SimHQ.com - Air Combat Zone - Preview: Pe-2 and Pe-3 for IL-2 Forgotten Battles

Disclaimer: In line with SimHQ's interest disclosure policy I would like to state that I have a commercial relationship with 1C, the parent company of Maddox Games who have produced the PE-2/PE-3 Add-On for IL-2. 1C are the Russian distributors for my Ostfront product.

- Ian Boys

Add-on Contents

4 flyable PE-2 variants
2 flyable PE-3 variants
Extensive Read-me for the new aircraft
4 campaigns - 2x PE-2 (Airforce and Navy), 1x fighter, 1x IL-2
5 PE-2 Cooperative multiplayer missions
5 PE-2 and PE-3 Single player missions
A PE-2 Bombsight Training Mission
Many new skins for the PE-2, PE-3, Yak-1b, La-5 and others
New German and Russian vehicular and static AA guns
New German and Russian artillery and antitank pieces

The PE-2

Vladimir Petlyakov, the designer who produced the most widespread and versatile of the many Soviet bomber designs of World War II, was a prisoner of the NKVD when he first drew the "100" high altitude fighter, the forerunner of the PE-2 and PE-3 aircraft and it was in a special prison camp that the twin-engined, twin-rudder aircraft progressed from concept to reality (see Soviet Combat Aircraft of WW2 by Ye. Gordon and D. Khazanov, Volume 2).

The "100" was designed as a fast interceptor not unlike the Messerschmitt Bf-110. However the successes in Poland and France of the Ju-87 and Ju-88 dive bombers meant that the Russians were looking for a precision instrument of their own. Polikarpov's SPB was proving unsuccessful and Archangelskiy's conversion of the Tupolev SB was looking pessimistic. The Russian purchase in 1940 of a Ju-88 suggested the similar "100" as a possible conversion. Petlyakov was released from prison in the summer of 1940 and with a host of designers from the competing but unsuccessful design teams drafted in, he set to work. The navigator and pilot were moved into a single cockpit and glass was placed in the nose to aid landing and target spotting. Sights for level and dive bombing were added, together with defensive machine-guns for the upper and lower hemispheres.

The PB-100 was redesignated the PE-2 in December 1940, the same month as its first flights. Testing by the Red Airforce revealed 187 defects. Most were quickly resolved but some remained as "features" of the PE-2 throughout its service. Chief among them was the tendency to stall during landing if the angle of attack exceeded 11 degrees. This was caused by the wing design originally intended for the high-altitude fighter and kept for the PE-2

The bomber entered service at Moscow and Kiev but by the time of the German invasion, 180 were serving in the frontier Military Districts. First encounters with German aircraft were encouraging — unlike the SB, the Pe-2's could parry enemy attacks and gain rare victories even over the nimble Messerchmitt Bf-109's. A raid on Ploesti in Rumania confirmed the bomber's ability — 250,00 tons of oil was set alight. Nevertheless, the defects were also apparent: insufficient defensive armament, a high fire risk and insufficient armor for the navigator and gunner.

Defensive armament was improved — from August 1941, three defensive guns were carried. One was fired by the Navigator from his position in the main cockpit. The Radio Operator/Gunner in the fuselage had two guns — one covering behind and below from the ventral hatch and one that could be switched from side to side to fire from small portholes. These guns were initially of 7.62mm caliber but the turret and ventral guns were later upgraded to 12.7mm. Armor was improved, especially for the Navigator and Gunner, as was the inert gas system that protected against fire. Still, ten gunners were wounded for each wounded pilot, and two or three gunners killed for each dead pilot.

The PE-2 first came to prominence during the battle to defend Moscow that began in October 1941, where they flew the most important attack missions. A number of modifications were also attempted, from rockets to airborne searchlights to counter German night bombing. Thereafter the PE-2 spread to every front, carrying the burden of daylight bombing, reconnaissance and maritime surveillance until the end of the war.

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Preview: PE-2 and PE-3 for IL-2 Forgotten Battles

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The PE-3

There is a good reason why the skies of 1945 were not full of fast, heavy twin-engined fighters like the PE-3 or the BF-110 They just were not good general-purpose day fighters. The PE-3, in particular, is fast but not fast enough, it has a poor roll rate and it is dangerous to turn-fight in. Give me a Yak any day.

That is not to say that the PE-3 has no place in missions. If you need an aircraft to stooge around for hours up at 6000m on the approaches to Moscow, the PE-3 will do it, as long as bombers are the target. If you need to cover a convoy approach Murmansk from torpedo bombers, the PE-3 is ideal. Those natty little P-40’s may be handier in a fight but won’t make it back over 100 miles of freezing Arctic seas with an engine shot out by bomber defensive fire, as Froktistovich found out the hard way. Having two engines looks a lot cleverer when there’s nowhere to land.

It may be worth mentioning that there were in reality two main versions of the Pe-3bis. The later version had a gun that fired under the tail instead of straight back, but we have the early version. That accounts for differences in profiles etc.

