Lilya Livyak

[noxioux]

Lidiya "Lilya" Vladimirovna Litvyak, after being shot down by the concerted effort of no less than 8 German Me-109's, was gravely wounded.  She miraculously survived the shoot-down, and was nursed back to health, against all odds, in a dirty hospital a few miles outside of Moscow.

The war dragged on.  The Germans had stalled the Allied invasion of Europe, and had been contained in a sort of on-off fashion on the Russian front.

Instead of returning to her unit, Lilya was transferred to an experimental unit that worked directly with new American aircraft being considered for Lend-Lease.  She began an evaluation of a rare naval fighter--the F8F Bearcat, or as the Russian crews began to call it: "Rossomakha", or "wolverine". The fighter, which used the FW-190 as a development model, was too lightly armed for russian tastes.  In the grand Soviet spirit of innovation, the crews adapted a pod mounted M4 37mm cannon taken from a wrecked Airacobra.  Lilya immediately began to make up lost time, at the expense of the German fighter and bomber pilots.

Lilya was already well-known by the Germans, but her new aircraft became an immediate sensation among both Soviet and German Pilots, who often commented (either in terror or admiration) upon the pretty white lily painted on the side of such a ferocious beast.  An image that speaks volumes on the delicacy and ferocity of the archetypical Soviet Fighting Woman.

The "White Rose of Stalingrad's" numerous victories became too much to count, and there is no reliable number after her 25th victory:  A wayward TA 400 heavy bomber that had mistakenly violated Soviet airspace while on post-war alert.  This victory cemented Lilya's place in history, as the USSR was able to recover an early functional German atomic bomb from the wreckage, severely blacking the eyes of the Luftwaffe.

As the Great Patriotic War ground to into an extended stalemate, and the world powers settled into an extended period of military buildup and weapons development, Lilya took command of the first Soviet jet-powered squadron, flying the very last Lend-Lease aircraft:  The North American F-86 Sabre.  This time, the white lily graced the sides of an entire squadron, giving German pilots much to think about while they patrolled the Western Frontier.

Lidiya Vladimirovna Litvyak ended her career as she began it:  Embodying the very essence of a Hero of the Soviet Union.

[jcf]

That's very nice, John.

I trust they modified the cannon to use electrical ignition of the primers
for ease of synchronization with the prop? 

[Ed S]

Clever story, well done model.  Good Job!



Ed

[NARSES2]

Nice 

[GTX]

Nice 

What he said.

Regards,

Greg

[Weaver]

Excellent - nice one! 

[lancer]

Really nicely done.

[proditor]

Fantastic finish, just beautiful. 

[ysi_maniac]

Wonderful idea and realization