MPD 1/72-SCALE
DECALS PETLYAKOV Pe-2FT WW2 SOVIET AF VVS RUSSIA FRANTISEK RYPL #A72018
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Additional
Information from Internet Encyclopedia
The Petlyakov Pe-2 (Russian:
Петляков Пе-2) was a Soviet twin-engined dive bomber used during World War II.
One of the outstanding tactical attack aircraft of the war, it also proved
successful as a heavy fighter, as a night fighter (Pe-3 variant) and as a
reconnaissance aircraft. In many respects it resembled the wooden British de
Havilland Mosquito. The Soviets manufactured Pe-2s in greater numbers (11,430
built) during the war than any other twin-engined combat aircraft except for
the German Junkers Ju 88 and the British Vickers Wellington. The Pe-2 was fast,
maneuverable and durable. Several Communist air forces flew the type after the
war, when it became known by the NATO reporting name Buck. The Germans
transferred six captured Pe-2s to the Finnish Air Force during the Continuation
War of 19411944; the Finns gave them the serial code prefix PE- and the
unofficial nickname Pekka-Eemeli (equivalent to "Peter-Emil").
Design and development
The Pe-2 was designed in a
prison design bureau (sharashka); Vladimir Petlyakov had been arrested and
imprisoned in 1937 for allegedly delaying design work on the Tupolev ANT-42
bomber. In the sharashka, Petlyakov was put in charge of a team to develop a
high-altitude fighter escort for the ANT-42 under the designation VI-100. The first
of two prototypes flew on 22 December 1939 and was a sophisticated aircraft for
its time, featuring a pressurised cabin, all-metal construction, superchargers
and many electrically actuated systems. It is said that Petlyakov and his team
could see the VI-100 prototype from their prison as it was put through its
paces for the crowds watching the annual May Day parade in 1940.
Just as production was ready to
begin, the air force ordered a re-design of the aircraft. The value of tactical
bombing had just been displayed by the Luftwaffe in the Blitzkrieg, and the
need for such an aircraft suddenly became much more important than the need for
a high-altitude escort fighter. Petlyakov's team was given 45 days to redesign
their aircraft as a dive bomber. Cabin pressurization and superchargers were
deleted, dive brakes, a bombardier's position and other aerodynamic refinements
were added. A fuselage bomb-bay was added, along with smaller bays in each
engine nacelle. The aircraft was initially designated PB-100, but Joseph Stalin
was impressed enough with Petlyakov to free him, and his name was permitted to
be used in the aircraft's designation. The first aircraft flew on 15 December
1940, rushed through production without a prototype under severe threats from
Stalin. Deliveries to combat units began the following spring.
While the Pe-2's flying
characteristics were generally favorable once it was airborne, it took a good
amount of force to pull the elevators up to rotate the plane for takeoff.
Russian night bombing missions often flew with female pilots and some of the
women were not strong enough to get the airplane airborne by themselves. When
such a situation occurred, the procedure was to have the navigator get behind
the pilot's seat and wrap her arms around the control wheel and help the pilot
pull the wheel back. Once the aircraft was airborne, the navigator returned to
her duties and the pilot continued to fly the plane without assistance.[6] Its
armament was clearly insufficient, however. The dorsal ShKAS machine gun had a
very high rate of fire; however, its 7.62 mm rounds proved inadequate against
the armor protection of modern fighters as the war progressed. In addition, it
often jammed. The mounting for the ventral Berezin UB had a very limited field
of view and the gun was initially unreliable. To give more protection, another
ShKAS was added that could be moved between sockets on both sides of the
fuselage and, in an emergency, the gunner could fire upwards, but in this case
they had to be quite strong to keep it in their arms. To improve the bomber's
defences, a dorsal Berezin UBT 12,7 mm was mounted. This modification was
reported to increase the life expectancy of a Pe-2 from 20 sorties to 54.
Operational service
The aircraft did not show its
true potential until the end of 1941, after the Soviet Air Force had a chance
to regroup after the German onslaught, during the Winter. The Pe-2 quickly
proved itself to be a highly capable aircraft, able to elude the Luftwaffe's
interceptors and allowing their crews to develop great accuracy with their
bombing. It could give German fighters fits when it could outrun them, at times
reaching over 400 mph.
The records of the 16th and 39th
BAPs of the Western Front Air Force note that the Pe-2's crews had the greatest
success in repelling the attacks of enemy fighters in June and July 1941. On 1
July, for example, six Pe-2s fended off attacks by four Messerschmitt Bf 109s,
shooting down two of them. A week later a group of Pe-2s was attacked by four
Bf 109 and again brought down two of the attackers. On both occasions the
Petlyakovs suffered no losses. On the southern front, a bombing mission against
Ploiesti, in Romania, by six Pe-2s, led by Capt. A. Tsurtsulin, was a great
success: 552,150 lbs of petroleum were burnt in the raid. The Romanian
information agency claimed that at least 100 Soviet planes had bombed Ploiesti.
