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Shturmovik Rebuilt Under the Radar

Nearly unnoticed in the West, several Russian firms have been doing world-class warbird restorations. The most recent phoenix to launch skyward from such a workshop is the world’s only airworthy Ilyushin Il-2—the legendary Soviet World War II “flying tank,” the Shturmovik. It’s a project that was in process very quietly over the last six years by the builder Aviarestoration, under the direction of craftsman Boris Osetinsky. The fully restored Shturmovik burst upon the U.S. warbird scene last October—yes, it was done for an American buyer—like a 37mm round from one of its cannons.

Aviarestoration made its reputation with several flying MiG-3 and Polikarpov projects, some of which have found their way to both the U.S. and New Zealand. The former Soviet Union is an enormous landmass salted with thousands of untouched warbird wrecks, many of them in near-inaccessible northern forests, swamps and lakes, where bitter-cold fresh water and silty shallows do much to preserve their remains. (A Russian video of one Shturmovik recovery from such a bog clearly shows the still-intact body of the pilot being recovered.) The core of this restoration was recovered from a marsh, and though much of the airplane had to be reconstructed from fresh metal and wood by Aviarestoration, there is still enough left of the original that more than a dozen bullet holes can plainly be seen.

Shturmoviks were not “armored”—they were made of armor. The thick steel plating that rendered them impervious to riflecaliber fire was not an add-on but was actually the fuselage—a large, load-bearing component that stretched from the prop spinner all the way back to the gunner’s compartment. The aft fuselage and empennage were all wood, which was useless by the time the airframe was recovered. The airplane’s original AM-38 V-12 engine was also junk, so the restoration is fitted with an Allison V-1710, possibly one originally intended for a contrarotating P-38, to match the Il-2’s original “backward” prop rotation.

As with so many legends, the Shturmovik’s reputation exceeds reality. Far from being an unstoppable tank-buster, the Il-2 has in fact been called one of the crudest and clumsiest of all WWII airplanes. They were shot down by the thousands. It was an example of the Soviet Union’s undeniably effective methodology of developing weapons that were “good enough”—the famous T-34 tank was another example—and then freezing the design and cranking them out nonstop to overwhelm by force of numbers. More Il-2s (over 36,000) were manufactured than any combat aircraft in history.

So who bought this Il-2? In late October word leaked out that it is going to megacollector Paul Allen and his Flying Heritage Collection, north of Seattle.

-Stephan Wilkinson

Original ‘Missile With a Man in It’

In the little Bavarian town of Geisenhausen, Germany, restoration work was recently completed on one of World War II’s most spine-chilling weapons: the V-1 Reichenberg, a piloted version of the guided, pulse-jet-powered flying bomb intended for precision attacks against bomber streams, ships and bridges. It’s one of only six examples still in existence, and bears the production number 27.

Three years ago the Reichenberg was in Alexander Kuncze’s shop in pieces. Today all those parts have been cleaned up and assembled, and the Reichenberg stands in the middle of his workshop, decked out in greengray Luftwaffe camouflage. “This was a Wasserläufer,” Kuncze notes, “a version built to be used against ships.”

Conceived in desperation in 1944, the V-1, or Fieseler Fi-103, was launched from ramps in France to terrorize Britain. The first rocket missile, the V-2, was later launched from Peenemünde at London targets. Late in the war, some of the more fanatical Wehrmacht officers promoted creating suicide planes by adding a pilot’s cockpit to the V-1 just ahead of and underneath the Reichenberg’s Argus pulse-jet engine. The explosive charge mounted in the nose was the same type that was used in the 15-inch shells of the battleship Bismarck.

Although Adolf Hitler and his Luftwaffe generals rejected the idea of a suicide plane as “un-German” and “unsoldierly,” the manned Reichenberg was put into production. Intended to be launched from under the wings of a Heinkel He-111, it was officially regarded as a manned missile whose pilot could parachute to safety just before it hit its target—though how this could be accomplished from an aircraft diving at more than 435 mph, with an engine pod directly behind the cockpit, is unknown. About 175 were built, and a few were tested by German pilots—including Nazi aviatrix Hanna Reitsch—but they never saw combat.

Kuncze says his Reichenberg, which was found in Tschechien, contains about 75 percent original parts. He is offering it for sale for 1 million euros (about $1.3 million). Another of his restorations, a V-2 rocket, is on display in Berlin’s Museum der Technik. His next project? To restore a 1945 Taifun anti-aircraft rocket.

-Rudolf Stumberger

Yak Sets Speed Record

Reno racer Will Whiteside, pilot of the highly modified Mustang Voodoo , has set a significant world speed record—not in big  bad Voodoo but in his own airplane, a substantially smaller, lighter and less powerful Yak-3U. But that’s all right, for the record is in the FAI-recognized under-6,615-pound piston-engine category. The previous record holder was the late Jim Wright, flying his Hughes H-1 replica to 305 mph in 2002. Whiteside obliterated that mark with an official speed of 407 mph last October 10, followed the next day by an unofficial 416 mph over the same three kilometer course at the Bonneville Salt Flats, in Utah. Howard Hughes himself flew the original “Hughes Racer,” the H-1, to an unofficial 352 mph in 1935, which would have been the world land plane record, but the FAI never observed and ratified it (though no doubt that didn’t make the slightest bit of difference to Hughes).

