Define fighter. Il-2 was a ground fighter from the get-go. The VVS had bombers- they did not include the Il-2 in the list nor did they operate it beside them. Il-2 was a fighter, expected to defend itself against other fighters while attacking armor and ground targets.
The bombs were inside for 2 reasons. 1st drag was radically reduced allowing faster speeds and second ... would you like to get shot at with 400 kg's of bombs laying unprotected under your ass? Having your ordinance inside does not inherently make you a bomber because others were silly enough to hang them outside.
"Fly like a pig"
No. Not true AT ALL.
Read what I said, the plane was skipping and hopping like a rabbit once it dumped the ordinance. It was light on controls and easy to fly. And as it got lower it had a low stall as well.
Note: I said Lagg and yak 1 not La7 or La5. It was NOT an E fighter, it was too heavy and not powerfull enough. But if anything short of a spit or zero starting turning and stall fighting it they would be in trouble fast. The Il would be able to IGNORE snap shots from anything smaller than 30mm and it's own would be lethal as all heck.
gracefull Dogfighter?
no.
Lethal SOB in any kind of good shot and acceptable pilot? oh yeah.
PS: Juzz
A side to side looks to me like there is NO big difference between the p-47 and Il-2 like you suggest:
P-47 Il-2
Wing:
40 47.9 feet
Engine:
2000 1700 (m3)
length:
30 38 feet
Height:
14 13.5 Feet
Weight (empty):
9,900 9,975 lb
(fully loaded)
14,000 14,021 lb
Wing area:
300 414.4 sqft
Sources:
http://hep2.physics.arizona.edu/~savin/ram/il-2.html http://www.french-property.com/ref/convert.htm#length http://www.p47advocates.com/thep47.html The only real weak part is the lack of a supercharger and more HP on the Il-2.
But the armor, higher wing area and massive cannons kind of make up for that in a low fight.
