I think 50% of Litvyak glory was propaganda. I hawe Memoirs of real WW2 weteran about Litvyak covering, she was on LAGG (or Yak) and few mans cover her on I-153. And Komissar told, if she die, dont come back.
But even 50% enough to respect her.

Many women battled in night bomb squads on PO-2 planes, and on PE-2