Re: Russians bomb Berlin 13 September 1942
 

I have the data about:
- Il-4 (Baryshev (back) -Travin (captured, released) - Andrievsky (captured, died)) - on the departure from target (Budapest). The pilot landed in the suburbs of Budapest next to the railway.
- One aircraft crashed on his territory - the death of the gunner-radio operator Bushkov.
- The third was hit over the target (not known where) - pilot jumped with a parachute (Lukienko) and was taken prisoner (Bol'howo). Navigator (Chicherin) captured Bolhow too. And gunner-r.o. Zemskov died.
- Another plane Dushkin-Suharev-Fatin was shot down, flying on one engine, made a forced landing in enemy territory (the entire crew returned to the regiment)
Kirill

Re: Russians bomb Berlin 13 September 1942
 

Great, thanks. I will go through the records to clarify all possible details.
Gabor

Re: Russians bomb Berlin 13 September 1942
 

During the 6./7. Feb 1944 bombing raid on Helsinki to which Pe-8s of the 45th Air Division participated, the 15 Pe-8s bombed at altitudes varied between 5,250 and 7,200 m. On average 3,731 kg bombs per plane, the distance from their base SE of Moscow to Helsinki was some 900 – 950 km.

Re: Russians bomb Berlin 13 September 1942
 

Juha,

Thank you, the overall data now tends to support the contention that the Pe-8 had a higher operational ceiling that British types. I have to caveat that by saying that by 1944, they were equipped with a different engine, the M-82 (the FN version?) and quite possibly using a higher grade of aviation gasoline. I would note that with the exception of the bombload, the figures you have provided for the Helsinki raid are significantly lower than the ones you listed in your original post on this subject.

Gabor and Kirill, you two seem to have quite a lot of interesting information on Soviet long-range raids, which has not been brought to public attention. May I suggest you consider publishing it? I am sure that "The Aviation Historian" or a similar publication would such a piece considerable prominence :)

Warm regards,

Paul

Re: Russians bomb Berlin 13 September 1942
 

Most probably M-82 engined, but so what, it was slower and had lower service ceiling but had longer max range, 5,800 km and it could carry the 5,000 kg bomb, two of which were dropped here on 6./7. Feb 1944. Maximum speeds was 420 km/h. Service ceiling was 8,000 m.

Re: Russians bomb Berlin 13 September 1942
 

By early 1944 the M-82 likely gave far more consistent performance than the AM-35A in 1942. Even so, you are again quoting figures which probably come from trials flights and are not representative of operational conditions. Note that none of the operational information presented above comes close to these maximum figures, with the exception of bomb load.

Re: Russians bomb Berlin 13 September 1942
 

Hi,

On night of 7 Feb 1944 Helsinki was bombed with FAB-5000 bombs by 45 AD DD which
targeted a cable plant ( the future Nokia ? ) and marshalling yards , raid led by future HSU
Ishenko. On return leg the group entered severe IMC conditions combined with icing
which only through a miracle didn't cause mishaps . As far as I am concerned I call this
long raid a high performance .

Re: Russians bomb Berlin 13 September 1942
 

According to the Russian books/articles AM-35A was the most reliable engine used to power Pe-8, there was nothing wrong on that engine, it was simply dropped out of production because Stalin decided that the SU needed as many Il-2s as was possible to produce and so AM-35A was dropped out to allow production of more AM-38s. Check the Gordon*s books, he normally gives realistic figures, e.g. for La-5FN he clearly stated that the production a/c could not achieve the max speed of the pattern a/c (648 km/h, which is still seen in some Western publications) because some of the improvements incorporated on the pattern a/c were not utilized in the production a/c and the quality of the pattern a/c could not be achieved in series production and so the max speed of the early La-5FNs was appr. 610 km/h and the late (after some mods and better quality control) 620 - 630 km/h (the production a/c figures without checking from the books). Because bombers hardly ever bombed from their service ceiling altitude, 7,200 m was a good altitude to bomb for a plane with 8,000m service ceiling.

Re: Russians bomb Berlin 13 September 1942
 

www.armpress.info/govoryat_frontoviki_30.html
Paul is better to read the memoirs of the participant.
Vasily Vasilyevich highly respected and adequate veteran.
I know about the raids on Berlin and Budapest on 9/10. 09. 1942, because in 2015 we dig up one of those planes near Gzhatsk (of 749 AP DD).
Kirill

Re: Russians bomb Berlin 13 September 1942
 

Gabor

Do you by chance know what were the targets in Budapest on the night
of 9/10 Sept 1942 , the scores and what sighting device the TB-7 used
in 1942 ?

Alex K