Polikarpov U2 (Po-2)

[Tilt]

OK how about putting all the WWI modeling to some use and add the most prolific plane built over the 30's and 40's to see significant action in WWII and Korea.

40,000 plus



Polikarpov U2

can take a couple of 100kg bombs, some variants with a few RS 82 rockets.. Can turn on a dime at speeds most other ac cant land or take off at.............

and it was "stealth" returning almost zero (WWII) radar reflection

Classification could be attack...........   

[skorpion]

so, your going to bomb a few jeeps and kill an ack with it?

+1

[Pigslilspaz]

so, your going to bomb a few jeeps and kill an ack with it?

+1

Do your math, you can kill a tank with 2 100kg bombs.

[skorpion]

Do your math, you can kill a tank with 2 100kg bombs.

yes i know...its kind of like dropping a 250 pound bomb, not big but it does kill tanks if your close.

i only use the small bombs on the IL-2 for killin jeeps

[SmokinLoon]

Isnt the top speed like 85mph TAS?  As in Cessna 150 speed?  We'd be better off with the Storch, Grasshopper, or Lysander. Or even the Swordfish!!!   

[Tilt]

Of course what would be really neat would be if it was enabled from vehicle fields. As a recon ac. But that's not it's only riason d'être IMO.

However please note they were also used to drop "small supplies" it's the sort of jeep of the ac world. It would be sorta neat to have a string bag in the MA.

[Rino]

     I don't know...all the enemy would need to do is turn on their bugzappers  
I do remember reading about an F-82 twin mustang night fighter pilot getting frustrated because he couldn't
slow down enough to engage a Polikarpov...his stallspeed was faster than it's max speed.

     That reminded me of another story concerning communist combat biplanes.
https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol52no2/iac/an-air-combat-first.html

[Ack-Ack]

The Po-2 was North Korea's and China's most effective bomber/intruder during the Korean War.

ack-ack

[Rino]

     Like the most effective North Vietnamese cargo vehicle  

[Noir]

The Po-2 was North Korea's and China's most effective bomber/intruder during the Korean War.

ack-ack

How could it be effective in the early jet age?

[AWwrgwy]

How could it be effective in the early jet age?

From: http://www.angelfire.com/ca4/korea/

And then there was “Bed Check Charlie” as we called him. This was a light all wood and canvas aircraft flown by North Koreans just after dark and was used to harass us. He would fly over toss out small bombs hoping to hit a tent, aircraft or something else of importance. I found these night time extravaganza’s rather exciting. The sirens would go off, big search lights would come on to try to find him and anti-aircraft batteries would begin firing with tracers which would light up the sky better than any Fourth of July that I had ever seen, and all the time we in trenches were shooting our rifles in all directions. Bed Check Charlie was very elusive and only one was ever brought down. Because Charlie flew so slow it was decided in late 1951 to bring in a navy F4U Corsair fighter aircraft. The F4U was noted for its ability to land on aircraft carriers at very slow speeds. So one evening when Charlie arrived the F4U took off and got behind him, the pilot of the F4U was still flying to fast so he dropped his flaps and even his wheels but still to fast and before the F4U pilot could maneuver further he hit Charlie and both fell in flames.

From: http://www.leatherneck.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-4027.html

Even while the jets fought it out over MiG Alley, North Koreans flew nocturnal raids in low-speed, low-altitude, propeller-driven aircraft to harass U.N. ground forces as part of their strategy of psychological warfare. By dropping small fragmentation bombs, artillery shells, hand grenades or propaganda leaflets, the North Korean air force (NKAF) marauders kept the U.N. troops alert through the night. The flights were conducted throughout the war, but particularly during the last six months, when the front lines were relatively static. The U.N. troops called them "Bed-Check Charlie" flights because air raid alerts announcing the approach of the old planes would sound at night and awaken the weary soldiers. At that time, "Charlie" was an epithet used to describe any unknown Asian.

The two principal Soviet aircraft used by the NKAF in this role were the Polikarpov Po-2LSh, a slow biplane of 1927 vintage, and the Yakovlev Yak-18, which had been designed shortly after World War II. Neither of those aircraft had been designed as a bomber, but during World War II, the Po-2 had been used as a nuisance raider against the Germans. The objective then, as it was in Korea, was to wear down enemy troops and lower morale by attacking front-line positions during the night. Some Po-2s were fitted with wing racks capable of carrying up to 550 pounds of bombs, and often a single 7.62 mm ShKAS machine gun was mounted in the rear cockpit. On July 1, 1951, when Captain Edwin B. Long and Warrant Officer Robert C. Buckingham, a Grumman F7F-3N Tigercat crew of Marine Squadron VMF(N)-513, sent a Po-2 crashing into a mountainside, Long believed that he saw the biplane's rear-seat occupant gamely shoot back at them with a hand-held PPSh-41 7.62 submachine gun.

Sometimes, a Charlie could be more than just an annoyance. On June 17, 1951, a Po-2LSh struck at Suwon air base for the first time, destroying a North American F-86A Sabre jet fighter of the 4th Fighter Interceptor Group on the ground and damaging eight others. In the most daring and successful NKAF raid of the war, four or five Yak-18s attacked fuel dumps at Inchon and destroyed nearly 5.5 million gallons of fuel on the night of June 16-17, 1953. Although the North Koreans employed high-performance MiG-15 jet fighters to defend themselves, the jets did little to support their ground troops, and the NKAF rarely conducted regular bombing raids, aside from the Bed-Check Charlies' nuisance raids.

From: http://www.airforce-magazine.com/MagazineArchive/Pages/2011/June%202011/0611april.aspx

In the wake of the fatal bombing, US commanders attempted to bolster their defenses against the air attacks. They added anti-aircraft guns and tried to modify available aircraft to make them better able to destroy slow-flying targets. One base commander secured a B-26 bomber with 14 forward-firing machine guns, for instance, and obtained an armed T-6 trainer. But then, an F-94 crashed after it throttled back to 110 mph in pursuit of a Po-2 biplane. After that mishap, US aircraft were restricted from flying below 2,000 feet or slower than 160 mph.

Also: http://sabre-pilots.org/classics/v63bedcheck.htm




wrongway

[Raptor05121]

Resources could be better used to reskin the B-26

[MachFly]

It's a good airplane and I'd like to have it in Aces High, but I just can't think of a single reason why anyone would take it over all the other stuff that we have.

[Rich52]

How could it be effective in the early jet age?

They were a pain in the rump at night in both wars even after radar evolved more. Still? In game conditions? What purpose could it serve?

[Raptor05121]

They were a pain in the rump at night in both wars even after radar evolved more. Still? In game conditions? What purpose could it serve?

Imagine a vTard NOE raid in them. how would one deal with it?