- quality wooden model WWI and WWII airplanes -
- quality wooden model WWI and WWII airplanes -
IL-2 Sturmovik (Type 3M), Russia
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Scale 1:32 Length 15" Wingspan 18.5"
Photography by Action Asia Photo |
The Russians were the first to develop the idea of creating a close-ground support and attack aircraft as early as the 1920s largely through the work of Sergei Vladimirovich Ilyushin who concentrated on developing aircraft that combined armor protection with strong armaments. By 1939, two prototype attack aircraft (TsKB-55) were constructed and these led to the creation of the now famous Il-2. The aircraft had an "armor tub" which was fully inserted into the aircraft fuselage and protected the engine, fuel and oil systems and its crew. Initially, Il-2 aircraft were armed with two 7.62mm machine-guns, two 20mm cannons and provisions for sixteen 82mm rockets. However, the rocket rails considerably reduced flight performance and future production gave provision for only 8 rockets. The next improvement (1941) saw the cannons changed to a much more powerful 23mm with a considerably heavier shell that could pierce 25mm armor from a distance of 400 yards. The canons were mounted in specially equipped fairings on the wings. However, the Il-2's success in frontal attacks continued to be plagued by the aircraft's absence of rear defensive armament and German fighters soon learned to bring down the heavily armored plane with complete impunity. Changing the Il-2 into a two-seater by installing a rear gunner's cabin behind the fuel tank gave defensive fire to the rear but - as the gunner was outside of the armor frame - he was easily eliminated. 1942 was a trying time for the Russians with severe aluminum shortages that resulted in IL-2 aircraft using wings of mixed metal/wood construction which severely reduced the plane's performance; but it was equipped with a better machine-gun for parrying fighter attacks from the rear. Additionally, full armor was installed for the rear gunner - a modification that led to a strengthened tail wheel to deal with the extra weight. However, all this time the aircraft's performance had been declining because of continuous modifications that were literally installed without ever stopping the production line. The Sturmovik Type 3 of early 1943 saw many improvements undertaken that returned the aircraft's previous good flight characteristics and made it a formidable fighting machine. Firstly, a more powerful AM-38F engine with 1,720 hp was coupled to a new air filter that improved reliability while operating in the dusty conditions of front-line aerodromes. The aircraft's center of gravity was moved forward by increasing the wing sweep to 15 degrees which gave much better longitudinal stability. Thirdly, a new VUB-3 machine-gun turret made it possible for the rear gunner to achieve a larger angle of protective fire. Finally, as the output of high-quality aluminum increased, the Il-2 retrieved its all-metal wings. The IL-2 reached its apex with the development of the Sturmovik Type 3M which had the newer 37mm NS-37 cannons designed specifically for combating the new German Tiger tanks and could penetrate armor plate up to 40mm thick. Equipped with 100 armor-piercing and high-fragmentation shells for each cannon, the new guns increased aircraft weight significantly; hence bomb load was reduced to only 440 pounds. The two-seater Il-2 attack aircraft with NS-37 cannons was first used against German armored vehicles and motorized columns in the Battle of Kursk in July 1943. The aircraft proved to be a reliable and powerful weapon - especially effective if used against large concentrations of tanks and other armored vehicles. Later development produced the Sturmovik IL-2T which could carry a 2000 pound torpedo (with the canons removed) and this proved to be an effective anti-ship aircraft in operations over the Black and Baltic seas. The IL-2 became the symbol of Soviet air power in World War Two with 41,129 built by the war's end - production being as high as 1.5 aircraft per hour at some plants. Crew:
Pilot and rear gunner
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