Airworthy Il-2 !

[JohnTerrell]

Thank you for posting the link to the video - just amazing!

[lmritger]

YGBSM!!!

I completely agree with James, this is easily the surprise of the year if not the entire decade- was this on ANYONE's radar, anywhere?! What an absolute treat... and if it's indeed for the FHC, now their Fw 190A-5 will have a proper target!

BTW, the video dateline is Novosibirsk; some of the names (approximated) are Yuri Zhaksarov and Viktor Lyushin; the older fellow is Boris Ostienskii, President, Federalyi Aviarestavratarov Rossiya (I'm guessing that's the firm that restored it?) The veteran is Aleksandr Efimov, and the Il-2 test pilot is Vladimir Barsuk; the guy at 4:00 is Vladimir Berns (what an odd name!), the general director of something called "Aviarestavrashiya". Oh, and the cute reporter is Julia Olchovskaya.

This is just a guess, but based on what I'm seeing, I expect we should probably keep an eye out for more goodies from these folks- that's some REALLY nice work, from what I can see. What a great, great addition to the ranks of airworthy veterans!

Lynn

[K5DH]

Amazing!!! Definitely a huge surprise!!!

Another addition to my ever-growing "hope to see it in person some day" list. . .

[JohnTerrell]

It's rather interesting that the recent FHC-thread brought up the subject that an IL-2 has been under restoration to airworthy condition, only to have this pop up so soon after! Aviarestoration, the company responsible for this IL-2 restoration, is also the same company known for the three Mig-3 airworthy restorations (one of which is with Jerry Yagen/Military Aviation Musuem), and the number of airworthy Polikarpov fighters.

I recalled after seeing this new video of the completed aircraft, that this video/article (from early last year) was the first that I saw that an IL-2 was being restored (skip to the 2:15 mark to see it):
http://www.5-tv.ru/news/28780/

As has been 'cryptically' hinted at, I think, a time or two by Mr. Mark Sheppard, I'd imagine that we will see another great piece of writing (with photos!) on the history/recovery of this aircraft.

[shepsair]

John

There is SO many stories on recoveries, restorations etc - but I can only divulge when I am allowed to!!!!

Otherwise I will have no stories to research and write about

Might be other bits of news this year which will get people excited.


regards

Mark

[kalamazookid]

Wow! I had no idea there was even an IL-2 under restoration anywhere! What an incredible restoration.

[ChrisDNT]

Another link :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6P13XkJ ... er&list=UL

[lmritger]

A clue to it's destination, from another video (via Google Translate):

"After participating in the airshow, the aircraft flies over the ocean, in a collection of American collector."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6P13XkJXUc&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

So, FHC or the Military Aviation Museum? And that looks an awful lot like an Allison up front, but I'll leave that to more experienced folks here to determine.

Lynn

[tayyareci]

There is a good video coverage of a wreck being salvaged from a lake in Hungary

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoR3JU4IgbI&feature=related part1/3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJoPd0EHpRY&feature=related part2/3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpQfnUoOOb4&feature=related part3/3

Best wishes,

Bülent Yilmazer
yilmazer@tr.net
History of Aviation
Department of History
Middle East Technical University
Ankara - Turkey
http://www.ae.metu.edu.tr/~ae474/

[Chappie]

Did anyone else notice that the pilot appears to be giving the "sign of the cross" twice while taxing out (at the 19-22 second mark of the video)

Yeah I did notice that! What a huge surprise! What a terrific restoration. I would not be surprised if this aircraft goes to Virginia Beach. Yagen's building a pretty good collection of Russian aircraft.

Now that the cat is out of the bag, I'm sure WIXers will be keeping an eye out.

I love that they left bullets hole on the aircraft. Is it Allison powered?



Chappie

[RMAllnutt]

There is a good video coverage of a wreck being salvaged from a lake in Hungary

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoR3JU4IgbI&feature=related part1/3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJoPd0EHpRY&feature=related part2/3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpQfnUoOOb4&feature=related part3/3

Best wishes,

Bülent Yilmazer
yilmazer@tr.net
History of Aviation

Made for fascinating (if somewhat painful) viewing. Thanks for posting. It was interesting to see that the Sturmovick's horizontal stabilizer was constructed with American-made aluminum sheet. Very odd!

Incidentally, in the first video showing the rebuilt aircraft's flight I could swear I heard them say "Virginia" several times, which might indicate that this aircraft is going to Jerry Yagen. I may be mistaken though.

Cheers,
Richard

Department of History
Middle East Technical University
Ankara - Turkey
http://www.ae.metu.edu.tr/~ae474/

[DaveM2]

Yes Allison powered. it will feature in the upcoming Classic Wings

Dave

[tayyareci]

Hello Richard,

Yes; the wreck salvation videos are rather long and the language is "Chinese", but it is facinating to watch the whole effort put into the project to save that wreck. I wish we could do the same for the numerous historic aircraft wrecks lying down in the lakes and seas around Turkey.

Best wishes,

Bülent Yilmazer
yilmazer@tr.net
History of Aviation
Department of History
Middle East Technical University
Ankara - Turkey
http://www.ae.metu.edu.tr/~ae474

[Chappie]

Can't wait to see the story Dave! What will happen next in the warbird world? Maybe, a combat veteran Stuka will suddenly roll out the doors of MeierMotors?!


Chappie

[snj-5]

There is a good video coverage of a wreck being salvaged from a lake in Hungary

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoR3JU4IgbI&feature=related part1/3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJoPd0EHpRY&feature=related part2/3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpQfnUoOOb4&feature=related part3/3

Best wishes,

Bülent Yilmazer
yilmazer@tr.net
History of Aviation
Department of History
Middle East Technical University
Ankara - Turkey
http://www.ae.metu.edu.tr/~ae474/

Fascinating...

The guy in the red jacket commented on the (relatively) poor construction quality (bad rivets, etc.).
The box they were cleaning turned out to be something to do with "heating the bomb-bay" (maybe
the bomb-bay compartment was heated...???). It says to turn the heat on below 15 degrees Celcius
and turn it back off after the bomb(s) have been dropped.

Then they're trying to determine if the engine was under power during the ditching or not (based upon
the damage to the propeller).

There are comments about the aft fuselage being made of made of wood.

Bela P. Havasreti