Il-40 Brawny (OBP beta build)

[murphyaa]

When I was researching the model, it was sai that it had conventional side intakes, but every time the guns were fired the gunsmoke would choke the engines. So they stretched the intakes up to the nose.

[Isaac]

Originally Posted by Yale

Hmmn .... It's true that the post-WWII era was a time of exploration and experimentation, nor can any of us today know exactly what went through the minds of Ilyushin designers and Soviet officials 60 years ago. But nose-mounted jet engines in a ground attack plane makes no sense to me at all. Wouldn't that expose the engines to the greatest possible danger from ground fire? So I'll respectfully disagree about the cleverness. But it's still a great model, and I'll be interested when it becomes available to us.

Yale

The reality is that the engines on this aircraft were not in the nose ( like the Yak-15 , 17 or 23 aircraft ). The engines were on either side of the fuselage. The original version had short intakes and a conventional nose.



This was similar to a version of the Me-262 HG High altitude 3 seater Luft 46 concept.


However, the version of this build shows the intakes extended to the very nose. The engine face is not as the model is shown.

Also, even if the engine was in front, it made perfect sense in the times right after WW2 with a similar type of installation like a prop plane.

Regarding engine placement and its ability to withstand ground fire, it makes no difference if it is the front or back located. AAA hits all around. The key is to protect the crew in an armored cabin.


Again, those were very active years in aviation and lots of concepts were designed, built and tested.

Isaac

[murphyaa]

yeah I realized I should never put fans on the nose in.take. so I changed that graphic

[Yale]

OK, guys, things begin to make more sense. First off, Niki, I'll appologize if we've taken over your thread; that was never my intent. Side-mounted engines would have been appropriate, too, WRT center of gravity -- another thing I wondered about had the engines been shoved all the way to the nose. And the gunsmoke interfering with engines is a great story -- seems like I read something similar about the Vought Cutlass (which would have been a contemporary of the Il-40). Still, if the builders hadn't extended the intakes quite so far forward, they could have made some avionics room in the nose. And, Isaac, while you're correct that AAA could hit engines mounted anywhere, engines shoved to the extreme nose would be additionally vulnerable in the sense of foreign object damage -- in theory, a ground troop could bring down the plane by throwing a rock into the engine. So even though I was on the other side during the Cold War, I'm glad that the Soviets did not really design a plane vulnerable to rocks.

[nikischutt]

Originally Posted by Isaac

However, the version of this build shows the intakes extended to the very nose. The engine face is not as the model is shown.

Hence, beta build. Picked up one or two other minor issues. But Aaron sent me updated files with a better representation of the silver/metal look and blacked-out intakes.

Niki

[murphyaa]

Hopefully a better representation. If it looks ok on this one, I'll apply it to all future bare metal birds.

I never found any pics of the real plane with the nostrils on the nose, only a few pics of a model. So I'm guessing it didn't work all that well.

[Isaac]

Originally Posted by murphyaa

Hopefully a better representation. If it looks ok on this one, I'll apply it to all future bare metal birds.

I never found any pics of the real plane with the nostrils on the nose, only a few pics of a model. So I'm guessing it didn't work all that well.

pictures of the real prototype are on the web.


Isaac

[Vermin_King]

Sure enough

[John Bowden]

Still a damn ugly plane.

[willygoat]

Indeed John, indeed!