Dragon's Il-2 aircraft guide

[Dragon1-1]

I've been annoyed at the paucity of written material on Il-2 aircraft. Besides the excellent buying guide for FC, there are almost no written materials. YouTube video tutorials tend to take a long time to watch and are either very simple or peter out after only covering a few aircraft in detail. I've decided to remedy that, with my own series of aircraft reviews. Note, these are based mostly on scripted campaign flying, so aircraft with extensive SP content will come first. I need to fly an aircraft long enough to really get to know it, and that usually means a flying more than a few missions. Enclosed is a handy list of things that need to be bound in order to fly the aircraft.

 

Allies:

Yakovlev fighters:

Spoiler

Types: Yak-1 (BoS), Yak-1b (collector), Yak-7 (BoK), Yak-9, Yak-9T (collector)

Advantages: Great turn, good visibility, good roll, fast flaps, good ground handling, no engine timers, (Yak-9T) great armament.

Disadvantages: Underpowered, slow, small ammunition load, no radiator position indicators, no gradual flap deployment.

What to bind: Propeller RPM axis, mixture axis, pitch trim axis, water radiator axis, oil radiator axis, supercharger gear shift, tailwheel lock/unlock, position lights, landing lights, wheel brake axis.

Official campaigns: Blazing Steppe (Yak-1)

 

Review:

The Yaks are, ultimately, the same fighter no matter which one you're sitting in, only Yak-9T breaks the mold, but even then, all it does is trade away some maneuverability for a massive cannon in the nose. The first in the series, the Yak-1, is a very respectable fighter, particularly at low altitudes. At high altitudes, it loses out to its contemporaries in terms of engine power and speed. At low altitudes too, but the difference is less pronounced. It compensates by being light and have a huge wing, meaning it turns really well, and unlike the Spitfire, another great turner, it has its guns on the centerline, making for easy aiming at long range. The ShVAK cannon is less powerful than the German 20mm, but it's adequate. The two ShKAS MGs are not much to write home about, but they can kill infantry and occasionally set an engine on fire. Mostly, they're good for figuring out lead for deflection shots, as they're the only weapon ever put on a Yak that has plentiful ammunition. The cockpit is rather threadbare, with only the most basic instruments. Fuel indicators are located on the wings, oddly enough. Radiator position is controlled by wheels, which is problematic because they have to be adjusted by feel (or by technochat, if you use it). Another thing with suboptimal controls is the propeller pitch, which is controlled by a very slowly turning knob. As such, it's best to set it to full and forget about it. It's possible to get away with that because the designers made the plane remarkably idiot-resistant. There's no emergency power setting, the engine will run at full power until it either overheats or runs out of fuel. Mixture management is similarly optional. Heat is managed by draggy (particularly the water) radiators, which need to be manually adjusted to get the most out of the aircraft. Flaps are a mixed blessing, they have two positions and deploy really fast, so they can be used to instantly get extra lift in a low speed fight. On the other hand, they also produce a lot of drag, which the Yak really doesn't need more of. Of course, in scissors or any other tight, low speed situation, drag is what you want. What you really want with the Yak, though, is not to end up in low speed scissors, because lack of slats doesn't do the Yak any favors in low speed rolling fights. Other than that, though, it's a really nice, docile plane, on the ground as well as in the air. It has a manual tailwheel lock, although it doesn't need to use it much, as it turns well enough with it locked, it's just that light. There are bombs, but if you want to do ground attack, take an Il-2. There's little reason to use the Yak to bomb things, but if you have to, you can.

 

The Yak-1b is only a little different, with the machine guns replaced with a single UB 12.7mm MG, which is far more useful than the base version's twin ShKAS, but with only 220 rounds, it doesn't last very long. Good aiming is paramount with that version, but this is just as well, since centerline mounted guns are good for making precision shots. The "spine" behind the canopy is gone in this version, which improves visibility to the rear, further aided by the armored glass headrest. While this does increase drag, the retractable tailwheel and redesigned radiators more than make up for it. It's faster and retains energy better than the Yak-1. Also important, it replaces that silly propeller pitch knob with a proper lever and upgrades the governor, meaning it can adjust its prop RPM quickly and comfortably. Another thing it changes is replacing the manual tailwheel lock with a pedal-operated one, not seen on any other model. This complicates ground handling a little, although it's still good.

 

The Yak-7B returns to the spine and adds a second UB. Ammo load for it is 400 rounds, so while trigger time remains almost the same, it packs more wallop. This comes at the cost of added weight. The spine improves its aerodynamics, but it's a little heavier than the other Yaks due to the second UB.

