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Finally, an IL-2 Sturmovik is Flying Again!

Bomber_12th

Bomber_12th

SOH-CM-2025
This is certainly one of the biggest accomplishments within the history of the warbird movement. The IL-2, for a great many years, has been one of the top WWII-era aircraft on the 'never going to see flying' list - it can now be removed. Restored by Boris Osetinsky and his restoration team, they have been better known in recent years for their airworthy Mig-3 restorations, as well as a number of the Polikarpov restorations. At this time, information pertaining to this airframe and who the eventual owner is, is still a bit sketchy, but I'll add anything I hear. Paul Allen's Flying Heritage Collection is believed to be the owner of an IL-2 under restoration to airworthy condition, though there is no confirmation yet if this is that very airframe or not. Hopefully this won't be the only IL-2 emerging from Osetinsky's shop.

Until more information comes out, enjoy the amazing sights...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jphYnNJQAnw&feature=player_embedded
 
just awesome.........i love that plane,and feel excited to see one back flying,would love to see one in person
 
Wow, looks like it just rolled out of the Ilyushin factory (except for the souvenir bullet holes, hehe). Glad to see one of these historic aircraft is back in the air.
 
:jawdrop:WOW, definetely one of those rarer warbirds I actually never thought would be flying again. Would love to see that one in real life!

Great restoration work, nice detail they kept the bullet-holes as they were.

Alex G.
 
Hopefully the sight of seeing a Ju-87 Stuka flying, will eventually be able to be removed from that list as well.

It has been mentioned that this IL-2 will be participating in an airshow in Russia, before being shipped to the aircraft's owner in the U.S.

IL-2.jpg
 
There has been a very rough translation of the original story on this IL-2, posted elsewhere, but I have tried to clean up here:

Siberian engineers have raised and restored to the sky a legendary Soviet IL-2. It was restored from fragments found in the marshes near <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Pskov</st1:place></st1:City><st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"></st1:place></st1:City>. Several years of hard work allowed this favorite among pilots over the front, to take flight again.

To bring the aircraft up to airworthy condition, <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Novosibirsk</st1:place></st1:City> designers worked 6 long years. Found in the swamps of the <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Pskov</st1:place></st1:City> region, fragments of the aircraft were reduced, in the literal sense, to millimeters (I have a feeling this refers to how the aircraft was taken apart to the smallest piece, before being restored/put back together). We researched the archives to examine and summarize the dozens of drawings in which, during the war years, several aircraft plants had used for manufacturing the IL-2 for the Soviet Army. "The problem is that they each have a different design. There may be elements that are different from one IL-2 to another. It is very difficult to fit everything into a single model," - explains the design engineer.

In all, over 40,000 IL-2’s were produced. The aircraft’s armor led the designers to nickname it the "flying tank". In the restored fuselage of the IL-2, more than a dozen openings can be counted, from exploded shell and bullet fragments. The aircraft is well preserved and almost of all original parts. However, the plane's tail had to be replaced: the original was made of wood, and almost completely rotted away.

The landing gear doors were also beyond repair. These were reproduced new. They are fabricated from aluminum, requiring special craftsmanship to match the original units fitted to the IL-2. “We only reproduce parts as they originally were. We do not use plastics, but the original material. One could be formed easily from fiberglass, but it would not be what the IL-2 had, and that is something that isn’t right” – says Chief Designer Victor Lushin.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p><o:p></o:p><o:p></o:p><o:p></o:p>

In general, most of the details and mechanisms of the plane are original, including the instruments in the cockpit. Everything is in good and proper working condition.

Modifications to the original aircraft began in 1942. The first Sturmoviks produced were single-seaters. However, in the early years of the war, the Soviet army suffered huge losses of pilots, as they had no defensive weapons, so it was decided to add a gunner behind the pilot.

The white cap on the tail of the aircraft is a sign of belonging to the 298th Air Division, while the blue stripe on the rear fuselage was a unit marking of 198th Assault Regiment. This color scheme on the restored aircraft was not chosen accidentally. “This is in memory of all of the pilots who flew the IL-2. And in this case, it is in honor of our great pilot and twice-awarded Hero of the
<st1:place w:st="on">Soviet Union</st1:place>, Marshal Yefimov,” said president of Aviarestoration, Boris Osetinsky.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p><o:p></o:p>
To Marshal Yefimov’s credit, are more than two hundred combat missions, in which he personally knocked out 126 tanks, and dozens of enemy aircraft destroyed on the ground.
<o:p></o:p>
 
Bomber_12th said:
This is certainly one of the biggest accomplishments within the history of the warbird movement. The IL-2, for a great many years, has been one of the top WWII-era aircraft on the 'never going to see flying' list - it can now be removed. Restored by Boris Osetinsky and his restoration team, they have been better known in recent years for their airworthy Mig-3 restorations, as well as a number of the Polikarpov restorations. At this time, information pertaining to this airframe and who the eventual owner is, is still a bit sketchy, but I'll add anything I hear. Paul Allen's Flying Heritage Collection is believed to be the owner of an IL-2 under restoration to airworthy condition, though there is no confirmation yet if this is that very airframe or not. Hopefully this won't be the only IL-2 emerging from Osetinsky's shop.

Until more information comes out, enjoy the amazing sights...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jphYnNJQAnw&feature=player_embedded
Click to expand...

Hi John,

I was wondering if you (Or Anyone else) could explain why I can no-longer see embedded videos on SOH..? Is it something to do with Safari or Mac? Where you see a video (I presume??) I see a blank space..

Cheers,
Craig :)
 
Well its been confirmed: http://www.flyingheritage.com/TemplateMain.aspx?contentId=93

The only unfortunate aspect, is if you hope to see it fly first-hand, you'll have to travel to Everett, Washington, as the FHC keep all of their aircraft and flying operations isolated to the museum's home airport, Paine Field.

So, through the Flying Heritage Collection, Russian military aviation continues to be well covered. They have a PO-2, I-16, IL-2, and a Mig-29, with a Yak-3 and Mig-21 also under restoration at this time.
 
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