The Cockpits

I have mixed feelings about these – they score very highly in the functionality stakes and lower for aesthetic appeal. They are not beautiful in the way Vraciu and Hammerd’s Tempest cockpit is. They do, however, offer all kinds of useful gadgetry – from the standard direction indicator to flap position warning lights, over-G warning light, trim neutral light and the very useful “bombs gone” lights. Several of the standard gauges are also now more detailed, for example the fuel gauge.

The level bombing sight is a work of art. It is a completely new design and for the first time contains a spirit level bubble to make it easy to ensure absolutely level flight while glued to the eyepiece. No need for a constant speed/trim battle anymore – it’s a simple and elegant solution. It is also worth noting that there is no automatic bomb release — you still need to toggle them off manually when the indicators meet.

The real PE-2 carried both day and night sights and here we notice a problem: the level bombing sight is marked in black. It would have been nice to have an illuminated version for low light work as on the real aircraft but I recognize that only a tiny handful of simmers enjoy night missions and this omission is one that will largely pass unnoticed.

More important is the nonfunctional PBL-1 dive-bombing sight. Given its position in the cockpit it would perhaps have been impractical to implement, if not impossible. Still, it is in the nature of dive-bombing that you point the aircraft straight down and let go through the gunsight and probably few of us bother setting the Stuvi in the Ju-88 for 50 degree dives. So it’s a pity, but certainly not critical.

Another limitation is the tail stinger gun in the PE-3 As with the Heinkel bomber, this only works on AI aircraft, but it would certainly be useful with a Messer on your tail.

There are lots of nice touches — look over your shoulder in the gunner cockpit and, reassuringly, the pilot is there. The gunner cockpits are sparse but effective, varying from a 7.62mm machine-gun in the early “tortoiseshell” hatch to a more effective .50 caliber gun in a proper turret. Actually, given the vulnerability of the Messerschmitt engine to light caliber hits, the 7.62mm with its higher rate of fire is probably a better bet early on anyway. You’ll want the heavier gun once the Fw-190 appears though.

The PE-2 (but not the PE-3) carried three members of crew but only two positions are modeled. This is probably wise as the third was stuck inside the hull hemmed in by radios and with limited views. He had two guns to operate in three mountings and, as with the Ju-88, allowing the player to do this would have caused AI problems.

To sum up, the cockpits are effective but graphically a step below the best recent work. It is also nice that the cockpits change as the PE-2/PE-3 grows up — from different gunsights to different toggles on the gun rechargers. You are always flying a PE-2/PE-3 but with small differences.

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Preview: PE-2 and PE-3 for IL-2 Forgotten Battles

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Flight Model

The real PE-2 had challenging flight characteristics due to the fast wing. This made it difficult and prone to stalling at low speeds and high angles of attack, causing several fatalities in landing accidents.

The PE-2 we have performs as expected. Landings are best carried out fast and with plenty of flaps. Maximum sea level speed is around 440 km/h with 50% fuel and no bomb load. Again, this is right on the numbers (the maximum speed of the real PE-2 of 452 km/h was only attained with wooden guns, the hatches smoothed over etc.)

The real PE-2 had electrical motors in the tail to assist with pull up after dive-bombing. Our PE-2 pulls up nicely at high speeds (and this might be a way to shake a human-flown Messerschmitt, especially if you can pull up into cloud while his elevators stiffen). The PE-2 did not, however, have assisted aileron controls, which means they stiffen considerably at high speed. It is worth slowing down a touch before rolling over into the dive.

Given the wing profile and the low AoA tolerance, it is best not to engage in a turning fight at all. The inside wing will stall easily and spin you in. This is an aircraft that needs to stay fast. The best defense against an agile fighter is scissors/corkscrew at medium speed (about 330 km/h) and relying on defensive fire. The Messerschmitt with its limited ammunition and narrow cone of fire can struggle to get a good shot in. The Fw-190 will have no such problems.

Damage Model

The PE-2’s wings were packed with fuel and serious damage here will cause a catastrophic fire. The real PE-2 had an inert gas system and so low damage will not result in a fire. German 7.92mm hits stop leaking after 30 seconds and 20mm hits after some 2 minutes. That means you can get back to base with some damage, pretty important for a plane that may be carrying out raids deep in enemy territory.

The DM is given to shedding parts — a rudder here, an engine there. This happens quite a bit but makes for more interesting missions and landings. One handy side effect is that if you crash-land with an engine on fire, you have a good chance of losing it as you scrape along the ground, which is always good to know.

Survivability

Assuming an enemy pilot who heads home once sustaining engine damage, the PE-2 has perhaps a 30-40% chance of surviving an attack by an early Messerschmitt, perhaps 10% vs. a late Messerschmitt with a 30mm cannon and no chance at all vs. a Focke-Wulf 190, where you probably will not even get a chance to bail. This may make it unattractive for some online pilots, although the figures are probably realistic. With an escort, pilots will of course have a decent chance and the best idea is to approach so high that you are not attacked at all. Nevertheless, I would personally feel happier in an IL-2.

