Levin, Valentyn M (Captain)
Killed in Flying Accident 1945-January-11
Birth Date: unkown date
Born:
Home:
Enlistment:
Enlistment Date: Unknown
Service
Unit
45 (T) Group (RAF)
Base
USN Elizabeth City, North Carolina
Rank
Captain
Position
Captain
Service Numbers
Crew or Other Personnel
Nomad PBN 02915
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Mission
Nomad PBN PBN-1 02915
Ferry Flight 1945-January-11 to 1945-January-11
45 (T) Group (RAF) Elizabeth City North Carolina USA
Nomad aircraft 02915 was a Lend-Lease aircraft destined for Russia. It departed Elizabeth City, North Carolina, USA 1945-01-11 on the first flight leg from Elizabeth City to San Juan, Puerto Rico, on a delivery flight to via the Southern ferry route but crashed shortly after take-off. The pilot lost his bearings after switching from flying by sight to instrument flying. Once he flew past the lighted buoys on the river, he felt the aircraft was rising too quickly and turned downwind, plummeting into the Pasquotank River near Elizabeth City, killing five of the nine crew
The Russian crews were exposed to much different conditions in America than those in their homeland. Aircraft returning to the USSR were often loaded with alcohol, cigarettes and other luxury items and there is some speculation that a contributing factor in the crash is that the aircraft may have been over-weight at take-off
Canadian civilian Radio Officer PH Nataros, who may have also been serving as an interpreter, Russian Lieutenant A Borodin, Russian Pilot HN Chikov, Russian Navigator VM Levin and Russian Senior Lieutenant DM Medvedev were all killed in the crash
There has been little detail found on either those who lost their lives or those that survived. The aircraft does appear in the Ocean Bridge book by Carl Christie as being flown by RAF Transport Command. The Nomad was likely flown by survivor Captain IR Dobbin, possibly a Canadian and in the RCAF. Both he, and Flight Engineer M Freedman (nationality undetermined), were likely with RAF Transport Command. The other survivors were likely a Russian Lieutenant VP Djachenko and a Russian Chief Sarikov
This aircraft was part of a top secret program conducted by the US Navy and Soviet Russia based in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, USA, called Project Zebra. During the program, the US Navy trained over 300 Russian aviators to fly amphibious bombers for use against German and Japanese submarines using the PBN-1 Nomad, a variation of the Catalina PBY-5 and built by the Naval Aircraft Factory at the Philadelphia Navy Yard in Pennsylvania, USA between October 1943 and June 1945. The program documentation was not declassified by the US government until December 31, 2012
Ocean Bridge, The History of RAF Ferry Command by Carl A Christie page 326
Flying Cats, The Catalina Aircraft in World War II by Andrew Hendrie, pages 94-5
US Navy and US Marine Corps BuNos Third Series (00001 to 13216)
Stalin FDR Project Zebra and the crash everyone tried to pretend...
(42) Project Zebra: Roosevelt and Stalin's Secret Mission to Train 300...
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Nomad PBN serial: 02915
PBN-1 Nomad built by the US Naval Factory in Philadelphia for shipment to USSR (Russia) under the Lend-Lease Act.
Consolidated Aircraft Corporation Model 28. Catalina licence built by the Naval Aircraft Factory. 138 delivered to USSR. Aircraft were inspected and accepted by the Soviets at NAS Elizabeth City, NC. Aircraft destined for the Northern fleet were ferried via Gander, Newfoundland to Reykjavik, Iceland by the Soviets with a Royal Air Force pilot and radio operator, then onwards to Guba Gryaznaya, Murmansk, Russia with just the Soviet crew. Aircraft destined for the Pacific fleet were returned to the US Navy at Elizabeth City and ferried to NAS Kodiak, Alaska where they were delivered back to the Soviets for onward flight to the Far East. Aircraft destined for the Black Sea and Baltic fleets were ferried via the South Atlantic route through Brazil and Africa by the Soviets with a Royal Air Force / Royal Canadian Air Force pilot, and navigator/radio operator and mechanic as far as Habbabiya, Iraq, then onwards to Baku, Azerbaijan and Sevastopol, Russia with just the Soviet crew.
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Nomad PBN 02915 PBN-1 - Ferry Flight - 1945-01-11 to 1945-01-11
Squadron: 45 (T) Group (RAF)
Start Date: 1945-01-11
Completion Date: 1945-01-11
Mission: Ferry Flight
Operation: unspecified
Target City:
Target Specific:
Base: Elizabeth City North Carolina USA
Take Off Time: 00:00:00
Squadron Code:
Radio Code:
Return Base:
Return Time:
Crash City: USA
Crash Specifics: Pasquotank River near Elizabeth City, North Carolina
Crash Latitude: 0.00000000
Crash Longitude: 0.00000000
Crash Reason: piloterror
Flak Battery:
Enemy Claim:
War Diary Unavailable
6 Group Unavailable
6 Group Unavailable
Nomad aircraft 02915 was a Lend-Lease aircraft destined for Russia. It departed Elizabeth City, North Carolina, USA 1945-01-11 on the first flight leg from Elizabeth City to San Juan, Puerto Rico, on a delivery flight to via the Southern ferry route but crashed shortly after take-off. The pilot lost his bearings after switching from flying by sight to instrument flying. Once he flew past the lighted buoys on the river, he felt the aircraft was rising too quickly and turned downwind, plummeting into the Pasquotank River near Elizabeth City, killing five of the nine crew
The Russian crews were exposed to much different conditions in America than those in their homeland. Aircraft returning to the USSR were often loaded with alcohol, cigarettes and other luxury items and there is some speculation that a contributing factor in the crash is that the aircraft may have been over-weight at take-off
Canadian civilian Radio Officer PH Nataros, who may have also been serving as an interpreter, Russian Lieutenant A Borodin, Russian Pilot HN Chikov, Russian Navigator VM Levin and Russian Senior Lieutenant DM Medvedev were all killed in the crash
There has been little detail found on either those who lost their lives or those that survived. The aircraft does appear in the Ocean Bridge book by Carl Christie as being flown by RAF Transport Command. The Nomad was likely flown by survivor Captain IR Dobbin, possibly a Canadian and in the RCAF. Both he, and Flight Engineer M Freedman (nationality undetermined), were likely with RAF Transport Command. The other survivors were likely a Russian Lieutenant VP Djachenko and a Russian Chief Sarikov
This aircraft was part of a top secret program conducted by the US Navy and Soviet Russia based in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, USA, called Project Zebra. During the program, the US Navy trained over 300 Russian aviators to fly amphibious bombers for use against German and Japanese submarines using the PBN-1 Nomad, a variation of the Catalina PBY-5 and built by the Naval Aircraft Factory at the Philadelphia Navy Yard in Pennsylvania, USA between October 1943 and June 1945. The program documentation was not declassified by the US government until December 31, 2012
Ocean Bridge, The History of RAF Ferry Command by Carl A Christie page 326
Flying Cats, The Catalina Aircraft in World War II by Andrew Hendrie, pages 94-5
US Navy and US Marine Corps BuNos Third Series (00001 to 13216)
Stalin FDR Project Zebra and the crash everyone tried to pretend...
(42) Project Zebra: Roosevelt and Stalin's Secret Mission to Train 300...