Olga Lisikova

Olga Mikhailovna Lisikova née Vlasova (; 7 November 1916 7 September 2011) was a Soviet transport pilot and the only woman in the Soviet Air Force to become pilot-in-command of a C-47.

Early life Born to a Russian family on 7 November 1916 in the Vladivostok area, she and her family relocated to Leningrad where she attended school. Her father was a teacher, stepfather a secretary in a district party committee, and her mother who was originally a housewife later became a restaurant worker. After graduating from secondary school attended trade school and became a foreman at a local factory. In 1934 she entered the Tambov civil aviation school, and in 1936 she and the other female students at the Balashov and Tambov flight schools were transferred to the Bataysk Flight School to form a women's squadron; there she piloted the Po-2 and R-5 aircraft. Having graduated from the school in 1937, she became a pilot for Aeroflot and was assigned to the difficult Moscow-Leningrad route despite her inexperience. Nevertheless, she mastered the route, flying solo in small aircraft and later as co-pilot in a K-5 with her future husband Vasily Lisikov. Later she became one of the few women pilots in the Winter War, flying missions to evacuate wounded and frostbitten soldiers from the front, all while pregnant with her first child.

World War II At the time of the German invasion of the Soviet Union, Lisikova was a new mother; nevertheless, she was immediately drafted into active duty pilot SP-2 (a modified Po-2) air ambulance to evacuate wounded soldiers. During one of her flights in the early days of the war, her plane carrying two wounded soldiers was pursued by a Bf 109, forcing her to conduct evasive maneuvers, even though it was clearly marked as a medical plane with a red cross painted on it. For successfully diving to evade the attacking fighter and saving her passengers while causing the Bf 109 to crash in a dive she was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.

Postwar Due to her poor health from flying at high altitudes without a supplemental oxygen mask, she was forced to quit flying altogether in 1946, after only briefly returning to Aeroflot and taking on several routes out of Leningrad.

Awards Order of the Red Banner (1942) Order of the Patriotic War 2nd class (1985) Order of the Red Star (1943) Medal "For Battle Merit" (1944) campaign and jubilee medals

Footnotes