 

The Yak-9 goes back to a single UB and improves on the aerodynamics even further. It also has a very nice flight stick, copied from Luftwaffe fighters. It has a vertical speed indicator, a first for the series. However, despite the improvements, it's still, fundamentally, a Yak. Same engine, same low mass, same huge wing. A simpler gunsight is installed by default, although a reflex sight can be fitted, same as in other Soviet fighters. Uniquely, neither Yak-9 carries any bombs.

 

As mentioned, the Yak-9T is the oddball, mostly due to the fact it carries a 37mm cannon in the nose. True to the form, it doesn't have a lot of shells, but it doesn't need a lot, as it can take down fighters in a single hit, and bombers in a handful. It's also the only Yak with an ammo counter (as a modification, and for the cannon only). The Yak-9T shines as a bomber killer and light attack plane (for killing hardened targets, lack of bombs is an issue), for dogfighting, the extra weight drags it down enough that the gun doesn't make up for the loss of performance. Remember, it's still the same engine as on the Yak-1, which was already underpowered.

 

LaGG-3:

Spoiler

Types: Series 29 (BoS)

Advantages: Good visibility, decent turn radius, great armament (modification).

Disadvantages: Slow, very underpowered, poor climb, small ammunition load, difficult ground handling.

What to bind: Propeller RPM axis, mixture axis, pitch trim axis, yaw trim axis, roll trim axis, water radiator axis, oil radiator axis, supercharger gear shift, position lights, landing lights, wheel brake axis.

 

Review:

The LaGG-3 can be described in one word: disappointing. When you first get into the cockpit, you're treated to a very nice, clear dashboard, 3-axis trim and every gauge a fighter should have. Flaps are hydraulic, and can be quickly set to any angle you might want. In the hangar, an array of armament options presents itself, with guns, bombs and rockets aplenty. The wings are nice and big, and the engine is the same as in the famously nimble Yak-1. Sure, most things are controlled manually, but this is a Soviet aircraft, they don't do much automation. It's also better armed than the baseline Yak-1, with a 12.7mm UB complementing the ShVAK cannon, and carrying more cannon ammo than the Yak. It looks like it should be a perfectly nice plane to fly, with the free castering wheel being the only major annoyance. So, what's wrong with it? It's 255kg heavier than the already underpowered Yak-1. Empty. That extra ammo? It has weight. Those big guns? They have weight. All this adds up to an aircraft that's utterly inadequate in air combat. Worse, this weight is because the LaGG-3 is made out of wood. Now, there were some pretty amazing aircraft made out of wood. The LaGG is not one of those. It was said the letters stand for "Lacquered Guaranteed Grave", and that is one of the reasons why. Another is that when exposed to German HE cannon rounds, the wood turns into splinters. Not that the Yak's metal is especially protective against those, but the LaGG runs a very real risk of completely disintegrating under fire. While the wing is similar to the Yak, higher weight means wing loading is higher, and turn rate suffers. It doesn't roll too well, either. It can still fight in radius, but lack of power means it drops out of the sky quickly, and against Bf-109F-4, it will, in fact, lose the radius fight if both aircraft are at corner speed. Acceleration and climb both suck because of the weight, a problem that the Yak also suffers from, but to a lesser extent. This also means the fancy flaps don't really help in a fight, as the drag will just bog it down. All those factors combined mean that in a duel with its contemporaries, it's a deathtrap. Historical accounts bear it out, loses of these aircraft were worse than of I-16s, which are much older aircraft. Now, is there anything the LaGG-3 is truly good at? Well, it does have an option for a 37mm gun with 20 rounds, and a fairly punchy 23mm. The added weight makes it even more hopeless in dogfight with these, but perhaps it could have a niche as a bomber killer, although with 20 rounds it won't do a whole lot. For ground attack, it can work, especially since the lacquered wood is surprisingly resistant to machine gun bullets, but by the time it comes around there's plenty of Il-2s available for that, leaving the LaGG outclassed once again. It can go faster in a dive than an Il-2, but that, in light of its flaws, is insufficient to recommend it. In the end, probably the best thing about the LaGG-3 is that it provided the fuselage and wings for the much better La-5 series. All of LaGG's problems (besides manufacturing quality issues that those aircraft were historically prone to) stem from its underpowered engine, and sure enough, the Soviets applied the obvious fix - put in a better engine, while keeping everything (well, almost, you won't find a 30mm cannon on the La-5) that could have made it a good aircraft. However, as it stands, the LaGG-3 does not really have anything to recommend it. Everything it can do, something else can do much better.

