Greetings from Colombia! This it is the famous Sturmovik, a plane feared by the crew members of
the German tanks for its efficiency at the moment of
hunting them and precision at bombarding them. Heavily armed and armored it was
the tip of the lance in several operations in Russia and then in the rest of
Europe; here its history:
(from Wikipedia)
The Ilyushin
Il-2 Shturmovik (Russian:
Ил-2
Штурмовик) was a ground
attack aircraft in the
Second World War, produced by the Soviet
Union in huge numbers. In combination with its successor, the Ilyushin
Il-10, a total of 36,163 were built, making it the single most produced
military aircraft design in all of aviation history as well as the third most
produced aircraft in history behind the Cessna
172 and the Polikarpov
Po-2. It was the leading aircraft for tank kills with its accuracy in diving
bombing.
To Shturmovik pilots, the aircraft was simply the diminutive "Ilyusha".
To the soldiers on the ground, it was the "Hunchback," the
"Flying Tank" or, the greatest of compliments, the "Flying
Infantryman." 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 the
following cable to the factory manager: "They are as essential to the Red
Army as air and bread"
Among the pilots who gained fame flying the Il-2, was Senior Lieutenant Anna
Yegorova, a female pilot who flew 260 missions. She was decorated three
times, the last "posthumously", as she was presumed dead after being
shot down. In fact, she managed to survive imprisonment in a German
concentration camp. Jr Lt Ivan Grigorevich Drachenko, another Il-2 pilot, was
reputedly one of only four men who were both decorated as Heroes
of the Soviet Union and also won all three of the Orders
of Glory. Pilots Begeldinov, Mylnikov, Alekseenko and Gareev received two
gold stars of the Hero of the Soviet Union, the last of them received both stars
in one day.
Click on
images below to see larger images
Hero of the Soviet Union T. Kuznetsov survived the crash of his Il-2 in 1942
when shot down returning from a reconnaissance mission. Kuznetsov was able to
escape from the wreck and hid nearby. To his surprise, a German Bf 109 landed
near the crash site and the pilot began to scrounge around the wrecked Il-2 for
souvenirs. Thinking quickly, Kuznetsov ran to the German fighter and used it to
fly home, barely avoiding being shot down by Soviet fighters in the process.
Typical of Soviet Second World War aircraft, many Il-2s were
"gifts" presented to specific pilots and partially paid for by
organizations like hometowns, factories or comrades of another fallen pilot. The
most famous of these was an aircraft purchased with the savings of a
seven-year-old daughter of the fallen commander of the 237th
ShAP. Learning of her father's death, the girl sent 100 rubles
directly to Stalin asking him to use the money for an Il-2 to avenge her father.
Remarkably, Stalin actually received the letter and 237th ShAP received a new
Il-2m3 with the inscription "From Lenochka for father" on the side.
(from Wikipedia)
This aircraft was flown by Captain A.N. Efimova, of that I did not find
major indications, nevertheless, they can estimate that conserve divides from
the winter camouflage in the fuselage; it used it at the end of 1945.
This is the Airfix kit, with excellently detailed pieces and no major fit
issues. I added detail to the fuel tank, the
wings, floor and pilots instrument panel. In the gunners compartment I
added boxes of ammunition. Not bad for a weekend project!
COLOMBIA ES PASION!
Tigre del
Aire
Saludos desde Colombia, la tierra de Juan Valdez!
Greetings from Colombia, the land of Juan Valdez!
Click on
images below to see larger images
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