TAMIYA 60781 1:72 Ilyushin IL-2 Sturmovik

The Ilyushin Il-2 Sturmovik has the distinction of being produced in the largest numbers of any combat aircraft anywhere in the world, and its developmental history is well known to most modelers and historians. Conceived in 1938 as an armored, close support and anti-tank aircraft, its designers wanted the plane to be a two-seater with a rearward firing machine gun for defense. Politicians changed the design, however, replacing the rear gunner with an additional fuel tank and more protective armor. Although the center section of the aircraft was essentially an armored shell, the wings, rear fuselage, and tail unit were made of wood.

When the Germans invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, large numbers were in service, but the single-seat version was particularly vulnerable to attack from the rear, and some units modified their aircraft by adding a rear cockpit and gunner. This led to a center of gravity problems; it was eventually solved by sweeping the wings back, which changed the CG so the airplane was not tail heavy. This variant, the Il-2 Type 3, was produced in the largest numbers, and a total of over 36,000 Il-2’s of all models was produced. One problem encountered by Il-2 crews was that the casualty rate for rear gunners was seven times that of the pilots, mainly because the pilots were encased in armor while the gunners had none. I recall a conversation a few years’ back with a friend, a Hungarian who was a boy during the war when Il-2’s were operating from an airfield near his home. (He later flew MiG-15’s before coming to the US.) He stated that it was very common to see wounded or dead gunners being removed from the rear cockpits of Il-2’s when they returned from a mission. The Il-2 was fitted with machine guns and 20mm and 37mm cannons, plus bombs and unguided rockets, and was a big factor in driving back the German armored divisions that had been so successful at the beginning of the war.

Later developments included fighter and torpedo variants, plus the Il-10 that served through the Korean War; one was even tested by the USAF at Wright Field.