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Subject: Petlyakov Pe-2
Date: 21 Sep 2018 07:27:09 -0700
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petlyakov_Pe-2
The Petlyakov Pe-2 was a Soviet light bomber used during World War II. It was
regarded as one of the best ground attack aircraft of the war and it was also
successful in the roles of heavy fighter, reconnaissance and night fighter. It
was similar in many respects to the wooden British de Havilland Mosquito. Pe-2s
were manufactured in greater numbers (11,427 built) during the war than any
other twin-engined combat aircraft except for the German Junkers Ju 88 and
British Vickers Wellington. The Pe-2 was fast, maneuverable and durable. Several
Communist nations flew the type after the war, when it became known by the NATO
reporting name Buck. Six captured Pe-2s were also transferred from the Germans
to the Finnish Air Force during the Continuation War, with the serial code PE-
and the unofficial nickname Pekka-Eemeli.
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 December 22, 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.
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. 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.
Role
Bomber
Manufacturer
Petlyakov
Designer
Vladimir Petlyakov
First flight
22 December 1939
Introduction
1941
Retired
1954 (SFR Yugoslav Air Force)
Primary users
Soviet Air Force
SFR Yugoslav Air Force
Air Force of the Polish Army
Czechoslovakian Air Force
Number built
11 427
Variants
Petlyakov Pe-3
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.
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 a
daylight bomber, 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.
Specifications (Petlyakov Pe-2)
General characteristics
Length: 12.66 m (41 ft 6 in)
Wingspan: 17.16 m (56 ft 3 in)
Height: 3.5 m (11 ft 6 in)
Empty weight: 5,875 kg (12,952 lb)
Loaded weight: 7,563 kg (16,639 lb)
Max. takeoff weight: 8,495 kg (18,728 lb)
Performance
Maximum speed: 580 km/h (360 mph)
Range: 1,160 km (721 miles)
Service ceiling: 8,800 m (28,870 ft)
Rate of climb: 7.2 m/s (1,410 ft/min)
Power/mass: 250 W/kg (0.15 hp/lb)
Armament
Guns:
2 7.62 mm (0.3 in) fixed ShKAS machine guns in the nose, one replaced by a 12.7
mm (0.5 in) Berezin UB on later versions.
2 rearward firing 7.62 mm (0.3 in) ShKAS machine guns.
From the middle of 1942 defensive armament included 1 Berezin UB machine gun in
the upper bombardier's turret, 1 Berezin UB in gunner's ventral hatch and 1
ShKAS which could be fired by a gunner from port, starboard or upper mountings
Some planes were also equipped with a DAG-10 launcher, firing AG-2 parachute
timed grenades.
Bombs: 1,600 kg (3,520 lb) of bombs
*
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