Il-2 question? Answered!

[righidan]

Dear friends,
   Thanks to Massimo courtesy, you can access a new pdf from Prof. Rodionov about the Il-2 bis prototype.
   It has a canopy that is completely different from the production two seaters, and it has a quite interesting story.
   It also has a peculiar wing configuration with wooden outer wings, but with metal panels above the weapons, and as long as I know, it is the first time that it is illustrated with scale drawings.
   I thought that such a combination was rare, but I learned from prof. Rodionov that it was used by zavod 1 during the whole period of Il-2 production both for normal and arrow type wings until the middle of 1944.
   The Il-2 Bis was made in 1942, and the wreck that has been recovered from Lake Balaton was produced in 1944.
   From middle 1944 zavod 1 produced all-metal arrow type wings, like the airplane in the Aeronautical Museum Belgrade.
    Moreover he has seen the wing console of zavod 1 type among the set of plant drawings of zavod 30.
   It means zavod 30 also used it though we could not say when and how much, because Zavod 30 from the very beginning in 1942 produced full-wood wing consoles including those for the Il-2 with NS-37 canons and arrow-type wings.
   It too from the middle of 1944 produced all-metal arrow-type wings like the plane in the Prague museum.
    Therefore, these 37 much-illustrated pages have a relevance not only for this prototype, and I hope that you will enjoy them.
Regards
Daniele

[righidan]

Dear friends,
   It seems that good news for Il-2 lovers are in full swing.
   It has just been published the February issue of M-Hobby, with an article of Prof. Rodionov with drawings by Mr. Trufanov of a series 11 airplane of zavod 18, the one recuperated from Lake Ilmen.
   You can find an image of the underside at the address: https://zeughaus.ru/zhurnal-m-khobbi-2-2024/
   Other sites, like at https://www.ozon.ru/product/zhurnal-m-hobbi-2-2024-kollektiv-avtorov-1412334551/ also have the image of page 48, showing side views.
   I must say that the magazine has misprinted one of the drawings, and if you know the Il-2, you can study this page 48, and tell what the misprint has been!
Regards
Daniele

[righidan]

Dear friends,
   Massimo has just published a new article on the Il-2 with the UTK-1 turret.
   Apart from the interest of this single specimen, the illustrations show a sample of the rare first series with a metal fuselage, and we have done our best to represent correctly the UTK turret that is the same used in other Russian and lend-lease airplanes.
   We hope that you will enjoy this work too.
Regards
Daniele

[righidan]

Dear friends,
   Thanks to Massimo's work, it has just been published in this site a revised version of the article on the Il-2 with UTK turret.
   It contains revised drawings, because the previous versions had some small mistakes, like wrong hatches, but above all because the study of the rare metal fuselage version, has found some visible differences, in the number of stringers, and in the dimensions of the rear wing fairing.
   Therefore, it has been prepared a pdf of the Il-2 standard of the spring 1941, and Massimo will publish this too in a short time.
   In the drawings the rivet and panel lines of the metal fuselage have been printed in blue, and the wooden fuselage was simply without these lines.
   The articles now have a date in the first page, so that it is easy to know the latest version.
   I hope you will enjoy these new heavily illustrated pdf, and that they will be useful for your modelling.
Regards
Daniele

[righidan]

Dear friends,
   Even if the work underlining it is scarcely visible, the appearance of the works of Prof. Rodionov means that Massimo has worked on his site, and now you can enjoy the pdf of the Il-2 standard of the spring 1941.
   It has a date in the first page, so if an updated version will be ever necessary, it will be easy to know the latest version.
   It has some new information on the wing fairing, that in our view is longer than in the later series, and has a number of rivet lines, that corresponds to the high number of stringers of the original airplane.
   The wooden fuselage airplanes should be similar, and the metal lines have been prepared in the drawings in blue color, so you can easily chose what kind of airplane you want to represent.
   I would be curious to know of someone modifying the current scale models, that are generally accurate enough, to the spring 1941 standard.
Regards
Daniele