10/02/2010
Warbirdfare
The Ilyushin Il-2 Shturmovik was a ground attack aircraft (Shturmovik) in the Second World War, produced by the Soviet Union in very large numbers. In combination with its successor, the Ilyushin Il-10, a total of 42,330 were built, making it the single most produced military aircraft design in all of aviation history, as well as one of the most produced piloted aircraft in history along with the Cessna 172 and the Polikarpov Po-2. It is regarded as the best ground attack aircraft of World War 2. It was a prominent aircraft for tank killing with its accuracy in dive bombing and its 37mm guns penetrating their thin back armor.
To Il-2 pilots, the aircraft was simply the diminutive "Ilyusha". To the soldiers on the ground, it was the "Hunchback," the "Flying Tank" or the "Flying Infantryman". Its postwar NATO reporting name was "Bark". The Il-2 aircraft played a crucial role on the Eastern Front, and in Soviet opinion it was the most decisive aircraft in the history of modern land warfare. Joseph Stalin paid the Il-2 a great tribute in his own inimitable manner: when a particular production factory fell behind on its deliveries, Stalin sent an angrily-worded cable to the factory manager, stating "They are as essential to the Red Army as air and bread."
The IL-2 is a single-engine, propeller driven, low-wing monoplane of mixed construction with a crew of two (one in early version), specially designed for assault operations. The most notable design feature of the aircraft was the inclusion of armor in an airframe load-bearing scheme. Armour-plates replaced the frame and paneling throughout the nasal and middle part of the fuselage. An armored hull made of riveted homogeneous armor steel AB-1 (AB-2), secured the aircraft’s engine, cockpit, water and oil radiators, and fuel tanks.
The idea for a Soviet armored ground-attack aircraft dates to the early 1930s, when Dmitry Pavlovich Grigorovich designed TSh-1 and TSh-2 armored biplanes. However, Soviet engines at the time lacked the power needed to provide the heavy aircraft with good performance. Il-2 was designed by Sergey Ilyushin and his team at the Central Design Bureau in 1938. TsKB-55 was a two-seat aircraft with an armoured shell weighing 700 kg (1,540 lb), protecting crew, engine, radiators, and the fuel tank. Standing loaded, the Ilyushin weighed more than 4,700 kg (10,300 lb), making the armoured shell about 15% of the aircraft's gross weight. Uniquely for a World War II attack aircraft, the armor was designed as a load-bearing part of the Ilyushin's monocoque structure, thus saving considerable weight. The prototype TsKB-55, which first flew on October 2, 1939, won the government competition against Sukhoi Su-6 and received VVS designation BSh-2. The prototypes - TsKB-55 and TskB-57 - were built at Moscow plant #39, which was the base for Ilyushin design bureau at that time.
The BSh-2 was overweight and underpowered, with the original Mikulin AM-35 1,022 kW (1,370 hp) engine designed to give highest power outputs at high altitude. Because of this it was redesigned as the TsKB-57, a lighter single-seat design, with the more powerful 1,254 kW (1,680 hp) Mikulin AM-38 engine, a development of the AM-35 optimised for low level operation. The TsKB-57 first flew on 12 October 1940. The production aircraft passed State Acceptance Trials in March 1941, and was redesignated Il-2 in April. Deliveries to operational units commenced in May 1941.
General Characteristics
Performance
Armament
** Ilyushin IL-2 Shturmovik - Warbird Fare
To Il-2 pilots, the aircraft was simply the diminutive "Ilyusha". To the soldiers on the ground, it was the "Hunchback," the "Flying Tank" or the "Flying Infantryman". Its postwar NATO reporting name was "Bark". The Il-2 aircraft played a crucial role on the Eastern Front, and in Soviet opinion it was the most decisive aircraft in the history of modern land warfare. Joseph Stalin paid the Il-2 a great tribute in his own inimitable manner: when a particular production factory fell behind on its deliveries, Stalin sent an angrily-worded cable to the factory manager, stating "They are as essential to the Red Army as air and bread."
The IL-2 is a single-engine, propeller driven, low-wing monoplane of mixed construction with a crew of two (one in early version), specially designed for assault operations. The most notable design feature of the aircraft was the inclusion of armor in an airframe load-bearing scheme. Armour-plates replaced the frame and paneling throughout the nasal and middle part of the fuselage. An armored hull made of riveted homogeneous armor steel AB-1 (AB-2), secured the aircraft’s engine, cockpit, water and oil radiators, and fuel tanks.
The idea for a Soviet armored ground-attack aircraft dates to the early 1930s, when Dmitry Pavlovich Grigorovich designed TSh-1 and TSh-2 armored biplanes. However, Soviet engines at the time lacked the power needed to provide the heavy aircraft with good performance. Il-2 was designed by Sergey Ilyushin and his team at the Central Design Bureau in 1938. TsKB-55 was a two-seat aircraft with an armoured shell weighing 700 kg (1,540 lb), protecting crew, engine, radiators, and the fuel tank. Standing loaded, the Ilyushin weighed more than 4,700 kg (10,300 lb), making the armoured shell about 15% of the aircraft's gross weight. Uniquely for a World War II attack aircraft, the armor was designed as a load-bearing part of the Ilyushin's monocoque structure, thus saving considerable weight. The prototype TsKB-55, which first flew on October 2, 1939, won the government competition against Sukhoi Su-6 and received VVS designation BSh-2. The prototypes - TsKB-55 and TskB-57 - were built at Moscow plant #39, which was the base for Ilyushin design bureau at that time.
The BSh-2 was overweight and underpowered, with the original Mikulin AM-35 1,022 kW (1,370 hp) engine designed to give highest power outputs at high altitude. Because of this it was redesigned as the TsKB-57, a lighter single-seat design, with the more powerful 1,254 kW (1,680 hp) Mikulin AM-38 engine, a development of the AM-35 optimised for low level operation. The TsKB-57 first flew on 12 October 1940. The production aircraft passed State Acceptance Trials in March 1941, and was redesignated Il-2 in April. Deliveries to operational units commenced in May 1941.
General Characteristics
- Crew: Two, pilot and rear gunner
- Length: 11.6 m (38 ft 1 in)
- Wingspan: 14.6 m (47 ft 11 in)
- Height: 4.2 m (13 ft 9 in)
- Wing area: 38.5 m² (414 ft²)
- Empty weight: 4,360 kg (9,612 lb)
- Loaded weight: 6,160 kg (13,580 lb)
- Powerplant: 1× Mikulin AM-38F liquid-cooled V-12, 1,285 kW (1,720 hp)
Performance
- Maximum speed: 414 km/h (257 mph)
- Range: 720 km (450 mi)
- Service ceiling: 5,500 m (18,045 ft)
- Rate of climb: 10.4 m/s (2,050 ft/min)
- Wing loading: 160 kg/m² (31.3 lb/ft²)
- Power/mass: 0.21 kW/kg (0.13 hp/lb)
Armament
- 2 × fixed forward-firing 23 mm caliber VYa-23 cannons, 150 rpg
- 2 × fixed forward-firing 7.62 mm ShKAS machine guns, 750 rpg
- 1 × manually aimed 12.7 mm Berezin UBT machine gun the in rear cockpit, 150 rounds
- 600 kg (1,320 lb) of bombs and/or 8 × RS-82 rockets or 4 × RS-132 rockets
** Ilyushin IL-2 Shturmovik - Warbird Fare
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