 

I-16:

Spoiler

Types: Type 24 (BoM)

Advantages: Good visibility, good turn radius, good roll, easy ground handling, (modification) good armament.

Disadvantages: Very slow, underpowered, poor climb, weak armament, slow flaps, slow gear, no trim, weak brakes.

What to bind: Propeller RPM axis, mixture axis, oil radiator axis, supercharger gear shift, inlet cowl flaps axis, position lights, landing lights, wheel brake axis left and right.

 

Review:

The I-16 is a funny little airplane, one might feel as if flying a motorcycle while sitting in it. It lacks a canopy, giving it visibility few others can match. It's short, stubby silhouette is unmistakable, but it's unique for a reason, that reason being drag. The cockpit has all the necessary instrumentation, although due to the way the seat is mounted, the dashboard is partially obscured, so there are two holes through which the pilot can peek at it. Of note is the mechanical landing gear position indicator, which consists of a huge metal arch through which two balls can move. If they're all the way up, the gear is down, and if they're separated, the gear is up. No explicit indicators for the radiators, but lever position shows that, and only the oil rad requires adjustments, inlet cowl flaps should be left open except in a dive at low throttle. In its time, it flew circles around Bf-109s it was facing. The only problem is that its time was back during the Spanish Civil War, and the 109s it faces today are a rather different breed. The I-16 is not much different from the ones from back then, and this somewhat curtails its effectiveness as a fighter. Which isn't the same as saying it's completely worthless, mind you. That said, its weaknesses are numerous, which is definitely something to keep in mind. Between the draggy airframe and a wimpy engine, not only it doesn't go fast, but takes forever to get there. Climbs tend to be long and shallow as well, the I-16 is a very poor vertical fighter. It gets 5 minutes of boosted power, but 100 extra horsepower doesn't really help much. Four rifle-caliber MGs don't make much of an impression on the Germans unless you can snipe the pilot, but that, at least, can be fixed, the fix coming in the form of two 20mm cannons, with respectable 90 rounds of ammo apiece. This, of course, comes at a cost of making the aircraft heavier, but it doesn't compromise its greatest advantage, which is a very tight turn circle. In a radius fight, the I-16 is very hard to beat, but unfortunately, most Germans will know better than to fight this thing in radius. That said, the 20mm cannons will make short work of anything the upgunned I-16 can catch. It's a pretty effective bomber killer, although lack of armor means care must be taken to avoid defensive fire, and its slow speed makes it a poor interceptor. It's also a pretty good ground attacker, being able to carry a surprisingly large load of bombs and rockets. While the big guns are in the wings, complicating their use against ground targets, they're a nice accessory to that end. Despite the aforementioned lack of armor, close air support is probably the best use for the I-16, especially since it can also quite effectively take down enemy attackers trying to do the same thing. It's not an Il-2, but if there's not enough Il-2s to go around, it'll do. As far as ground handling goes, it's easy enough, the brakes are a little weak, but that's it. Just go easy on the rudder, if you push it too far it'll unlock the tailwheel and might result in a ground loop. It handles well enough with just the brakes. The real fun begins after takeoff and before landing, since extending flaps and especially landing gear takes forever. It's still better than the DCS version of the plane, where the Rube Goldberg contraption used to raise and lower the landing gear is modeled in full glory. Still, flaps are hard to use in combat, and once you're committed to a landing, quickly aborting in order to engage Germans looking for easy kills is impossible. In fact, if caught with your gear down, the odds of becoming one of those easy kills are uncomfortably high. One final note is the total lack of adjustable trim, which means it has exactly one set of conditions in which it'll fly without constant stick and pedal input. All in all, the I-16 is a neat little bird, quite capable, but it's outclassed during the Moscow campaign.

 

Axis:

Bf-109:

Spoiler

Types: E-7, F-2 (BoM), F-4, G-2 (BoS), G-4 (BoK), G-6 (collector), G-6 late (BoN), G-14, K-4 (BoBp)

Advantages: Great armament (except F-2), good acceleration, good climb, fast, good low speed handling, easy engine management.

Disadvantages: Poor visibility, slow flaps, slightly difficult takeoffs and landings.

What to bind: adjustable stabilizer axis (encoders won't work!), propeller auto/manual, propeller pitch increase, propeller pitch decrease, gunsight filter toggle or up and down, water radiators auto/manual, water radiators open, water radiators close, tailwheel lock/unlock, position lights.

Official campaigns: Seven Days of Autumn (F-2), Fortress on Volga (G-2).