Documentation

Given that we are dealing with a single new plane type (albeit in six variants) it is a pity that no space was found for proper pilot notes, such as supercharger gear change altitudes, mix altitudes etc. These would have been particularly useful as the wrong settings can cut 40 km/h off your speed at sea level. A guide to dive bombing in the PE-2, supernumerary for most virtual pilots, would perhaps also have helped the newer pilot, especially a reminder to reset the engines for low altitude before diving. In addition, a couple of tiny errors, not present in the Russian version, crept into the Western readme. A release focussing on a single basic airframe and introducing new cockpit elements should really have had a potted history of the type, some pilot’s notes, cockpit guides etc., perhaps presented as a 1940’s document. A thin .txt file does little to round out the package or engage interest in what, for most, will be an unfamiliar aircraft.

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Preview: PE-2 and PE-3 for IL-2 Forgotten Battles

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Payload

One disappointment is the lack of payload options for the aircraft. Essentially it comes down to different numbers and weights of iron bomb. Given that the real PE-2’s were also armed with RS-132 rockets, AO bomblets, defensive DAK grenades and field modifications like rearward firing RS-82’s, it seems a shame. Still, the aircraft is a bomber and dive-bomber so what we have will cover 99% of missions and the alternatives will probably not be missed. The fun, after all, is in the dive-bombing!

Campaigns

The add-on is marketed as a new aircraft package, the emphasis on the sleek new bombers. It could easily have been promoted as a campaigns package with a couple of aircraft thrown in. The campaigns are that good.

Four campaigns are included:

1) PE-2 Airforce - Army support on the Kursk and Berlin maps.

2) PE-2 Navy - Fly for the 12th Guards Divebomber Regiment across the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic Sea (Leningrad and Kurland maps).

3) Blinding Sun (Cold Winter) - Defend Moscow against the invader in your MiG-3 then fight back in your Yak-1B over Kursk.

4) Burning Ridge (Dukla Pass) - Fly your IL-2 in support of our divisions breaking through the Carpathians.

The campaigns offer variety and quality. You start from credible airbases that are well populated without being overdone. You pass trains, vehicles on the road and the odd tank battle on the way to your target. Your escorts may pick off a lone Storch that is observing your units. The target areas are well laid out and realistic. Villages in the snow may be destroyed or occupied, with smoke rising from the chimneys. Air combat can happen anywhere — not just the standard head-on engagement but off in the distance or curving in behind you as you turn onto your bomb run. All the customized quality of a handmade campaign is here to see. There are lots of very nice touches, like a damaged plane crash-landing in front of you, tying in with the briefing you just had.

The briefings are a work of art in their own right. Ignore the odd bit of poor English (12th Diving Guards?), poor translation and misspellings and look at the wealth of detail and character that really add to the missions. I've never seen briefings this good before. There are some historical mistakes and the briefings often assume an outcome to the previous mission that may not have occurred but within the limitations of the static campaign they are about as good as can be expected.

As a campaign builder it gives me both pleasure and a little discomfort to say that these campaigns are simply the best I’ve ever seen. Really that good. There is nobody pickier than I when it comes to inaccuracies in missions, to the extent that I very rarely play missions made by other people, much less campaigns. I have no such hesitation here — everything I have seen rings true for the period and mission type. There are two minor inaccuracies but I really had to search for them.

A lot depends on how you play the missions. With no externals or map aids, a road recon over enemy territory under low clouds is hard, constantly updating your position to check the locations you have been ordered to cover while peering over your shoulder for bandits coming down out of the clouds just 200 metres above you. With externals and map aids the same mission can verge on the pointless — flying a racetrack and hitting checkpoints in relative safety. I really advise playing them how they were meant to be played.

Still, the campaigns are just outstanding and the fighter and IL-2 campaigns are by no means afterthoughts. Indeed, the fighter campaign is probably the best of the bunch; it is pitched just right in difficulty and I would never have believed that a Mig-3 campaign over the generally barren Moscow winter map could have been so immersive and atmospheric. Nice work Vadson!

Ground Units

The ground units comprise of artillery howitzers, antitank guns, half-tracks, half-tracks with mounted AA guns and static AA guns. These, especially the new German 20mm and 37mm Flak, are excellent and long overdue. The quality of the ground units is just outstanding and I would predict the demise in missions of the old 20mm “naval” Oerlikon in short order. The Russian truck with the quad Maxim mounting is also striking.

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Preview: PE-2 and PE-3 for IL-2 Forgotten Battles

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Conclusion

The PE-2 was the main bomber of the Eastern Front and is very welcome as a flyable aircraft. It played a major role in all the campaigns of the war from the defense of the Crimea in the south to the frozen wastes of the far north. It was central to many of the most dramatic strikes — the Petsamo bridge that cut off the German advance on Murmansk, the Niobe strike at Kotka, the Libau attacks and many more. It served as a bomber, reconnaissance aircraft and, less successfully, a heavy fighter.

There are certainly some things that could have been better — documentation, payload, some parts of the cockpits.

However there are many things done very well indeed — the flight model, damage model, new bombsight, the cockpit as a whole and the superlative ground objects. The nicest surprise of all comes from the excellent campaigns which I shall enjoy playing again.

This is an add-on that Eastern Front pilots will love and others should try.

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