The Pe-2 regiments' operations
were not always successful and the service pilots complained about insufficient
defensive armament and survivability: there was a great risk of fire and
insufficient armour protection, especially for the navigators and gunners.
German pilots soon discovered the limited sighting angles of the ventral gun
mounting and its poor reliability. The Ammunition belt of the UBT machine-gun
often jammed after the first burst of fire when shooting in extreme positions.
The navigator and the radio operator were poorly protected. On average, ten
Pe-2 gunners were wounded for every pilot, and two or three were killed for the
loss of one pilot.
Throughout 1942 the design was
steadily refined and improved, in direct consultation with pilots who were
actually flying them in combat. Improved armour protection and a fifth ShKAS
machine-gun was installed and fuel tanks modified. Despite anecdotal reports by
Soviet fliers, Pe-2s were daylight bombers, often crewed by comparative novices
in the early years of the war, and took significant losses, even when well
protected by fighters. In December 1942 General Turkel of the Soviet Air Force
estimated the life expectancy of a Pe-2 was 30 combat flights. An example of
loss rates after the Soviets gained the upper hand can be gained by the losses
suffered by the 1st and 2nd BAK. The former started the month of July 1943 with
179 machines, and lost 52 that month, and 59 the next, ending August with 156
bombers after receiving replacements. The 2nd BAK started July with 122 Pe-2s,
with monthly losses of 30 and 20, ending August 1943 with 114 Pe-2s after
replacements arrived. Most of these losses were at the hands of the thinly
stretched German fighter groups, which continued to inflict significant losses
when present in strength, even in the closing months of the war. For example,
in the Baltic where JG54 Grünherz were the main opposition, and greatly outnumbered,
the Soviet 1st Gv BAK lost 86 Pe-2s shot down (another 12 to other causes),
mostly to German fighters between 23 July 1944 and 8 February 1945. Western
sources use mark Pe-2FT for production series after 83 (where FT stands for
Frontovoe Trebovanie (Frontline Request)), although Soviet documents do not use
this identification. Final versions Pe-2K (transitional version of Pe-2I) and
Pe-2I were produced in small numbers, due to the unwillingness of Soviet
industry to decelerate production numbers.
Finnish Air Force
In 1941, after the outbreak of
the Continuation War, Finland purchased six war booty Pe-2 aircraft from
Germany. These arrived at State Aircraft Factory facilities at Härmälä in
January 1942, where the airframes were overhauled and given Finnish serial
numbers. The seventh Pe-2 was bought from the Germans in January 1944, and it
was flown to Finland at the end of the month.
It was initially planned to use
these planes as dive bombers in the 1st flight of LeLv 48, which began to
receive its aircraft in July 1942, but during the training it was found out
that this caused too much strain for the engines. Thus, the role of Pe-2s was
changed to fly long-range photographic and visual reconnaissance missions for
the Army General Headquarters. These sorties began in late 1942, and were often
flown with two 250 kg (551 lb) bombs for harassment bombing and in order to
cover the true purpose of missions.
By the time the Soviet Fourth
strategic offensive started in June 1944, the secondary bombing role had already
ended and the surviving Pe-2s began to be used solely at Karelian Isthmus in
escorted (normally by four FiAF Bf 109 Gs) photographic reconnaissance flights
in order to find out enemy troop concentrations. These vital missions were
flown successfully, allowing artillery and Finnish Air Force and Luftwaffe's
Gefechtsverband Kuhlmey's bombers to make their strikes against the formations
preparing for attack, which had an important impact on the outcome of the
Battle of Tali-Ihantala, where the Soviet advance was halted.
During the Continuation War,
three Pe-2s were lost in accidents or technical failures, one was destroyed in
bombing of Lappeenranta airfield, one was shot down by Soviet fighters and one
went missing in action. In the Lapland War the only remaining machine flew a
single reconnaissance sortie in October 1944. On average, the aircraft flew
some 94 hours per plane during the war.
PE-301 and PE-215 were destroyed
when Soviet aircraft bombed the Lappeenranta airfield on 2 July 1944. PE-212
went down in 1943, PE-213 was destroyed in an emergency landing in 1942. PE-214
was destroyed in a failed take-off attempt at Härmälä on 21 May 1942: as
Härmälä airfield was quite short, the pilot had to try to lift off with too
little speed, which caused the aircraft to stall and crash, killing the crew.
PE-217 managed to shoot down a Soviet fighter in 1944. PE-216 was destroyed in
a forced landing in 1944. PE-211 survived the war and was removed from FAF
lists in 1946. It was still standing beside the Kauhava airfield in 1952, but
further information on its fate is unknown.
Pe-2FT
Main production variant. In
Czechoslovakia known as the B-32. Improved defensive armament (7.62 mm machine
gun in dorsal turret), removal of the dive brakes, and an uprated engine. Nose
glazing was also reduced.