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# ww093 Pe-2 Petlyakov diving bomber

14 inches wing span superior quality detailed model of Pe-2 bomber of Great Patriotic War.This one of a kind model was hand made in early 80-s with metal props, guns,landing gears (with rubber wheels) in high level of details.Available only one.Please contact prior ordering.
The Petlyakov Pe-2 was a fast, twin-engined light bomber used extensively by the Soviets in their war against Hitler. Several hundred Pe-2s had rolled off the production lines by the time of the German invasion of the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941. After the Nazi attack, the German Luftwaffe enjoyed almost complete air superiority, shooting down thousands of Soviet aircraft for losses of hundreds of their own. Most of the Red aircraft were obsolete types and easy kills for the Luftwaffe`s Messerschmitt Bf-109 fighters, but German pilots found the fast Pe-2s difficult to catch and destroy. The British, with a new ally in the war against Hitler, sent a detachment of Hawker Hurricane IIBs to Vianga, near Murmask, and flew top cover for a Pe-2 bombing mission on 24 September 1941. The Hurricane pilots found they had to stay at full throttle to keep up with the Petlyakovs. As Hitler`s columns rolled into the Soviet Union, as much of the Red industrial machine as could be dismantled was packed up and shipped off to beyond the Urals. Whatever could not be moved was destroyed. Despite the chaos of the relocation, by the end of the year hundreds more Pe-2s had rolled off the production line. Performance deteriorated slightly due to reduced production quality and additions of armor for the navigator and radio operator. Production of reconnaissance Pe-2s began in August 1941, with these aircraft lacking the dive brakes and fitted with additional fuel tankage in the bombbay and three cameras in the rear fuselage. They could carry flares for night reconnaissance. * Soviet resistance through the summer and fall of 1941 was disorganized and not very effective. Such Pe-2s as were available were not used to their fullest potential, being employed in intermittent bombing sorties and as improvised night fighters, using searchlights mounted under the wings to pin down Luftwaffe bombers for destruction by single-engine fighters. When the Red Army finally rallied in December 1941, Pe-2s began to make their first significant strikes on the enemy. On 9 December, Pe-2s of the 23rd Bomber Air Division annihilated a retreating German troop convoy, striking at the lead vehicles to block the road and then destroying the rest. The Soviets endured further setbacks in the spring and summer of 1942. The Pe-2 was able to make the Germans pay for their gains, as Russian pilots perfected tactics. Such tactics included the `Vertushka (Carousel)`, in which the bombers circled, making successive dive attacks on targets inside the circle. Other tactics were devised to make the best use of fighter cover, with fighters assigned to provide top cover, while two or three followed the dive bombers down to provide flanking protection.
 # ww093            Pe-2 Petlyakov diving bomber 1
 # ww093            Pe-2 Petlyakov diving bomber 2
 # ww093            Pe-2 Petlyakov diving bomber 3
 # ww093            Pe-2 Petlyakov diving bomber 4
 # ww093            Pe-2 Petlyakov diving bomber 5

This product was added to our catalog on Tuesday 25 October, 2005.