World War 2 In Review: Soviet air force

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Ilyushin Il-4: Soviet Medium Bomber

Ilyushin Il-4.

The Ilyushin Il-4 (DB-3F) was a Soviet twin-engined long-range bomber and torpedo bomber, widely used by the Soviet Air Force and Soviet Naval Aviation during World War II.

In 1938, the Ilyushin design bureau redesigned the Ilyushin DB-3 to ease production and improve its performance, the revised version receiving the designation DB-3F (Forsirovanniye or "boosted"). The aircraft's internal structure, particularly the wings, was extensively changed, eliminating the need for hand finishing of the structure, and with duralumin replacing the large scale use of steel in the earlier version. The aircraft's fuel system was redesigned, increasing its internal capacity while reducing the number of fuel tanks. The fuselage nose was lengthened to give more room for the navigator/bombardier while reducing drag. The prototype DB-3F, powered by the same 949 hp (708 kW) Tumansky M-87B engines of the DB-3M, was piloted on its maiden flight by Vladimir Kokkinaki on 21 May 1939. It successfully passed through state acceptance tests and entered production in January 1940, with the 1,100 hp (820 kW) Tumansky M-88 quickly replacing the M-87. The DB-3F was redesignated Il-4 in March 1942. Some series had wooden outer wings and front fuselages to conserve metals, and throughout the production, engines and fuel tanks were upgraded for improved performance while retaining the same range. However the most notable change was the addition of larger defensive guns in the turret, using the 12.7 mm (0.5 in) UBT machine gun in place of the earlier 7.62 mm (0.3 in) weapons. In addition, it was found that the gunners were attacked first, so blocks of armor were placed around the gunner positions.

This extra weight was not offset by the newer engines however, and the Il-4 proved to be slower than the earlier versions at only 404 km/h (251 mph). An attempt to improve performance was made as the Il-6, adding large diesel engines and heavier armament. The engines proved unreliable and production was never started. The Il-4 remained in production until 1945, when just over 5,200 had been built.

Although the Il-4 was only a medium bomber, it had the range to be used on strategic missions. The use of the bombers in this role was not a priority for the VVS, but nevertheless the Il-4 was used on several long-range bombing raids against Berlin in 1941. Most would be used on much shorter range missions, often adding another 1,000 kg (2,204 lb) of bombs under the wings, in addition to the internal 2,500 kg (5,512 lb).

Finland bought four captured DB-3Fs from German stocks. These were given the Finnish Air Force serials DF-22 to DF-25 and flown from Bryansk, Russia to Finland (one aircraft, DF-22, was destroyed en route and crashed near Syeschtschinskaya airfield). The aircraft were later flown by No. 48 Sqn during 1943 (DF-23, DF-24 and DF-25), No. 46 Sqn during 1944 (DF-23 and DF-24) and No. 45 Sqn for a short time in 1945 (DF-23), until the last remaining serviceable aircraft went into depot on February 23, 1945. After the war, DF-25 was lost in a snowstorm, landed on the ice and crashed into the woods in Öja near the city of Kokkola. Most parts of the plane were rescued and taken to a depot.

Role: Long-range bomber

Design group: Ilyushin

First flight: 31 March 1936

Primary user: Soviet Air Force

Produced: 1942-1945

Number built: 5,256

Developed from: Ilyushin DB-3

Developed into: Ilyushin Il-6

Crew: four (pilot, bombardier/navigator, dorsal gunner/wireless-operator, ventral gunner)

Length: 14.76 m (48 ft 5 in)

Wingspan: 21.44 m (70 ft 4 in)

Wing area: 66.70 m2 (718.0 sq ft)

Empty weight: 5,800 kg (12,787 lb)

Maximum takeoff weight: 12,120 kg (26,720 lb)

Powerplant: 2 × Tumansky M-88B 14-cyl. air-cooled radial piston engines, 820 kW (1,100 hp) each

Maximum speed: 410 km/h (250 mph, 220 kn) at 6,500 m (21,325 ft)

Range: 3,800 km (2,400 mi, 2,100 nmi) (max internal fuel), 2,600 km (1,404 nmi; 1,616 mi) with 1,000 kg (2,200 lb) bombs

Service ceiling: 8,700 m (28,500 ft)

Time to altitude: 13.6 min to 5,000 m (16,404 ft)

Guns: 2 × 7.62×54mmR ShKAS machine guns (1 in nose, 1 in ventral hatch); 1 × 12.7×108mm UBT machine gun in dorsal turret

Rockets: 2 × BETAB-750DS 305 mm rockets.

