WD74W2

ground forces who depended on it for aerial support during the
many bloody battles against the Nazi menace.
The reputation for survivability was in large part because the
Shturmovik was heavily protected from enemy fire by utilizing
an armored “bathtub” construction for the forward fuselage,
which protected the pilot, engine, vital systems and controls.
Unfortunately, the same could not be said for the rear gunners
who suffered a loss rate four times higher than pilots. This was
a result of that crew position installation being an afterthought
to the aircraft’s original design. Later models would incorporate
some armor plating in this area to at last give the hapless
gunner at least some modicum of protection from enemy fire.
As Russia’s most prolific combat aircraft, it suffered the highest
attrition rate of any aircraft they produced, understandable
when the hazardous mission to which it was assigned is taken
into account. Russian sources claim that over 11,000 were lost
operationally, though it is well-accepted that the actual number
lost far exceeds that number.
The Il-2 was a large aircraft, measuring just over 38 feet in
length, and with a wingspan of nearly 48 feet, it weighed in at
over fourteen thousand pounds when fully loaded for combat
operations. Powered by a Mikulin Am-38F 2,847CuIn, liquid
cooled, twelve-cylinder engine of 1,720 hp, it could attain a top
speed of 251 miles per hour, with an effective range of 373 miles.
Armament consisted of either 20mm, 23mm, or 37mm wing
cannons (depending on variant), and it could carry a variety of
bomb and rocket loads up to 1,100lbs.
At peak production, 300 examples were produced per
month, but such high production numbers were not always the
case. Early in the conflict the Germans took vast areas under their
control and additional regions of the country were within range
of their bombers. Resources and production facilities were taxed
to their limits to meet the demand for the aircraft. Stalin, enraged
by the falling production numbers, issued a stern warning that
he and Mother Russia would not be denied the much-needed
Shturmoviks. In a telegram to the management of the Ilyushin
manufacturing team he wrote, “You have let down our country
and our Red Army. Our Red Army now needs Il-2 aircraft like
the air it breathes, like the bread it eats. Shenkman produces one
Il-2 a day, and Tretyakov builds one or two MiG-3s daily. It is a
mockery of our country and the Red Army. I ask you not try the
government’s patience, and demand that you manufacture more
Ils. This is my final warning.” Not a man to be denied, production
numbers would eventually meet his demands.
In recent decades, several Shturmoviks have been recovered
from their wartime crash sites. A number of these have been
restored/rebuilt in Russia for static museum display, while two
have actually been restored to fly. This is the story of Serial No.
1872452 Red 19, the second example that has recently flown in
Russia, after having been recovered from the bottom of Lake
Krivoe. The lake is located one mile to the southeast of the former
Soviet airfield of Veanga 2 from where the Il-2 was operating.
Within the Arctic Circle, this was one of the main airfields
defending Murmansk during the Great Patriotic War. On behalf
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68 • warbird digest • sept/oct 2017