Ilyushin Il-2

The idea of Ilyushin was radical: the armour of the Il-2 was not attached to a frame but itself formed the load-bearing structure of the forward fuselage, sheltering the pilot, the AM-38 engine and the tanks. The TsKB-55 prototype flew in 1939, and from 1941 the factories delivered the type in thousands — the front demanded the flying tanks without pause. The Il-2 worked right over the front line: cannon, rockets and bombs against columns, batteries and trains. Losses were heavy, and from 1942 the aircraft became a two-seater — a gunner with a UBT machine gun covered the rear hemisphere. In total more than 36 000 Il-2 were built, more than any other combat aircraft in history. The museum machine was raised from the bottom of a lake in the Murmansk region and restored to static completeness. Battle holes in the armoured hull were preserved as a document of the era.