While the original Yak-3 was a mid-1940s design, Whiteside’s airplane was built in Romania in 2005. It’s powered not by the 3U’s original Shvetsov radial but by a Pratt & Whitney R-2000, thousands of which propelled DC-4s in their stock 1,450-hp form. Whiteside’s Pratt is internally unmodified but enhanced by an anti-detonation water-injection system that allows him to pull a full 1,750 hp at a comfortable 50 inches of manifold pressure.

The Yak, a clean, mini-winged fighter, has remarkable performance for its power-to-weight ratio (3.71 pounds per hp), despite the bluff radial on its nose. Whiteside has smoothed the airflow over the engine with a large afterbody behind the spinner, but he admits there’s more work to be done.“It’s a crude airplane,” he says.“I can stand on one side of it and see daylight through the fuselage, between the butted skin sections. The cooling drag is still too high, and we can do more to smooth up the landing-gear doors and wells.”

Call it a work in progress, and look for Whiteside to return to Bonneville sometime soon, to Yak up the record even more.

Stephan Wilkinson

Air Zoo Expansion Takes Off

The Air Zoo museum near Kalamazoo, Mich., opened an additional 50,000 feet of space on October 1, 2011, adding new exhibits and consolidating attractions from two buildings under one roof. A display on space exploration—featuring breakthroughs such as Robert Goddard’s 1926 liquid-fueled rocket and the gyro scope from a PGM-11 Redstone ballistic missile—now complements rides and simulators added in June. Additionally, the Michigan Space Science Center has moved from the East Campus to the Main Campus and added an International Space Station flight simulator.

Guests more interested in airplanes will now find Air Zoo’s entire collection in the Main Campus, including its WWII warbirds and a newly displayed 1938 Fairchild F-24K, a roomy little personal plane flown by business executives and Hollywood actors. A new archives space and expanded library round out the Air Zoo additions for now, but plans are in the works to move the museum’s restoration facility to the now-vacant East Campus, so visitors can get a look at ongoing projects, including a meticulous Sopwith Camel restoration. For more on the museum, visit airzoo.org.

Storied C-130E Lands at USAF Museum

Last August entered the collection of the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. The well-worn Hercules, No. 62-1787, had come a long way since April 1972, when the intelligence Spare 617, a C-130E boasting an impressive career, officer at Tan Son Nhut Air Base briefed its pilot, Captain William

Caldwell, and his crew on their mission to the besieged city of An Loc, South Vietnam. Caldwell, who was told, “You’re going to have 37mm anti-aircraft fire coming at you,” remembers asking, “How high does that go?” The reply was succinct: “Above you.” Caldwell has never forgotten that harrowing airdrop. He was on approach to the drop zone when groundfire smashed into Spare 617’s fuselage and cockpit, instantly killing flight engineer Tech. Sgt. Jon Sanders and wounding several others. The fusillade ruptured an air bleed duct, causing superheated air to spew into the cargo hold, and setting ammo pallets ablaze. Loadmaster Tech. Sgt. Charlie Shaub called for Caldwell or his copilot to electronically jettison the load. When that failed, Shaub braved the scalding air to cut loose the pallets—two of which exploded just after leaving the airplane. Shaub then grabbed a red-hot fire extinguisher and doused a fire in the left wheel well. Caldwell and Shaub later received the Air Force Cross.

Spare 617 was repaired and returned to service, later flying with various Air National Guard squadrons. Colonel Caldwell, who was on hand for the August 18 ceremony honoring No. 62-1787’s installation in the museum, had his own take on the meaning of the festivities: “We had a crew and I included in that crew the airplane, so I saw it more as a retirement ceremony for the plane.” Currently on display on a runway, Spare 617 joins two AC-130 gunships already in the NMUSAF collection. It will eventually be housed in the Global Reach Gallery in a new building, slated for completion in 2014.

-Stephen Mauro

Soaring Centennial

In October of last year, glider fans celebrated the 100th anniversary of the first generally recognized soaring flight: Orville Wright’s nearly 10-minute cruise over Kitty Hawk on October 24, 1911. A procession of vintage and modern sailplanes took off from Dare County Airport on Roanoke Island, N.C., and First Flight Airport at Kill Devil Hills to land amid enthusiasts gathered at the Wright Brothers National Memorial. Two replica Wright 1911 gliders were on static display, including one that had been expected to take to the air before the tragic death of its builder, Jimmy Dayton, in a flying accident. Dayton’s family and friends finished it and displayed it in his honor. Tom Crouch, senior curator of aeronautics at the National Air and Space Museum, led a symposium at the memorial on the history of soaring.

 

Originally published in the March 2012 issue of Aviation History. To subscribe, click here.