The wing design of the Pe-2 was also inherited from the VI-100, but this had been optimised for high altitude performance at the cost of lower lift at low altitude, resulting in suboptimal manoeuvreability and take-off and landing characteristics. For example, while the Pe-2's flying characteristics were generally good once it was airborne, it took a good amount of force to pull the elevators up to rotate the plane for takeoff. Russian night bombing missions often flew with female pilots, and some of the women were not strong enough to get the airplane airborne by themselves. When such a situation occurred, the procedure was to have the navigator get behind the pilot's seat and wrap her arms around the control wheel and help the pilot pull the wheel back. Once the aircraft was airborne, the navigator returned to her duties and the pilot continued to fly the plane without assistance. In addition, the Pe-2 had a reputation for hard landings, as well as for its notorious "bounce" on landing due to the inadequate shock absorbers in the landing gear. This could be fatal if the pilot was not prepared for it. As designed, the wings were also fitted with "Venetian blind"-type slatted dive brakes for the dive-bombing role.