Two photographs of Soviet female aviators.

[Moscow], 1938. 
17.3x17 cm., 15.1x22.5 cm.

Cracks, small tears, small loss to edge, owner mark to back side. Soyuzphoto agency leaf with the press photo information is glued to the back side of the smaller photo. 
Most likely, the second (bigger) photo is unknown.

These photos capture the crew of the 'Rodina' aircraft, which accomplished a non-stop flight from Moscow to the Sea of Okhotsk on September 25, 1938. The remarkable crew consisted of commander Valentina Grizodubova (1909-1993), co-pilot Polina Osipenko (1907-1939), and navigator Marina Raskova (1912-1943). During their 26-hour and 29-minute flight, they established a new world record for female aviation range. Despite adverse weather conditions and radio equipment failure, the crew flew past Khabarovsk, which was originally the intended final destination of their route. The plane made a belly landing directly into a swamp. Prior to this, Marina Raskova had parachuted out of the aircraft as she was situated in the glass-enclosed navigator's cockpit in the nose, which could have suffered significant damage during the landing. The crew was eventually discovered in the taiga on October 3.
On November 2, Grizodubova, Osipenko, and Raskova became the first women to be awarded the prestigious title of Hero of the Soviet Union.