchard-Barrett, flying on D.H. “Moth” G-EBKT with his wife as passenger, crashed in the grounds of the residence of Major Sir Maurice FitzGerald,Bt. He was severely injured about his head, and his wife, who was a passenger, had a leg broken. The machine fell from a height of about 90 ft.

The London Aeroplane Club “Moth” is apparently a complete write-off.

—Flight

G-EBKT’s registration was cancelled 20 January 1928.

© 2019, Bryan R. Swopes

22 February 1912

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Jules Charles Toussaint Védrines (Science Photo Library)

22 February 1912: At 4:06 a.m., at the Aerodrome Deperdussin, Pau, France, Jules Charles Toussaint Védrines took off in the 1912 Société de Production des Aéroplanes Deperdussin (SPAD) Monoplane, and began to fly it around a 5 kilometer (3.1 miles) course, to cover a total distance of 200 kilometers (124.3 miles). The flight was timed by M. Maurice Martin.

Védrines’ time at 50 kilometers (31.07 miles) was 19 minutes, 3-4/5 seconds, for an average speed of 157.37 kilometers per hour (97.79 miles per hour); at 100 kilometers (63.14 miles), 37 minutes 58-2/5 seconds, 159.44 km/h (99.07 miles per hour); 150 kilometers (93.21 miles), 56 minutes, 41-2/5 seconds, 158.76 kilometers per hour (98.65 miles per hour); and 200 kilometers (124.27 miles), 1 hour, 15 minutes, 20-4/5 seconds, 159.26 kilometers per hour (98.96 miles per hour).¹

Various sources (e.g., Wikipedia) credit Jules Védrines with having made the first flight at a speed of 100 miles per hour, although his highest average speed, measured at the 100 kilometer mark, was actually a fraction of a mile per hour less.

The Deperdussin monoplane was 7.0 meters (22 feet, 11.6 inches) long, with a wingspan of 6.25 meters (20 feet 6.1 inches) and height of 2.30 meters (7 feet, 6.6 inches). Its wing area was 9.3 square meters (100.1 square feet).

It was powered by an air-cooled Société des Moteurs Gnôme Lambda Lamda two-row, 14-cylinder rotary engine rated at 140 horsepower, driving a two-bladed Chauvière Hélice Intégrale propeller, with a diameter of  2.50 meters (8 feet, 2.4 inches).

Deperdussin Monoplane. (l’Aerophile, 1 March 2012, at Page 111)

¹ Timing data from l’Aerophile: Revue Technique & Pratique des Locomotions Aériennes, 20ᵐᵉ Année, N° 5, 1 March 1912, Page 112, Column 1.

© 2023, Bryan R. Swopes