Stalin's Falcons: the 586th Fighter Aviation Regiment

Minerva: Quarterly Report on Women and the Military, Fall-Winter, 2000 by Reina Pennington

Gridnev had encountered the 586th once before. He had stopped with a group of pilots from the 82nd to refuel at Anisovka in May 1942, and had asked whether there was really a women's regiment there. He was told there was, and one male engineer eagerly began informing him just how poorly prepared the women were: "Judge for yourself, is it really possible for anyone to master flying fighters in just a few months? ... They've learned how to take off and land, and now they think of themselves as fighter pilots, they have all sorts of pretensions." A few minutes later, a Yak-1 took off and began performing aerobatic maneuvers over the field. It attracted everyone's attention, and Gridnev spotted the women pilots, who had come outside to watch the show. The women, as well as Gridnev's male pilots, began cheering and applauding; all were impressed with the pilot. "Who's that pilot?" asked one of Gridnev's pilots. A female mechanic answered, "it's one of the women from the second squadron." The male engineer who had been denigrating the women's training protested: "What's with you -- that's a joke! What woman can fly like that? It's Major Beliakov flying." Someone pointed out that Beliakov, who had been instructing in ground training that day, was standing with the women pilots. The pilot performing the aerobatics display turned out to be Zhenia Prokhorova.(64)

Prokhorova was an incredibly talented pilot. She had two world records in gliders, and had been the leader of the prewar women's aerobatic team. Prokhorova became a squadron commander, and flew 12-14 hours a day, training the less experienced pilots. When Gridnev took command at the 586th, he said that he quickly noticed that Prokhorova was "the idol of all the women pilots, the technicians, in fact, the entire personnel of the regiment." They talked about her even more than they did about Raskova, according to Gridnev. Prokhorova was not externally impressive -- of average height with an athletic build, she spoke in a cultured voice, but could not pronounce the sound "r" properly.(65) "One would not call her a beauty," Gridnev noted. "She had big features, a chin that was rather heavy, and a short neck that didn't go well with her delicate figure. Nature was unfair to her with this odd disproportion." However, Gridnev noted that Prokhorova was a "perfect shot" against both towed and ground targets.

Gridnev conducted continued training for the regiment throughout October and November, following the plan of "Combat Training Course-42." This training consisted of daytime work in formation and group coordination in flights and squadrons, with target practice against towed targets. Navigation flights were also conducted, and solo flights for perfecting piloting techniques were assigned. Another part of the regimen was night intercept flights, which involved single fighters being vectored by radar against pre-arranged targets. At the same time, the regiment was still responsible for night alert duty, always keeping some fighters at Readiness One and Two.