Design and Development
The aircraft was designed by Nikolai Polikarpov to replace the U-1 trainer (Avro 504), itself known as Avrushka to the Soviets. Its name was changed to Po-2 in 1944, after Polikarpov's death, according to the new Soviet naming system using designer's initials.
The prototype of the U-2, powered by a 74 kW (99 hp) Shvetsov M-11air-cooled five cylinder radial engine, first flew on 7 January 1928 piloted by M.M. Gromov. Aircraft from the pre-production series were tested at the end of 1928 and serial production started in 1929 in Factory Nr 23 in Leningrad. Production in the Soviet Union ended in 1953, but license-built CSS-13 were still produced in Poland until 1959.
Read more about this topic: Polikarpov Po-2
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