Product Description

Over 43,000 Il-2/10s were built between 1941 and 1955, more than any other combat aircraft in history, making this one of the most important Soviet aircraft deployed in World War II. Built originally as a two-seater, the Il-2 had lost the rear gunner's position by the time it started to reach frontline units. Armed with ground-attack rockets, the aircraft proved deadly against Wehrmacht panzers as pairs of Il-2s roamed the frontline at low level. However, the Shturmoviks (armoured attackers) were vulnerable to attack from the rear by enemy fighters, so Ilyushin reverted to the two-seat layout in September 1942. Oleg Rastrenin provides a fascinating account of the complex development history of a plane that was crucial to Russia's defence. From Stalingrad to Kursk to Berlin, this book charts the aeroplane's vital contribution to the most famous battles of the Eastern front.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #224898 in Books
• Published on: 2008-03-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: .0" h x .0" w x .0" l, .0 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 96 pages

About the Author
Oleg Rastrenin graduated from the Moscow Applied Physics Institute in 1986 and commenced military service. He subsequently graduated from the Zhukovskiy Air Force Academy. He holds the rank of major and the title of doctor of science. Rastrenin has been working on the history of Soviet aviation since 1992, with his major research projects focusing on air tactics and the combat employment of aircraft. He has published more than 20 articles on the history of attack aircraft in Russian and foreign magazines, and is also the author of the books Red Army Attack Aircraft (1941-1945), Red Army Attack Aviation - Tough Experience and The Il-10.

Customer Reviews

Excellent, absolutely stunning reference!
This is one of the first books I purchased in order to feed my new interest for VVS-RKKA aircrafts in WW2 and I was amazed by the quality of this work. The text is authoritative and informative without being boring, quite the opposite indeed! It focuses on the organisational and personal life of these elite units with an inordinate losses percentage but also with a high esprit de corps. Their punishing routine against tracked and non tracked German targets is written quite vividly and describes the great contribution of these units to the victory against Germany. Everything is rounded up by some very attractive colour profiles and well-chosen pictures. My only criticism as a modeller I would have appreciated also some plans of camouflage schemes for the top surfaces of the aircrafts depicted, not just profiles.
Very highly recommended.

Hunchback
I was a little disappointed that there was no mention to the nickname given to these IL-2 aircraft because of their shape, "gorbaty" meaning "hunchback", which became the designation of ground attack a/c even in the jet age. That apart, great stuff.