il 2 sturmovik 1946-the signature collection

After Romania switched sides in August 1944 and joined the Allies, IAR-80s and IAR-81s fought alongside the Soviets until the war ended in May 1945. Meanwhile, in August 1943 IAR-80s took part in the defense of the Romanian oil fields at Ploesti for the first time against US Army Air Force B-24 heavy bombers.įurther defensive missions would be flown over Romania through the summer of 1944 against American heavy bomber raids. IAR-80s and 81s both saw action during the Battle of Stalingrad and later took part in combat over the Kuban and the Crimea throughout 1943 and into 1944. Soviets from the first day of Operation Barbarossa on June 22,1941.

The first production IAR 80s were completed in January 1941, and they were in action against the This new model was fitted with a bomb cradle under the fuselage which would throw the bomb clear of the propeller when the bomb was released. In 1941, the IAR-80 was modified to become a dive bomber and thus became the IAR-81. These machine guns would eventually be replaced by 13.2 mm FN heavy machine guns and German 20 mm MG FF/M and MG 151/20 cannons. The armament of the IAR-80 initially consisted of Belgian-made Fabrique Nationale FN 7.92 mm light machine guns, which were a licensed version of the Browning M1919 machine gun. ThisĮngine was progressively upgraded throughout the service life of the aircraft to more powerful models of the K14. Upgraded with a more powerful K14 engine of 930 horsepower and fitted with a bubble canopy. Initially powered by an 870 horsepower IAR K14 radial engine. Prototype incorporated the wing design of the IAR-23 and IAR-24, featured an open cockpit, and was Work on the prototype IAR-80 began in 1937, and it was first flown two years later in April 1939. First flown in 1939, the IAR-80 was comparable to other fighter aircraft designs of the late 1930s and would remain in service with the Royal Romanian Air Force throughout World War II until the end of the war in May 1945. The IAR-80 was a Romanian low-wing monoplane originally designed in the late 1930s by IndustriaĪeronautică Română (IAR, or Romanian Aeronautic Industry in English).

Il 2 sturmovik 1946-the signature collection