Missiles: 1 × 940 kg (2,100 lb) Type 45-36 torpedo

Bombs: Up to 2,700 kg (6,000 lb) of bombs or mines.

Operators

Republic of China: Chinese Nationalist Air Force received 24 aircraft

Finland: Finnish Air Force captured 11 aircraft of the type DB-3M and four aircraft of the type DB-3F (Il-4)

Germany: Luftwaffe (tests only)

Soviet Union:

Soviet Air Force

Regiments as at 1945-46:

10th Guards Bomber Aviation Regiment

290th Bomber Aviation Regiment

303rd Bomber Aviation Regiment (Zavitinsk, Amur Oblast)

442nd Bomber Aviation Regiment (Belogorsk, Amur Oblast) with Il-4

other regiments

Soviet Naval Aviation

Bibliography

"From DB-3 To Il-4...The Soviet Long-Range Bomber: Part Two". Air International, Vol. 30, No. 3, March 1986. Bromley, UK: Fine Scroll. pp. 133–138, 154–155.

Gordon, Yefim and Khazanov, Dmitri. Soviet Combat Aircraft of the Second World War, Volume 2: Twin-Engined Fighters, Attack Aircraft and Bombers. Earl Shilton, UK: Midland Publishing Ltd., 2006.

Gordon, Yefim, Dmitriy Komissarov and Sergey Komissarov. OKB Ilyushin: A History of the Design Bureau and its Aircraft. London: Ian Allan, 2004.

Gunston, Bill. The Osprey Encyclopedia of Russian Aircraft 1875–1995. London: Osprey, 1995.

Keskinen, Kalevi; Stenman, Kari and Niska, Klaus. Suomen Ilmavoimien Historia 9, Venäläiset Pommittajat (Soviet Bombers). Espoo, Finland: Tietoteos, 1982.

Nowarra, Heinz J. and Duval, G.R. Russian Civil and Military Aircraft, 1884-1969. London: Fountain Press Ltd., 1971.

Stapfer, Hans-Heiri. Ilyushin Il-4 in Action (aircraft number 192). Carrollton, Texas: Squadron/Signal Publications, Inc., 2004.

Ilyushin Il-4s at the factory.

Ilyushin Il-4.

Ilyushin Il-4 with Guards emblem on the fuselage.

Ilyushin Il-4.

Ilyushin Il-4, Capt. Merguov, 1st MTAD of the Black Sea Fleet, March 1943.

Ilyushin Il-4.

Another view of the same Ilyushin Il-4.

Ilyushin Il-4 with Guards emblem under the canopy.

Ilyushin Il-4.

Ilyushin Il-4 on the airfield of Factory No. 64 at Voronece, early 1945.

Ilyushin Il-4.

German troops examine a crashed Ilyushin Il-4.

German soldier examines the remains of a shot down Ilyushin Il-4.

German soldiers examine a shot down Ilyushin Il-4.

German soldier examines a crashed Ilyushin Il-4.

Ilyushin Il-4 with the motto 'Otvazhnyi' (courageous).

Ilyushin Il-4T torpedo bomber.

Ilyushin Il-4 on combat mission, Pacific Fleet, 1945.

Ilyushin Il-4.

Captured Il-4 with LaGG-3 in foreground in Finnish service.

Captured Ilyushin Il-4 in Luftwaffe service.

Captured Ilyushin Il-4 (earlier designation DB-3F) (DF-25) medium bomber in Finnish service, 1 April 1944.

Captured Ilyushin Il-4, Finnish Air Force.

Air Power In View

USN PB4Y-1 over the Atlantic. This was the Navy version of the B-24 Liberator fitted for ASW and Maritime operations, many like this one received an ERCO nose turret. Almost 1000 were delivered to the USN during World War II. The transport has the neutral Portuguese flag painted on the ship’s sides.

A U.S. Marine Corps North American SNJ-3 Texan and a Curtiss SBC-4 Helldiver assigned to the First Marine Air Wing in flight in early 1942.