 

Review:

The Bf-109 is the primary German fighter, and for a good reason. The 109 pilot lives by speed, acceleration and climb rate, something all aircraft in the series excel at (relative to their contemporaries, don't expect to outclimb a Lightning in an E-7). While the small wings mean it loses a lot of speed in turns, it doesn't always stop it from turning with Allied fighters, as long as it has a speed advantage. The cockpit design is excellent except for the canopy, which has a thick frame and doesn't really provide a good view to the rear. The engine is highly automated, in normal flight, the only controls that the pilot needs to operate are the throttle and the stabilizer wheel. Flaps, while they can be extended in combat, are not on that list, because they are also operated by a rather inconvenient wheel, which takes a while to extend and retract them. While they can be occasionally helpful at low speeds, they're also draggy, and the time it takes to retract them is the time you don't have in serious combat. While the Bf-109 is not particularly famous for its turn performance, the slats make it surprisingly maneuverable at low speeds, despite its small wings. Turning fights is not what it's best at, though, and it will drop a wing if you pull too hard. The best thing about the 109 in a low speed fight is the ability to accelerate out of it. Slashing attacks, vertical fights and high speed passes is where the "Messer" really shines. With one exception, its armament is excellent, and it's mounted on the centerline, so it doesn't really need to track the target for an extended period of time. While most versions can mount gunpods, they're typically a bad deal. Sure, disintegrating La-5s is fun, but the regular armament works just fine for making them fall down. On top of this, it loses the ability to fire the machineguns separately from the centerline cannon, which isn't great, either. It's best to leave gunpods for ground attack or killing bombers, which they're really great at. On the ground, the 109 handles OK, contrary to its historical reputation, likely due to propeller torque effects not being very severe in Il-2. The lockable tailwheel helps, compared to the planes without that feature. Takeoffs and landings are likewise not problematic. The Bf-109 also carries bombs, although bombload is small, and the aircraft isn't really suited to it. If you want to fly a JaBo, get a Focke-Wulf. Although, thanks to centerline guns it strafes nicely. The gunsight is nothing special, but it's got a sliding filter which is helpful if flying into the sun. It's also offset to one side, like in all German aircraft, which seems somewhat weird on a screen, but in VR, it's slightly more comfortable to use than centered sights.

 

The earliest Bf-109, the E-7, is a bit of an oddball. The water radiator is operated manually and there's no centerline gun. Instead, the E-7 has two MG-FFs in the wings, in addition to the rifle caliber MGs in the cowling. It packs a wallop, and would have been even better if the cannons didn't only have 60 rounds apiece. Still, German 20mm cannons pack a massive punch due to their high capacity "mine shells", and as such, the E-7's armament makes short work of anything it can catch. While fast for its time, by the time we meet it, its time is past, and its poor streamlining, non-retractable tailwheel and weak engine are just not enough. The firepower makes it somewhat useful for ground attack, but in a dogfight, it's not particularly competitive. Additional belly armor is available to those who like the idea of using it that way.

 

The F-2 greatly improves aerodynamics, automates the radiators and has a more powerful engine, but that comes at a price of the armament. While the 15mm cannon is not a complete peashooter, it's not particularly impressive, and has trouble punching through armor on anything with better protection than a fighter. It is adequate against fighters, though, and it has an ample supply of ammunition. While it can be fitted with a 20mm cannon, it adds weight, which is a problem with the F-2's still relatively weak engine.

 

The F-4 is where the Bf-109 really shines. With a powerful engine, 20mm cannon as standard and all the F-2's streamlining, it can outclimb, outshoot and outrun most contemporaries. Of the 109s, it's the best dogfighter by far. Not only does it have all the speed and climb rate you may want from a 109, it also can turn with the Russian fighters, given an energy advantage, which is easy enough to obtain since it gains energy quite quickly.

 

Now, the G-2, while more powerful, is heavier and has a quirk in that it has no emergency power setting, leaving it with only combat power. It's still as powerful as F-4's emergency power setting, but in automatic mode, RPM is lower, and this leads to lower acceleration than the F-4. This can be bypassed by setting propeller pitch manually, but this risks blowing the engine. The good news is, there's very little risk of blowing the engine otherwise, and the aircraft has some extra armor. The cockpit also gets an upgrade, with an artificial horizon in place of the turn and bank indicator. Still, the G-2 is less capable in a turn fight, the extra power really isn't that noticeable with all the weight they piled on it, and the RPM limit hurts the very acceleration and climbing power that the 109 lives or dies by.

 

The G-4 changes two things: the engine can now use emergency power, and the landing gear is bigger. Due to this, the tailwheel is not retractable and the main gear require bulges in the wings, adding even more drag. The extra power is very handy, and the G-4 rules in vertical, but for pure dogfighting, the F-4 still wins due to being able to turn better. It remains a very capable fighter, but that exposed tailwheel drags it down.

