Pintle Gunning and not dying

[dirtdart]

Got this from Wikipedia:

The armored tub ranging from 5-12 mm (0.2-0.5 in) in thickness and enveloping the engine and the cockpit, could deflect all small arms fire and glancing blows from larger-caliber ammunition. There are reports of the armored windscreen surviving direct hits from 20 mm (0.79 in) rounds. Unfortunately, the rear gunners did not have the benefit of all-around armor protection and suffered about four times more casualties than the pilots.

Thanks to the heavy armor protection, an Il-2 could take a great deal of punishment and proved difficult for both ground and aircraft fire to down. One Il-2 in particular was reported to have returned safely to base despite receiving more than 600 direct shell hits and having all its control surfaces completely shredded as well as numerous holes in its main armor and other structural damage. Some pilots favored aiming down into the cockpit and wing roots in diving attacks on the slow, low-flying Il-2 formations.[16] Several Luftwaffe aces claimed to attack while climbing from behind, out of view of the rear gunner, and aim for the Il-2's non-retractable oil cooler.

But, like earlier, if the Pintle guns are uber, there is likely a reason. 

[strong10]

  When strafing a tank to kill it, you need to come down on it's head from a steep angle to kill it most effectively.  When performing this maneuver, you are out of the shooting angle of the pintle gun and also very easy to kill the gun.  You will receive no damage and dish out maximum damage.  Don't strafe a tank from a low angle unless you want exposure to damage from all guns on tank including main gun.