Three U.S. Navy Douglas TBD-1 Devastators assigned to the Naval Operational Training Command at Naval Air Station Miami, Florida, in flight over South Florida, 1942/43. NAS Miami and NAS Ft. Lauderdale were home to Operational Training Units for the instruction of U.S. Navy torpedo-bomber pilots. The last TBD was retired in early 1944.

A damaged U.S. Navy Grumman TBF-1 Avenger assigned to Torpedo Squadron VT-8 makes a landing on board the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga (CV-3) without the benefit of a tailhook while the carrier operates off the Solomons. Note that the arrestor wire has caught the main undercarriage.

Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bombers practice a torpedo run during training exercises on the East Coast of the United States.

Miles Master Mark III, W8667, '3', of No. 5 Service Flying Training School based at Ternhill, Shropshire, in flight.

Supermarine Spitfire prototype (K5054) on its first flight on 5 March 1936.

Supermarine Spitfire prototype (K5054).

Spitfire prototype (K5054) in camouflage scheme.

Spitfire Mk I (K9795) of No. 19 Squadron RAF in 1938.

Spitfires of No. 222 Squadron take off during the Battle of Britain.

Spitfire Mk VB (BM590 AV-R) of No. 121 Squadron RAF.

Seafire Mk IIC (MB156 6G-O) Royal Navy on HMS Formidable.

Spitfires of No. 453 Squadron RAAF with invasion stripes.

Supermarine Spitfire Mk. I, with RAF aces, No. 92 Sqn., Manston, 1941.

Supermarine Spitfire Mk V Trop of 253 and 32 Sqdns. in Cannes.

Supermarine Spitfire Mk V Trop of 417 Sqdn. awaiting take-off at Gubin, Tunisia in 1943.

A Gloster Meteor in Belgium in early 1945, sent over to counter the Me 262. The Meteors were painted white so they were easy to identify.

Bombs explode on the northern dispersal area at Abbeville/Drucat airfield, France, during an attack by 18 Lockheed Venturas of No. 21 Squadron RAF and No. 464 Squadron RAAF.

Hawker Hurricanes, Vultee Vengeances and North American Harvards lined up for flight testing after assembly at No. 1 (India) Maintenance Unit, Drigh Road, India.

Heinkel He 111 operated by the Chinese Nationalist Government in the 1930s. The Chinese had 10 of these machines. Location and date unknown. This was the last operational He 111 they had. It needed new engines, however they had no water-cooled inverted V engines available. The general consensus is that Wright Cyclones were swapped in, however, it's also possible they are Pratt & Whitney Wasps.

French Lioré et Olivier LeO 451 bomber.

Caudron C.714-01.

Caudron C.R. 760.

Caudron C.R. 770.

Caudron C.R.760 C.1

Caudron C.R.770.

Caudron C.714.

Caudron C.710.

Caudron C.714 cockpit.

Caudron C.714.

Caudron C.R.760.

Caudron C.R.770.

Caudron C.714.

Caudron C.713.

Caudron C.714 after capture by the Germans.

Caudron C.R.760.

Caudron C.R.714.

Caudron C.R.760.

Caudron C.714 in Luftwaffe service.

Caudron C.714, Groupe de Chasse I/145.

Caudron C.714 fighter plane of Groupe de Chasse I/145, June 1940.

Caudron C.714s of Groupe de Chasse I/145 after capture by the Germans. Note that the Polish insignia on the fuselage sides has been cut away.

Caudron C.714, Groupe de Chasse I/145.

Caudron C.714, Finnish air force.

Focke-Wulf Fw 191A. The Focke-Wulf Fw 191 was a prototype German bomber of World War II, as the Focke-Wulf firm's entry for the Bomber B advanced medium bomber design competition. Two versions were intended to be produced, a twin-engine version using the Junkers Jumo 222 engine and a four-engine variant which was to have used the smaller Daimler-Benz DB 605 engine. The project was eventually abandoned due to technical difficulties with the engines.

Focke Wulf Fw 191A.

Focke-Wulf 191 V-1.

Gotha Go 147B (D-IQVI). The Gotha Go 147 was a German experimental prototype reconnaissance aircraft designed in 1936. Designed by Gothaer Waggonfabrik and Albert Kalkert, construction of the two-seater aircraft was abandoned before the end of World War II. Featuring an unconventional design, it was built to test how an aircraft without a tail would fly, with the hope of using the experience to produce a future version for military use. Construction was suspended after the prototype proved to have poor flight characteristics.

