Il2 sighting

[Motherland]

What exactly is up with the Il2's front sight?
When it was updated as we all know, the reflector sight was removed and replaced with a simple circle on the windscreen.

Was the Il2 really not equipped with a reflector sight? How did the pilot shoot? I've noticed In many photos it looks as if there is a post sticking up from the engine fairing, like a front sight leaf on a rifle. Was this used (along with a circle in the windscreen a la in game) to shoot the Il2's guns? Or did the pilots just spray and pray? If that's the way the sighting worked, would it be possible to have this added?

In its current configuration, with no reference for aligning the circle in the middle of the screen, it's pretty much impossible to use the Il2's guns with TrackIR.

[Karnak]

The Il-2 in AH never had a reflector sight for the pilot.  It always had the wires in the windscreen.

[bustr]

Earlier versions of the IL2 had a PBP or PAK gunsight. They were discontinued from what I can determine due to innacuracies in their function early in the war. Late in the war near the end as supplies of gunsights were availabe and more relyable they began to be reintroduced into the IL2 and IL10. The two circles in the windscreen are the equivalent of the 100Mil and 50Mil rings in the Mk8 gunsight used in USNAVY fighters.

Becasue it's fixed in the windscreen, If you have moved your head position up or down your eyes will not be centered with the horizontal line in the windscreen. Practicing offline against a few tanks convergence at 650 on zoom should help you get the feel for the guns. Those russian air to ground rockets don't work very well for me.

[Motherland]

The Il-2 in AH never had a reflector sight for the pilot.  It always had the wires in the windscreen.

Hmm, I could swear that the AH1 model did..

Earlier versions of the IL2 had a PBP or PAK gunsight. They were discontinued from what I can determine due to innacuracies in their function early in the war. Late in the war near the end as supplies of gunsights were availabe and more relyable they began to be reintroduced into the IL2 and IL10. The two circles in the windscreen are the equivalent of the 100Mil and 50Mil rings in the Mk8 gunsight used in USNAVY fighters.

Becasue it's fixed in the windscreen, If you have moved your head position up or down your eyes will not be centered with the horizontal line in the windscreen. Practicing offline against a few tanks convergence at 650 on zoom should help you get the feel for the guns. Those russian air to ground rockets don't work very well for me.

The problem is that, with TrackIR, your head is never in the same place... this serves no problem with reflector sights (which is why reflector sights were used of course) but if there's a physical sight with no reference (a front and a rear sight to work in conjunction as happens on any gunsight that doesn't work of the same principle that a reflector does) you can't use it... you can't get your head directly centered in the middle of the cockpit, you always end up offset a bit. Most of the new gunsights (like on vehicles) that use regular rifle sights have a front and rear sight now... but the Il2 doesn't.
The thing is, that the real pilot must've had the same issue. With just a circle in the middle of the glass, he would have no real way to know where his head was... the circle would be pretty much as useless as having nothing there at all, and just kind of putting the tank roughly in the center of the glass.

This screenshot from the Ubisoft game shows a front sight post in the middle, which corresponds to what you can see on most photographs of wartime Il2's (I would think that ones that don't have this have a reflector sight)


Here's a model...


Photograph of an Il2 showing what must be a front sight...



Also, bustr, do you know what kind of gunsight the rear gun used? Just a PBP-1?

[lyric1]

Il-2 gun site was removed during the war due to hard landings the pilots were thrown forward & their heads were smashed against it many pilots died due to this.

My source on this.



http://www.amazon.com/Red-Star-Against-Swastika-Eastern/dp/1853676497/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1327885127&sr=1-1

[SmokinLoon]

There is a reason the IL-2 is "armed" with 2/.30 cal MG's, and it isnt for use against targets.   

[bustr]

One of the many reasons they were removed the PAK-1 early on including they didn't work very well. PBP1 later in the war were very good gunsights and the russians tried to install them in everything that a pilot pulled a trigger to shoot forward at the enemy.

PAK-1 gunsight was a copy of the French Model 1931 gunsight, was in early IL2. To be honest untill I hopped into the back seat of an IL2 about a year ago I thought the rear gun used a post and ring. The PAK-1m was in I16 from Type 10 onward and possibly a copy of a Rev1. We have PBP1 for some reason in our I16-24/28. Guess it's a battle feild repair or it's sleeping in a hanger next to a LaLa and borrowing personal items.