IL2 Sturmovik '9'

Product description

High-quality metal model of the Ilyushin Il-2 '9' of the Soviet Air Force military aircraft in detailed design according to the real model. The package includes a chassis.

Ilyushin Il-2 "Sturmovik" was a combat aircraft used mainly by the Air Force of the Soviet Union during World War II. It is one of the most mass-produced aircraft - a total of 36,183 machines of all versions were produced. The machine still holds the lead as the most produced military aircraft.
The Il-2 aircraft was created based on the requirements of the Soviet Air Force for an aircraft for cooperation with ground forces. The development of this type began in the second half of the 1930s at the initiative of designer Sergey Ilyushin.

The first prototype, with the internal designation CKB-55 (the military designation was BŠ-2), took off on October 2, 1939. Unique to its design at the time was the armor, which began with the propeller's armor cone and ended behind the pilot's seat, where the gunner was later located machine gun. The wings were all metal and only the rear part of the fuselage was made of wood. The machine was powered by a Mikulin AM-35 engine. Despite decent flight characteristics, the machine was criticized by the army for its low speed and weak armament. A single-seater, better armored machine was required, armed with at least two cannons and two machine guns, with increased range and the ability to carry bombs. The cabin was modified to a single seater and the machine had to rely on the protection of accompanying fighters. The modified CKB-57 prototype was powered by a more powerful AM-38 engine and took off on October 12, 1940. Even before the end of the tests, it was recognized as suitable for serial production and put into production. The first machines reached the units already before the invasion of the USSR in May 1941. In the only month that was left for the Soviet Union before the start of the war, the retraining of pilots could not even be properly started, which initially, together with the absence of fighter protection in the first phase of the fighting, resulted in catastrophic losses in battles with Luftwaffe fighters.