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Description
The CSS-13 was a licence-manufactured version of the Polikarpov Po-2 biplane. The documentation was made at Centralne Studium Samolotów (Central Aircraft Studium) in Warsaw, hence the designation. It had certain minor differences from the original, but it retained its main features - excellent stability at low speed, sturdy airframe and mechanical reliability. With the Aviation Institute's approval, production began in 1949 and lasted till 1956, ending with 560 CSS-13s made. They were used until 1978 both by the Polish Army as liaison aircrafts and trainers, and Polish Air Club for parachute jumping and glider tow.

Other specialised versions include: medevac, light COIN aircraft for Border Guard (the original Po-2s were used to counter the Ukrainian nationalists in south-eastern Poland), carrying airmail, and finally - cropduster, like the one seen here. The rear cabin was replaced with chemical container, and the red propeller behind the pilot's cabin was used to power the dispersing mechanisms.

The CSS-13s were famously used in a Polish Film Chronicle, a propaganda newsreel played in cinemas before the movies. In 1950, Poland and East Germany were hit by an outbreak of the Colorado potato beetle, devastating crops. Unwilling to admit that the beetle was probably "shipped" to Poland by accident and went out of control due to the lack of proper insecticides, the Polish authorities (hardcore communists in the times of deep Stalinism) announced that the beetle was dropped over Poland by the United States, as a part of entomological warfare against the Eastern Block.

One of the Polish Film Chronicles, No. 25/50, was devoted to condemning the "incredible crime of the American airmen" and mobilising people to "fight with the Colorado potato beetle" (back then the Polonised term "żuk kolorado" was prefered over traditional "stonka ziemniaczana" to underline the beetle's ties with the USA). Today, that Chronicle remains very popular, but only for its incredible propaganda volumes, now commical and irrational. You can watch it here, with the CSS-13 appearing at 1:45 , but there are no subs

Szreniawa Agricultural Museum.

Description
The CSS-13 was a licence-manufactured version of the Polikarpov Po-2 biplane. The documentation was made at Centralne Studium Samolotów (Central Aircraft Studium) in Warsaw, hence the designation. It had certain minor differences from the original, but it retained its main features - excellent stability at low speed, sturdy airframe and mechanical reliability. With the Aviation Institute's approval, production began in 1949 and lasted till 1956, ending with 560 CSS-13s made. They were used until 1978 both by the Polish Army as liaison aircrafts and trainers, and Polish Air Club for parachute jumping and glider tow.

Other specialised versions include: medevac, light COIN aircraft for Border Guard (the original Po-2s were used to counter the Ukrainian nationalists in south-eastern Poland), carrying airmail, and finally - cropduster, like the one seen here. The rear cabin was replaced with chemical container, and the red propeller behind the pilot's cabin was used to power the dispersing mechanisms.

The CSS-13s were famously used in a Polish Film Chronicle, a propaganda newsreel played in cinemas before the movies. In 1950, Poland and East Germany were hit by an outbreak of the Colorado potato beetle, devastating crops. Unwilling to admit that the beetle was probably "shipped" to Poland by accident and went out of control due to the lack of proper insecticides, the Polish authorities (hardcore communists in the times of deep Stalinism) announced that the beetle was dropped over Poland by the United States, as a part of entomological warfare against the Eastern Block.

One of the Polish Film Chronicles, No. 25/50, was devoted to condemning the "incredible crime of the American airmen" and mobilising people to "fight with the Colorado potato beetle" (back then the Polonised term "żuk kolorado" was prefered over traditional "stonka ziemniaczana" to underline the beetle's ties with the USA). Today, that Chronicle remains very popular, but only for its incredible propaganda volumes, now commical and irrational. You can watch it here, with the CSS-13 appearing at 1:45 , but there are no subs

Szreniawa Agricultural Museum.