Second World War aviation art prints of the Sturmovik aircraft. Our collection of prints and original paintings of the Sturmovik aircraft of World War Two.
Horrido! Rall by Les Carter.
High over the Eastern front Gunther Rall is seen shooting down a Russian Sturmivik aircraft, yet another victory taking him one closer to his final total of 275 victories in only 621 misisons, making him the third highest scoring ace in history.
More than 35,000 Ilyushin Sturmovik IL-2 ground attack aircraft were produced during WW II, the largest production run of any WW II aircraft. Often called The Flying Tank, the Sturmovik played a major role in the defeat of Nazi Germany on the Eastern front. The origins of this important aircraft date to 1938 when a design team headed by Sergei Vladimorovic Ilyushin began work on a new monoplane tactical bomber and ground attack aircraft. The initial prototype was completed in 1939, but was underpowered and had several structural flaws. With several modifications and use of a 1600-HP liquid cooled engine the final prototype was accepted and production began in 1940. Only a few hundred Sturmoviks were in service when Hitlers invasion of Russia commenced. One of the key design concepts of this aircraft was incorporation of an armored shell as both protection for engine and crew, and as a structural portion of the aircrafts design. Other aircraft designs typically added armor later, burde.........
