Within the annals of military aviation history, there are few aircraft that are as important to the chronicles of the subject matter as the Ilyushin Il-2 Shturmovik and the CG-4A Glider. Each one of the airplanes had great significance throughout World War II, personifying the resilience and innovation of each of their respective forces.
The Ilyushin Il-2 Shturmovik was for short merely called the Shturmovik, a mainstay of Soviet air power on the Eastern Front. Designed in 1938 by a team led by Sergey Ilyushin, its prototype, originally the TsKB-57, first flew in 1939. When Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941, the Shturmovik became a very important aircraft. Factories manufacturing the Shturmovik were transferred east of the Ural Mountains, where production continued with unskilled labor. Despite the hardships, the Shturmovik became, just like the T-34 tank, an emblem of Soviet tenacity and numerical superiority.
More than 36,000 Il-2s were built, the highest total produced for any military aircraft. Similarly, its armored cockpit and engine compartment, plus a battery of armaments, made it a formidable force in close air support roles. The Shturmovik’s contributions spanned from the defense of Moscow to the Battle of Berlin. In the post-war period, a large number of Il-2s were exported to Soviet satellite states, while this plane’s legacy continued with the Il-10, which saw action during the Korean War.
Today, a Shturmovik is being laboriously restored at the National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. The aircraft is a composite, cobbled together from the wrecks of several Il-2s dragged up from lakes around Leningrad and Murmansk in the early 1990s. It has been a difficult restoration, removing the original paint and corrosion that obscured the aircraft’s identity. Despite these impediments, this piece of history is being brought to life by the restoration team, with the help of enthusiasts and other museums.
The CG-4A Glider was an unsung hero of WWII, having played its particular role in airborne operations. Gliders, developed in the pre-war period, became one of the most-used means during the Allied invasion of Hitler’s occupied France in June 1944. More than 800 CG-4 gliders carried infantry units and equipment throughout Operation Overlord. Later, upwards of over 1500 gliders were to be deployed during Operation Market Garden.
However, surprisingly enough, the era of big military gliders was comparatively short. Despite all that gliders did, they were quickly retired after WWII for the most part because of the high casualties taken by airborne troops and newly developed helicopter capabilities. Nowadays, their legend continues to live on, and amateurs get a chance to feel what it was like to be a part of this part of history thanks to modern flight simulators, which painstakingly recreate every single detail and flight characteristics of these gliders.
Both the Shturmovik and the CG-4A Glider represent what could be called ingenuity and determination between forces within the most tumultuous times in history. Their stories, represented by restoration and simulation, have continued to educate and inspire future generations.