Ilyushin Il-4
| Ilyushin Il-4 | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Captured Finnish Il-4 |
|
| Type: | Medium bomber |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: |
OKB Ilyushin , |
| First flight: |
Mid-1939 |
| Commissioning: |
1940 |
| Production time: |
1940 to 1944 |
| Number of pieces: |
5256 |
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The Ilyushin Il-4 ( Russian Ильюшин Ил-4 , NATO code name : "Bob" ) was a Soviet bomber in World War II . It was created as a direct result of its predecessor, the DB-3 , but had been improved in some points.
development
The Il-4 was designed as an all-metal half-shell aircraft, however, in the course of production, individual assemblies (outer wing, nose and tail) had to be replaced by pressed wooden shells due to the war-related metal shortage, which had a negative effect on flight performance. Compared to its direct predecessor, the DB-3, the most noticeable feature of the machine was its glazed and tapering fuselage bow, which was now equipped with a weapon equipped with a 7.62 mm SchKAS MG. The trapezoidal wings were replaced by wedge-shaped ones. The result was the DB-3F (DB = "Dalnij Bombardirowschtschik", long-range bomber, F stands for forsirowanni, accelerated). Another machine gun was housed in the fuselage turret, a third fired down through a hatch in the bottom of the fuselage. By using more powerful Tumanski motors of the type M-88B , the take-off mass increased slightly.
From 1941 the Il-4T , designed as a torpedo bomber, appeared . It was able to carry up to two 940 kg torpedoes of the types 45-36-AN for low drop height or 45-36-AW with parachute for higher drop height. Areas of application were the Baltic Sea , the Black Sea , the Barents Sea and the Soviet Pacific coast. Other tasks were long-range reconnaissance and the laying of sea mines .
In mid-1939, the aircraft, temporarily titled DB-3F, flew for the first time and series production began at the beginning of the following year. By 1944, 5256 DB-3F / Il-4 machines had been built.
commitment
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The Il-4 took part in all major battles on the German-Soviet front. In addition to the long-range attacks on Berlin, it was also used for close air support to the ground troops on the battlefield. It was also used for long-range reconnaissance and as a training aircraft. The self-sacrificed attack by an Il-4 crew by pilot Nikolai Gastello in the early stages of this war became known.
Four machines captured by the German Air Force were acquired by Finland and used again against the Red Army .
In 1943 there were around 2300 Il-4 in the Soviet air force , in the final phase of the Second World War there were still over 1500. In 1949 the Il-4 was retired. The torpedo version Il-4T was flown by the naval forces until 1952 . The successor model was the slightly larger Il-6 , of which only four copies existed.
Technical specifications
| Parameter | Il-4 (1942) | Il-4T |
|---|---|---|
| Conception | medium bomber | Torpedo bomb plane |
| crew | 3 | |
| span | 21.44 m | |
| length | 14.76 m | |
| height | 4.10 m | |
| Wing area | 66.70 m² | |
| Empty mass | 5,800 kg | 5,930 kg |
| Takeoff mass | 9,139 kg | 10,500 kg |
| drive | two air-cooled 14-cylinder twin star engines Tumanski M-88B | |
| Starting power | 809 kW (1,100 PS) each | |
| Top speed | 410 km / h at an altitude of 6,500 m | 445 km / h at an altitude of 4,000 m |
| Ascent time to 5,000 m | 13 min | 10.2 min |
| Summit height | 9,400 m | 7,000 m |
| Range | 3,800 km | 3,300 km |
| Armament | two movable 7.62 mm MG SchKAS in the bow pulpit and floor mount, one movable 12.7 mm MG UBT in the back of the fuselage turret |
|
| Drop ammunition | a maximum of 2,500 kg bombs on short distances (can be carried externally and internally) |
a maximum of two torpedoes of 940 kg each |
See also
List of aircraft types , Ilyushin DB-3 , Ilyushin Il-6
literature
- Olaf Groehler : History of the Air War 1910 to 1980 . Military publishing house of the German Democratic Republic , Berlin 1981.
- Kenneth Munson: Bombers, Patrol and Transport Aircraft 1939–45 . Orell Füssli, Zurich 1977.
- Wilfried Copenhagen : Soviet bomb planes . Transpress, Berlin 1989, ISBN 3-344-00391-7 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Ulf Gerber: The great book of Soviet aviation 1920–1990. Rockstuhl, Bad Langensalza 2019, ISBN 978-3-95966-403-5 , pp. 606, 609, 612 and 618
- ^ Ulrich Israel: Coast-based naval combat aircraft of the Second World War. In: Fliegerkalender der DDR 1977. (Ed .: Wolfgang Sellenthin), Military Publishing House of the GDR, Berlin, 1976, p. 186/187.
- ↑ Ulf Gerber: The great book of Soviet aviation 1920–1990. Development, production and use of the aircraft. Rockstuhl, Bad Langensalza 2019, ISBN 978-3-95966-403-5 , p. 448
- ^ Rainer Göpfert: Ilyushin Il-4 (DB-3F). In: Fliegerrevue No. 03/2015, PPVMedien, Bergkirchen, ISSN 0941-889X , p. 54.