Recently I’ve had some time to finally dig into the IAR80/81 Collector Plane for IL-2 Great Battles. While some of my experiences have been unremarkable (the usual sort of combat sortie), one recent offline battle has served as a good overview of nearly all the pros and cons of flying the IAR80. This short airbase raid had it all! Here’s what happened.

The mission

The Advanced Quick Mission Builder (AQMB) for IL-2 is great when you have just 20 minutes to fly a mission. Load it up, hit fly and get going! That’s what I did with this quick IAR mission where I had a limited amount of time but I wanted to get to flying the aircraft now after I’ve spent a bit of time getting acquainted. It is a bit of a quirky airplane with some engine management that you really need to know before you take it into battle. So too with the type’s unique bomb mode which arms the bomb system but also deploys the flaps for dive bombing. I got a chance to use all of that in this mission!

After takeoff we immediately turned towards our target. Just 30 kilometers out, it wasn’t going to take long and we didn’t have much time so it was a best power performance climb with the radiators open and the formation getting itself together in preparation for battle.

And as it would turn out, this simple, quick, sortie turned into a pretty epic battle.

Into battle

As we climbed up through 1500 meters it was clear that we were heading into a hornet’s nest. Ahead, tracers appeared and dots began to form into airplanes as a fight between Bf109s and Yaks, MiGs and Pe-2 bombers erupted.

A thick trail of smoke from a Yak, on fire, passed in-front of us and then away into the dirt below. Dramatic but only a taste of what was in store!

Flak bursts appeared around us as we crossed the frontline and spotted the Soviet airfield.

Engaging the dive bomb mode, our four IAR’s dove in aiming for a concentration of trucks and parked aircraft. Explosions off to one side indicated that my wing mates had landed their hits. I aimed for another group and gradually pulled out of the dive. Explosions behind and secondary fires rising up suggested that all of our bombs had hit their mark!

Things descended further into chaos however as a wing mate took a burst of flak and immediately fell away. That battle that we passed through earlier was soon overhead as both scrambling fighters and the aircraft from the other engagement merged together.

A mess of Bf109, IAR, Yak, MiG, and the odd Pe-2 – one trailing smoke flashed past me in the chaos – congealed into a swirling dogfight.

I saw a Yak-1 pull onto the six of a fellow IAR and I pulled in behind him in turn. My six FN Browning 7.92mm flashed and the Yak ahead of me began absorbing hits. It took a while to do any real damage but a few fuel leaks, an oil leak and possibly some other damage to the aircraft caused him to break away saving my fellow IAR pilot.

Another Yak pulled in behind me and I attempted to make good an escape. I rolled the aircraft and dove away, a tactic I’ve used many a time… but I wasn’t quick enough on my RPM control and my IAR K14 radial engine immediately ground to a halt….

I was a glider now.

A MiG took a series of pot shots at me and flew past. I fired my machine guns at him trying to score a lucky shot but no such luck.

My IAR glided across the frontlines and I aimed for the nearest troop concentration.

I didn’t make it but I got close and effected a reasonably good wheels up belly landing. My aircraft was shot up, the engine destroyed, but I lived to fight another day.

Lessons learned

With the IAR you manage the RPM directly and anticipating your next move requires some careful forethought. Set the engine incorrectly and you can destroy it in an instant or undercook it too much and you’re not making enough power in a combat situation to be useful. Its a difficult balance to find and while most of the time I’ve been good… panic situations like that one with a fighter on your six, firing at you, tends to throw some of your forethinking out the window.

The base model IAR80 also only has the six light machine guns. They are barely adequate and it means that your time on a target can be lengthy opening you up to attack from behind. A definite challenge with the type!

I’ll be flying it more in the coming weeks as I get a review together!