Gotha Go 147.

Heinkel He 46 S7+A18. The Heinkel He 46 was a German World War II-era monoplane designed in 1931 for the close reconnaissance and army co-operation roles. While it served with the Luftwaffe's front-line units only briefly at the start of World War II, the He 46 served as late as 1943 as a nighttime nuisance bomber and with the Hungarian Air Force.

Heinkel He 46 BB+CK reconnaissance aircraft.

Gotha Go 145A, KE+WF, tandem two-seat training biplane.

The fuselage of a German Heinkel He 111 bomber shot down near Hazebrouck being transported on a trailer towed by a French half-track through the town of Roye, November 1939.

Heinkel He 111 with V-1.

He 111 ready to tow a Go 242 glider, Russia, January 1943.

Me 321 being towed by a Heinkel He 111Z.

A five-engine Heinkel He 111Z Zwilling (Twin) and, just coming in to land in the background, a six-engine Messerschmitt Me 323 Gigant (Giant), possibly Sicily, 1943

Horten XIII Tailless Aircraft in flight. The crew is in the crew cab at the rear of the aircraft.

Horten III-c with added wing foil. The man sitting on the aircraft is identified as Pilot Blech.

Horten H Xb (Piernifero II) on its nose on a cart being pulled by a car.

Deutsches Luft Hansa (DLH) Junkers F 13 bi "Dommel" (r/n D-582) on the ground, loading passengers; circa 1926-1933.

Me 163 variants.

Captured Ilyushin Il-4 (earlier designation DB-3F) (DF-25) medium bomber in Finnish service, 1 April 1944.

Captured Ilyushin Il-4, Finnish Air Force.

Captured Il-4 with LaGG-3 in foreground in Finnish service.

Captured Ilyushin Il-4 in Luftwaffe service.

Fiat Cansa FC.20 Regia Aeronautica.

1934 photo of a French Amiot 143. This type was thrown into the battle to destroy the Meuse bridges.

Waist gunners on a B-24.

French Breguet 690, photographed in July 1939.

Ryan STM, S-26, Morokrembangan, Surabaya, circa 1940-41.

Ryan STM, S-13, Morokrembangan, Surabaya, circa 1940-42.

Schweizer TG-3A (Schweizer SGS 2-12) training glider.

Seversky XP-41.

Spartan C-71 (42-38367), one of 16 purchased by the Army from private owners.

Stinson XR3Q-1, 9718.

Stinson XR3Q-1, 9718, NAS Sunnyvale.

Maj. Gen. Claire Chennault of Flying Tigers fame, center, at an airfield in Kweilin, China.

U.S. Navy Vought O2U-1 Corsair floatplane (BuNo A7819) from Scouting Squadron 6 on the port catapult of the light cruiser USS Concord (CL-10), in 1932.

O3U-3 (9300), from the battleship Colorado, visiting Oakland, 1939.

Actors and naval aviators worked together on the motion picture Hell Divers, directed by Spig Wead. Pictured on the set at NAS North Island, California, in September 1931 are (from left) actor Cliff Edwards; Lt. John Thatch, U.S. Navy; actors Clark Gable and Wallace Beery; and Lt. Herbert Duckworth, U.S. Navy.

Vought V-143. The Vought V-141 (which was later redesignated V-143 after modification) was a prototype American single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s. It was a development of the unsuccessful Northrop 3-A design, but was itself a failure, being rejected by the United States Army Air Corps. The sole prototype was sold to the Japanese Army in 1937, but no production followed, with the type proving to be inferior to existing Japanese fighters.

Vought XTBU-1 (2542).

USAAC 1st Lieutenant standing in front of Vultee BT-13 Valiant basic training aircraft on the ground, at an unidentified flying school somewhere in the United States, circa 1943.

Vultee BT-13.

Major James A. Elisson returns a salute to Mac Ross, as he reviews the Tuskegee cadets, lined up in front of their training aircraft, a Vultee BT-13, 1941.

Vultee BT-13 Valiant.

Pilots of F6F-3 Hellcats who shot down 21 Japanese enemy planes in less than 15 minutes over Truk Atoll, 29 April 1944, aboard USS Langley (CVL-27).