Ilyushin Il-8

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Ilyushin Il-8
Type: Attack aircraft
Design country:

Soviet Union 1923Soviet Union Soviet Union

Manufacturer:

Ilyushin

First flight:

May 10, 1943

Number of pieces:

2

The Ilyushin Il-8 ( Russian Ильюшин Ил-8 ) was an attack aircraft based on the Ilyushin Il-2 with a higher bomb load.

history

In 1942, the attack pilot regiments of the Soviet air force demanded a more powerful further development of their previous standard type Ilyushin Il-2 . In particular, the bomb load should be increased in order to be able to fight heavily armored targets such as bunkers more effectively. At the same time, the engine designer Mikulin offered the much more powerful AM-42 engine. Ilyushin revised its successful design Ilyushin Il-2 for the installation of this engine. The aircraft was named Il-AM-42 and later as Il-8 No. 1 designated. The bomb load of the inner bomb room arranged in the central wing and on the two external load suspensions could be increased from 600 kg to a total of 1000 kg compared to the original Ilyushin Il-2. The defensive armament consisted of a 12.7 mm machine gun in the rear. Two 23 mm WJa automatic cannons and two 7.62 mm machine guns were planned for series production. The prototype completed its maiden flight on May 10, 1943 under Vladimir Konstantinowitsch Kokkinaki . A maximum speed of 470 km / h was flown with a take-off mass of 7250 kg at an altitude of 2240 m.

The second prototype differed greatly from the first. The armament was changed to more modern 23 mm machine guns NS-23 and for the rifle station to the MK B-20 . But more important were the changes to the airframe . The wings were given a new geometry and the tailplane was smaller and also designed differently. The engine cowling was aerodynamically shaped much more favorably and resembled that of the Ilyushin Il-10 , of whose parallel construction as an all-metal aircraft the new retractable landing gear was also used. The first flight of the Il-8 No. 2 took place on October 13, 1944 again by Wladimir Konstantinowitsch Kokkinaki . Despite better flight performance than the first prototype, the series production was not carried out, since the Il-10, which is now being tested, achieved better flight performance. The significantly improved war situation now also made it possible to use lighter and more weather-resistant metal constructions and to abandon the heavier and thus performance-reducing metal-wood composite construction of the Il-8.

Technical data of the Il-8 (data from No. 2)

Parameter Data
Copies 2 prototypes that differ greatly from one another
span 14.60 m
length 12.93 m
Wing area 39.0 m²
Engine Mikulin AM-42 with 1,470 kW (approx. 2,000 PS)
Empty mass 5110 kg
Take-off mass 7830 kg
Bomb load 1000 kg
Top speed 509 km / h at 2800 m
Minimum speed 132 km / h
Climbing time to 1000 m 2.6 min
Summit height 6900 m
Range 1140 km
crew 2

Literature sources

  • Aviator Review. 5/90 page 159
  • Fliegerrevue list of types 1970–2000. on CD
  • Jirí Vrancý, Pavel Týc: Ilustrovaná historie letectví. ISBN 80-206-0092-2 .