At A Glance - IL-2 Great Battles Aircraft Timeline

[hughlb]

This is a timeline that attempts to record the combat usage of all IL-2 GB aircraft across two sheets. The timeline doesn’t reflect aircraft production dates, but instead indicates when you may encounter a given aircraft in the eastern and western theaters. 

 

There are some caveats:

 

1. The timeline does not indicate the quantity of aircraft present at a given time, and therefore fails to provide the likelihood of an encounter. 

2. Aircraft included in each GB “battle” are grouped, and the conflict period itself is highlighted. However, other aircraft also overlap these conflict periods. The timeline does not indicate which of these other aircraft were used in different conflicts.

3. My resources can be seen in the Aircraft Timeline References Google Doc below. Most are a little dubious, and I would welcome information from the better informed community here in the forums. Some aircraft like the Il-2 series, lack end dates as I couldn't find information on when specific variants were last used in combat service. Furthermore I have relied on aircraft accident records for some aircraft, which obviously exclude aircraft that survived outside of these accident databases.

 

This was an enjoyable exercise, and there are a few points that stood out. The longevity for certain aircraft, like the Hurricane, was impressive. The aggressive development war particularly between the RAF and Luftwaffe led to some exceptional aircraft relatively early in the war, like the Spitfire Mk. VB, and Bf 109 F-4. The mad scramble in 1944 to bring a whole range of very capable allied and axis fighters, whose combat service was quite short lived. And finally, it highlighted the exciting prospect of a late war conflict that includes some missing VVS fighters like the Yak-3 and La-7. 

Here is the timeline, in both monitor and print versions. Make sure you download both pages, so you get the full range of aircraft.

 

At A Glance - IL-2 Great Battles Aircraft Timeline

 

Aircraft Timeline References Google Doc

If you haven’t taken a look already, my At A Glance - IL-2 Great Battles Aircraft Operation Guides are produced in the same style as this timeline, and might help with aircraft systems and checklists.

Happy flying! 

Hugh

 

Edited May 6, 2021 by hughlb

[Sandmarken]

Very informative. I have tried to find out the timeline from the f-2 til f-4 did not realise it was only 2 months between them! Also e7 until 43? And 109 g2 til 45! Didnt know they where around then! 

[hughlb]

On 5/10/2021 at 10:02 PM, Sandmarken said:

Also e7 until 43? And 109 g2 til 45! Didnt know they where around then! 

Neither did I. That was something I found somewhat sobering - there were so many models still in service towards the end of the war, albeit in far fewer numbers. The question is whether early model 109's encountered late war adversaries, or whether they were relegated to missions of lower risk. I am not sure, but I'd certainly hate to encounter a Spitfire IX in an E7!

[Dragon1-1]

They were probably relegated to training duties and the like. By the late war, there weren't many "low risk" missions one could find for an outdated fighter.

[HotPursuit]

Thanks for this hugh1b.

I noticed in the BOM section you've listed the Ju 52 in the Allied section and it's marked in red instead of blue.

[JG7_X-Man]

On 5/6/2021 at 6:30 AM, hughlb said:

This is a timeline that attempts to record the combat usage of all IL-2 GB aircraft across two sheets. The timeline doesn’t reflect aircraft production dates, but instead indicates when you may encounter a given aircraft in the eastern and western theaters. 

 

There are some caveats:

 

1. The timeline does not indicate the quantity of aircraft present at a given time, and therefore fails to provide the likelihood of an encounter. 

2. Aircraft included in each GB “battle” are grouped, and the conflict period itself is highlighted. However, other aircraft also overlap these conflict periods. The timeline does not indicate which of these other aircraft were used in different conflicts.

3. My resources can be seen in the Aircraft Timeline References Google Doc below. Most are a little dubious, and I would welcome information from the better informed community here in the forums. Some aircraft like the Il-2 series, lack end dates as I couldn't find information on when specific variants were last used in combat service. Furthermore I have relied on aircraft accident records for some aircraft, which obviously exclude aircraft that survived outside of these accident databases.

 

This was an enjoyable exercise, and there are a few points that stood out. The longevity for certain aircraft, like the Hurricane, was impressive. The aggressive development war particularly between the RAF and Luftwaffe led to some exceptional aircraft relatively early in the war, like the Spitfire Mk. VB, and Bf 109 F-4. The mad scramble in 1944 to bring a whole range of very capable allied and axis fighters, whose combat service was quite short lived. And finally, it highlighted the exciting prospect of a late war conflict that includes some missing VVS fighters like the Yak-3 and La-7. 

Here is the timeline, in both monitor and print versions. Make sure you download both pages, so you get the full range of aircraft.

 

At A Glance - IL-2 Great Battles Aircraft Timeline

 

Aircraft Timeline References Google Doc

If you haven’t taken a look already, my At A Glance - IL-2 Great Battles Aircraft Operation Guides are produced in the same style as this timeline, and might help with aircraft systems and checklists.

Happy flying! 

Hugh

 

The Fw 190A-3, A-5 along with the Bf 109G-2, G-4 were all phased out in late '43. I am not quite sure where you got your information from. Only the Bf 109G-14/K-4 and Fw 190A-8/D-9 were still in service at the end of the war. Check your sources.