 

Then there's the G-6, which is basically the G-4 with its rifle caliber MGs replaced with 13mm guns. This means two things: more bulges and more weight. The G-6 is a drag bucket, inferior to the G-4 in every way but firepower, and by the time it comes along, the Soviets are fielding much superior fighters. Of course, in some cases, firepower trumps everything, and then, two 13mm machine guns combined with the optional 30mm cannon make short work of everything, including bombers. That and ground attack is really the best use for the G-6. It's still a Bf-109, and it can still fight, but it doesn't have a lot of options if caught at too slim of an advantage, nevermind in an equal energy fight.

 

The late variant of the G-6, and the extremely similar G-14 are almost the same as the regular G-6 but for one thing: the MW-50 system, which allows a whoopin' 10 minutes of boosted power, even higher than the emergency setting without it. It needs this, too, because these two will be facing late war Allied fighters, which will often be able to outrun them. Even at that stage, the 109 accelerates and climbs really well, which is all it really needs. One interesting feature are WGr.21 rockets that can be carried under the wings. Unlike most other rockets, they are air to air weapons, meant to explode after a set distance, hopefully in the middle of an enemy bomber formation. They work, but they're hard to use and we don't really have huge bomber formations that they were meant to be used against.

 

The ultimate evolution in the family, the K-4, is a real monster, with a very powerful engine, fuselage once again streamlined to remove G-6's draggy bulges, and the 30mm cannon as standard. It outclimbs and outaccelerates just about everything, but don't expect it to turn with a Spitfire. It's still a Bf-109, just with an exceedingly powerful engine. In fact, the K-4 can be considered the epitome of a Bf-109. It's unmatched at things the other versions do well, and bad at things the other versions don't do well.

 

Feedback welcome. If anyone wants to team up to provide additional reviews, PM me. I could use someone with MP experience.

Edited January 17, 2023 by Dragon1-1
Added LaGG-3

[Thorne]

Awesome post!

[Dragon1-1]

Thanks, I'll probably do Il-2 or Spit next. I'm kind of reluctant to take on the Spit since it doesn't look like I'll be getting the Griffon version this season, cash is kind of tight (need to save up for a PC upgrade) and I missed the BoN giveaway. It's quite a different beast, the late G-6 in this guide is an extrapolation based on the G-6 and G-14 (what with them being nearly identical already), can't do that with this one, so the first edition will likely concern Merlin-powered Spits only. I also flew the I-16 for a while in career, so I'll also do this one soon.

[NuVen]

Learning to fly the Yak-1b in single player, mostly at 2000 m. 

Try level flight with the engine rpm down to 1800 to 2000, the engine will settle into a nice purr.

When in a turn fight, leave the throttle open (for the most part) and use the prop pitch to hold the rpm at 2200 for cruise-conflict. When you need to gain some altitude let the rpm head towards 2600, but the coolant temperature of the engine will rise quickly. The nominal coolant temperature is 70 to 85 C.  The oil radiator can be left at 40-45% and the engine radiator opened to a greater extent, as needed. 

To gain separation, climb for a short while at 270 kph and then use gravity to help shorten your turn radius when reversing direction. But turn wide to maintain energy.

The rudder will control the attitude for flat scissors and keep the airfoil on task. Alot of rudder, and sometime ailerons in opposition to prevent excessive roll.

Ailerons for an instant in straight flight, to reverse direction, but rudder and elevator to keep airflow smooth.

Not much need to hide out at 25,000 ft altitude without any Anti-aircraft guns pestering you.

 

[Dragon1-1]

Added the I-16. Fun little thing. 

[Dragon1-1]

Added LaGG-3. I departed from my usual policy of getting deeply acquainted with a fighter before posting about it, but fundamentally, the LaGG-3 is a wooden Yak-1 with a lot of extra weight and slight better armament. I've flown it, but it's a little frustrating to fight in, so I have a lot less time in it than in the Yak. At the very least, you'll know exactly how it sucks and why.

[Zooropa_Fly]

Excellent, thanks for this.

I always thought the 'what to bind' info has been missing from other instructional sources.

 

Looking forward to more.

 

S!

[Dragon1-1]

Glad you like it. I'm currently flying the Il-2 campaigns, and I'll be able to review the aircraft once I'm done with them. 

[=gRiJ=Roman-]

Thanks a lot!!!

[Dragon1-1]

Glad you like it. I'm currently flying the Il-2 campaigns, and I'll be able to review the aircraft once I'm done with them.