Nina Ivanovna Rusakova (; – 12 November 1997) was one of the first female test pilots and the only woman awarded the title Honoured Test Pilot of the USSR.

Early life

Rusakova was born on in the village of Saguny in

Voronezh Region Voronezh Oblast (russian: Воронежская область, Voronezhskaya oblast) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Voronezh. Its population was 2,308,792 as of the 2021 Census. Geography V ...

, then part of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

. In 1933 she graduated from the Voronezh Aeroclub, and in January 1934 she graduated from the Voronezh Aviation Technical School, after which she immediately entered the military. That same year she graduated from the Orenburg Military Aviation School of Pilots before being deployed to Zhytomyr, where she flew

I-5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Californi ...

, DI-6 and I-16 fighters.

Military career

In July 1940 Rusakova flew as navigator in a flight crew composed of pilot-in-command Mariya Nesterenko and co-pilot Mariya Mikhaileva that attempted to break the distance world record for a straight-line women's flight, which had been previously established by

Valentina Grizodubova Valentina Stepanovna Grizodubova (russian: Валенти́на Степа́новна Гризоду́бова, uk, Валентина Степанівна Гризодубова ''Valentyna Stepanivna Hryzodubova''; in Kharkov – 28 April 199 ...

Polina Osipenko Polina Denisovna Osipenko (russian: Полина Денисовна Осипенко, uk, Поліна Денисівна Осипенко, translit=Polina Denysivna Osypenko; 8 October 1907 – 11 May 1939) was a Soviet Union, Soviet military pil ...

, and

Marina Raskova Marina Mikhaylovna Raskova ( rus, Мари́на Миха́йловна Раско́ва, , mɐˈrʲinə mʲɪˈxajləvnə rɐˈskovə; née Malinina; 28 March 1912 – 4 January 1943) was the first woman in the Soviet Union to achieve the diploma ...

in 1938. The flight took off in Khabarovsk and was supposed to reach

Mazyr russian: Мозырь , nickname = , image_skyline = Mazyr Montage (2017).jpg , imagesize = 250px , image_flag = , image_shield = Coat of Arms of Mazyr, Belarus.svg , image_map = , map_caption ...

, but due to a strong headwind combined with a thunderstorm and icing, the flight was forced to make an emergency landing in a field near the village of Isakovo in the

Sanchursky District Sanchursky District (russian: Са́нчурский райо́н) is an administrativeLaw #203-ZO and municipalLaw #284-ZO district (raion), one of the thirty-nine in Kirov Oblast, Russia. It is located in the southwest of the oblast. The area of ...

. The team flew nonstop for 22 hours and 32 minutes, but the attempt gained less publicity and was quickly forgotten. In 1940 Rusakova began her career as a test pilot at the State Red Banner Air Force Research Institute. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

she trained new pilots on Yakovlev and Lavochkin aircraft as well as the notoriously difficult and unforgiving

Petlyakov Pe-2 The Petlyakov Pe-2 (russian: Петляков Пе-2) was a Soviet twin-engine dive bomber used during World War II. One of the outstanding tactical attack aircraft of the war,Ethell 1996, p. 152. it also proved successful as a heavy fighter, as ...

in addition to testing various aircraft, including fighters, gliders, bombers, and reconnaissance planes. She reached the rank of colonel in 1955 and in 1959 she was awarded an honorary title "Merited Test Pilot of the USSR". Throughout her career she conducted test flights on various Soviet-made aircraft including the

DB-3 The Ilyushin DB-3, where "DB" stands for ''Dalniy Bombardirovschik'' (Russian: Дальний бомбардировщик) meaning "long-range bomber", was a Soviet bomber aircraft of World War II. It was a twin-engined, low-wing monoplane that f ...

Li-2 The Lisunov Li-2 (NATO reporting name: Cab), originally designated PS-84, was a license-built Soviet-version of the Douglas DC-3. It was produced by Factory #84 in Moscow-Khimki and, after evacuation in 1941, at TAPO in Tashkent. The proje ...

Il-2 The Ilyushin Il-2 (Russian: Илью́шин Ил-2) is a ground-attack plane that was produced by the Soviet Union in large numbers during the Second World War. The word ''shturmovík'' ( Cyrillic: штурмовик), the generic Russian term ...

, Il-10, Il-12, Il-14,

La-7 The Lavochkin La-7 (russian: Лавочкин Ла-7) was a piston-engined single-seat Soviet fighter aircraft developed during World War II by the Lavochkin Design Bureau. It was a development and refinement of the Lavochkin La-5, and the la ...

MiG-3 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-3) was a Soviet fighter-interceptor used during World War II. It was a development of the MiG-1 by the OKO (opytno-konstruktorskij otdel — Experimental Design Departme ...

Pe-2 The Petlyakov Pe-2 (russian: Петляков Пе-2) was a Soviet twin-engine dive bomber used during World War II. One of the outstanding tactical attack aircraft of the war,Ethell 1996, p. 152. it also proved successful as a heavy fighter, as ...

, SB, Tu-2,

Tu-4 The Tupolev Tu-4 (russian: Туполев Ту-4; NATO reporting name: Bull) is a piston-engined Soviet strategic bomber that served the Soviet Air Force from the late 1940s to mid-1960s. It was reverse-engineered from the American Boeing B-29 ...

Yak-3 The Yakovlev Yak-3 (Russian: Яковлев Як-3) was a single-engine, single-seat World War II Soviet fighter. Robust and easy to maintain, it was much liked by both pilots and ground crew.Glancey 2006, p. 180. One of the smallest and light ...

, and

Yak-7 The Yakovlev Yak-7 (russian: Яковлев Як-7) was developed from the earlier Yak-1 fighter, initially as a trainer but converted into a fighter. As both a fighter and later reverting to its original training role, the Yak-7 proved to be a ...

Later life

Rusakova retired with the rank of Colonel in 1961. She lived in the settlement of Chkalovsky in the Moscow Oblast until her death on 12 November 1997.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rusakova, Nina 1915 births 1997 deaths Soviet test pilots Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner Soviet World War II pilots Women air force personnel of the Soviet Union Russian women aviators Soviet women aviators