Ilyushin IL-2 Sturmovik

I seriously don't know why people don't watch videos on "Soviet Planes" as much as other planes, but I hope you cover this one more, given that it is a superbly popular plane... which we don't know enough about when it comes to technical details. Cheers from Poland!

LOVE the idea of doing a whole series on the IL2!

I always thought the IL-2 was a very interesting plane. The integration of the armored bathtub into the structure is very clever.

Soviet WWII aircraft are seriously under-examined, I enjoyed this episode and look forward to more on the IL-2.

Always a good day when Greg uploads - interested to see some in-depth information on Soviet designs!

Given I grew up reading about how crude and simple Soviet equipment was, it's fascinating to learn that they were pretty sophisticated in their own way, and often quite competitive with Western kit, if not superior for their purposes. As a matter of fact, when you mentioned semi-exposed landing gear and armored tubs, I thought of the much later A-10! Keep it up! This is really informative and enjoyable!

Please continue to cover the IL-2. Interesting to me is the armored "bathtub concept that we see in the A-10. I flew some aerobatic flights in a SU-29. I asked the owner why the radial engine used a pneumatic starting system and was fitted with no/or very minimal electrical system. The lack of electrical system was for weight savings as the Soviet generator/alternator was a backup boat anchor for the Soviet Navy. Used for short aerobatic flights only required a small battery to power a few items such as a radio, etc. I was told the pneumatic starting system was specifically used because this engine was used in extremely cold climates. Batteries and electrical starters do not do well in extremely low temperatures. Pneumatic starter systems do just fine with a round air pressure tank to serve as a "battery" via an engine powered air pump. You've probably covered this elsewhere. But I found it fascinating. The Russians weren't stupid. That's for sure.

Multiple episodes on the Sturmovik? That would be great! Thank you for this.

I wasn't aware you covered Soviet machines, nice!

I used to read old Soviet tractor and car repair manuals as a child, they were so much fun to read. The art was very nice, showed you a lot of detail on how the engines and other components were built and worked. Never seen a repair manual for a plane, but I'm sure it's every bit as fun to read.

The articulated connecting rod is fairly common in Sovjet V12s and other engines. It is in a way the same principle as a Radial conecting rod. So per crank bearing there is one main rod and a slave rod. The cilinder banks are not staggered as on a modern V type engine. The slave rod bank has less dispacement as the main rod bank does. The Soviet WW2 era diesel V12 tank engines do have te same set up.

Yay. Got to catch a real fresh one!

Please more Soviet, Japanese, and Italian stuff! The fans are out there, great work again!

By all means please continue this series! The IL2 is such an iconic airplane, I was immediately interested when I saw the title. Leaving us sit with just the intro would be quite disappointing.

The IL2 Sturmovik simm really brought soviet ww2 aviation into focus. I'd definitely like to see more about the IL2 - and maybe some interesting also-rans like the I-185

I honestly would love to see more on the IL-2 and the LA-5! The soviet stuff is often over looked i feel. They may not have been the best but there certainly was some unique design choices that worked very well for them. The IL-2 armor being one of them.

I was one of the earliest owners of the IL2 flight simulation package. I believe I paid a high price for the most powerful single processor at the time. I astounded pilots for years after with the "real feel" and even the visuals. Force feedback on the Microsoft Sidewinder joystick was awesome for twenty years ago. I knew the Soviet military created the Sim engine. It was the best.

Dear Greg, I love your channel. The articulated con rod is composed of a master rod with a slave rod with its own big end bearing, like a conventional radial engine's con-rod. I saw it in a museum back in the seventies that espoused the virtues of soviet engineering, etc... I was also given permission to visit Domo, or Dromo-something, memory doesn't fade, it's completely gone, a large aviation park near Mosko. I wish I could find the thousands of pictures I took while in the ASA. I was a diplo-courier at the time and it was a rare opportunity to see Russia.

Hope to see more on the Il-2! Always look forward to videos.

I liked the video please talk more about this plane. It's also interesting to hear about the intricacies and complications of the Soviet production methods and considering those, I'd say they did surprisingly well.