Quote:
Originally Posted by Romanator21
The photo above shows the T-60 without the turret. Maybe it was a different test?
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This photo actually shows a scale model, used to present the project to the Army authorities. Besides, it is heavily retouched.
However, this project really existed and the test glider really did fly and yes, the tank was equipped with dual controls. The glider controls were removable.
As Oleg pointed out, this project proved to be impractical for many reasons and with the war start it was abandoned as many other "advanced research" projects, conducted for the Red Army.
As for Pegas - it has nothing to do with women regiments. The plane was proposed during the worse period of war for the USSR (in the end of 1941), as extremely cheap and fast to build attack (antitank) aircraft with very simple design, built from a cheap materials, such as pleawood and sheet steel. It was also supposed to be very simple to fly. Supposedly, it had to be built and thrown into battle in huge quantities, wrecking havoc on German tank spearheads, while LW simply wouldn't have enough fighters to protect their ground forces.
However, when the first prototype was built, it appeared to be very tricky and dangerous to fly, with very poor performance due to heavy weight and weak engines (M-11, same as used on U-2). Besides, by the time of second prototype maiden flight, the situation for the USSR become less distressing, production of "normal" aircraft started to rise and thus, the project was also abandoned.