This Po-2 was manufactured in the Soviet Union in 1937 and is a WWII veteran, serving with the Red Army until 1945, when it was donated to Yugoslavia along with about 80 other machines. It flew with the Yugoslav Army and then in local aeroclub service as YU-CWJ and then YU-CMY. Between the years 2004-2005 the plane was completely restored and an original Švecov M-11FR engine re-installed, after which the plane was re-registered S5-MAY. In May 2014 it was acquired by this museum specialising in early aviation and flown over the Slovenian and Austrian Alps to Mladá Boleslav for display.

Photographed just before sunset. Year built:- 1944

I'm not really interested in taking pictures of planes stored indoors...but on the flight across the Atlantic I was reading in one of the aviation mags a very interesting article about the female 'Night Witches' who flew these biplanes with extreme bravery and under appalling conditions on the Eastern Front during WWII. In order to maintain the element of surprise the pilots would cut the engine and glide over the German lines before jettisoning their bombs, restarting the engine and hopefully escaping.

A stunning, rare 1944 built aircraft

Formerly F-AZPN, this late production Po-2 has a 1956 M-11FR engine. The Cyrillic slogan reads 'Death to the Fascists'.