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Old September 27th 14, 01:13 AM posted to alt.binaries.pictures.aviation
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Default Nose section from Il-2 in Berlin Muesum 01

Orval Fairbairn wrote in
news
In article ,
Charles Lindbergh wrote:

On Wed, 24 Sep 2014 23:02:16 -0400, Orval Fairbairn

wrote:

In article ,
Charles Lindbergh wrote:

On Wed, 24 Sep 2014 14:18:26 +0200, "Claus Gustafsen"
wrote:

Notice the hinges on the acces panels, they look more like they
belong on a
cubbord door in my opinion, and not present on many models.
Claus Gustafsen
Strandby


Great example of Russian "Boiler Plate" construction. Looks like it
was made
from steel! Imagine the performance if it had been made with
aluminum!

About 20 years ago I had the privilege of touring the MASM Garber
Restoration Facility at Silver Hill. Among the projects was an IL-2
undergoing restoration.

The workmanship was truly peasant! Rivet lines were not straight nor
evenly-spaced -- nut even deburred! Fit was cursory, at best.

Of course, the Russians turned out 30,000 of those beasts, which had,
at best, an expected combat life of 300 hours, so they really didn't
have to use much finesse in manufacture. Someone else commented on the
furniture-quality hinges, which is in keeping with the LASQAD
(Loose-And Simple, Rough-And Dirty) design/manufacturing philosophy
under wartime conditions.

Those planes were nothing but aeronautical cannon fodder, but they got
the job done with overwhelming numbers.


It is interesting to note the Soviets continued this boilerplate
construction philosophy well past the end of WWII. Even the MiG-25 was
built of nickel alloy
and utilized vacuum-tube technology for avionics.


The MiG-25 was designed as a point interceptor and really didn't need
sophisticated structure. The radar, according to reports from that era,
could cook anything on the ground wherever it was pointed. It needed
vacuum tube technology to accommodate such high power.



This is confirmed in Victor Belenko's book "MiG Pilot." For those who
never read it, a fascinating book. The aforementioned Radar provided
the half-starving airmen with wild rabbits. I loved how the MiG was
returned to the USSR. In boxes. Small boxes.