Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Rare Russian WWII tank killer to fly in Everett, Washington

EVERETT - What's believed to be the only flying Ilyushin II-2 Shturmovik - a Russian plane known as a "tank killer" - left in the world will make its U.S. public flying debut this weekend.

The World War II-era ground-attack aircraft was built in Kuybyshev, Russia, in the middle of 1943, according to the Flying Heritage Collection that now has it. The plane was assigned to the 828th Attack Aviation Regiment of the 260th Composite Air Division operating on the lower part of the Karelian Front. 

After flying more than a year of combat missions, the plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire on Oct. 10, 1944, while attacking an enemy airfield southeast of Luostari, near the Norwegian border, according to Cory Graff, military aviation curator for the Flying Heritage Collection.

The pilot attempted to land the damaged plane on a frozen lake. The wreck was abandoned and sank into the lake during the spring thaw.

Read more here:   http://www.thenewstribune.com

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more here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2012/09/11/2290605/rare-russian-wwii-tank-killer.html#storylink=cpy

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