Ilyushin DB-3

1935


BOMBER	Virtual Aircraft Museum / USSR / Russia / Ilyushin

The TsKB-26 long-range bomber prototype appeared in 1935, a twin-engined metal low-wing monoplane powered by 597kW Gnome-Rhone K14 radials. Demonstrated by test pilot Vladimir Kokkinaki on May Day 1936, the prototype went on to establish two world altitude records during July 1936. A second prototype, the TsKB-30 had an enclosed instead of open position for the pilot, Soviet M-85 engines and a metal rear fuselage. The TsKB-30 also broke records and then attracted world interest by flying from Moscow to Canada, where pilot Kokkinaki had to make a wheels up landing on 28 April 1939 after covering a distance of 8000km. By then the bomber had been in production for the Soviet air arm for more than two years. Under the military designation DB-3 it served widely with the ADD (Long-Range Aviation) and the V-MF (Naval Aviation), remaining operational well into the war with Germany, DB-3s being credited with some of the earliest attacks on Berlin. The DB-3 served also with the Finnish air arm between 1940 and 1945, five captured aircraft being augmented by six purchased from German war booty supplies. DB-3 production terminated in 1940 with the 1,528th machine.

Specification

MODEL	DB-3M
ENGINE	2 x M-87B, 708kW
WEIGHTS
Take-off weight	7660 kg	16887 lb
Loaded weight	5270 kg	11618 lb
DIMENSIONS
Wingspan	21.44 m	70 ft 4 in
Length	14.22 m	47 ft 8 in
Height	4.19 m	14 ft 9 in
Wing area	65.6 m²	706.11 sq ft
PERFORMANCE
Max. speed	445 km/h	277 mph
Ceiling	9700 m	31800 ft
Range	3800 km	2361 miles
ARMAMENT	3 x 7.62mm machine-guns, 2500kg of bombs