Petlyakov Pe-8

From The Air Combat Wiki

Contents 1 Fighter Ace Screenshots 2 Fighter Ace Ratings 3 Fighter Ace Performance 4 Historical Statistics 5 Strengths 6 Weaknesses 7 History 8 Sources 9 See Also

Fighter Ace Screenshots

Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ	Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ	Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ	Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ
Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ	Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ	Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ

Fighter Ace Ratings

Durability: 7

Speed: 5

Maneuverability: 5

Firepower: n/a

Climb Rate: 2

Ground Attack: 10

Fighter Ace Performance

Top Speeds						Climb Rates
	Sea Level	4921' 1500m	9843' 3000m	19685' 6000m	Best Speed	Best IAS	to 1000m	to 3000m	to 6000m
mph	216	230	245	272	276@ 20997'	137 mph	3:53	10:43	21:40
kph	347	370	394	438	444@ 6400m	220 kph

Historical Statistics

Service Date: June 1940

Primary Guns: None

Secondary Guns: None

Defensive Guns: 2x ShKAS 7.62mm in forward-firing turret, 1x ShVAK 20mm cannon in dorsal turret, 1x ShVAK 20mm cannon in tail turret, and 2x Beresin 12.7mm flex machine guns with 800 rpg in engine nacelles

Ordnance: 24x 110 lb (50 kg) or 24x 220 lb (100 kg) bombs or 12x 551 lb (250 kg) or 6x 1,103 lb (500 kg) bombs or 2x 2,205 lb (1,000 kg) bombs or 1x 4,411 lb (2,000 kg) bombs in internal bomb bay and up to 4x220 lb (100 kg) bombs or 4x 551 lb (250 kg) or 2x 1,103 lb (500 kg) bombs or 2x 2,205 lb (1,000 kg) bombs in underwing racks.

Engine(s): 4x AM-35A in-lines rated for 1,350 hp each at sea level and 1,200 hp at 19,670 ft (6,000 m)

Int Fuel Capacity: 23,379 lbs (10,600 kg)

Ext Fuel Capacity: none

Maximum Speeds: 216 mph (347 kph) at sea level and 275 mph (443 kph) at 20,984 ft (6400 m)

Ceiling: 30,490 ft (9,300 m)

Loaded Weight: 61,756 lbs (28,000 kg)

Wing Area: 2,028 sq ft (188.7 sq m)

Wing Loading: 30.4 lbs/sq ft (148 kg/sq m)

Strengths

Defensive Firepower: A combination of 20mm cannons and 12.7mm machine guns protects the Pe-8 quite well from the rear quarter while the twin 7.62mm machine guns in the nose turret fire fast enough and have enough ammo to make an impression on attacking fighters.

Durability: A large, heavy plane, the Pe-8 can absorb almost as much damage as the US B-17.

Weaknesses

Performance: Being large and underpowered, the Pe-8 is one of the most sluggish planes in the game.

History

The fate of Vladmir Petlyakov's four-engine bomber design was, like that of many other aircraft designs, hampered by the lack of powerful, reliable engines. Designed as a replacement for the primitive TB-7 heavy bomber the Pe-8 was intended to be a high-altitude, fast, heavy bomber capable of hitting targets deep in enemy territory without the need for fighter escort.

The Mikuln AM-34 radial engines originally fitted to the Pe-8 were rated for only 800 hp each and were not designed for high-altitude work. Unable to fit supercharger compressors to the AM-34, the design team hit upon the idea of using an auxiliary engine, mounted above the bomb-bay dedicated to driving a supercharger compressor, which fed compressed air to all of the engines via six foot diameter air ducts in the wings.

The Pe-8 was designed to defend itself from enemy fighters and as a result employed one of the heaviest defensive armament packages ever used on a bomber. The nose turret was equipped with a pair of 7.62mm ShKAS machine guns while the dorsal and tail turrets employed a single 20mm ShVAK cannon each. Finally, a gun position was fitted in the rear of the inboard engine nacelles equipped with a single 12.7mm Beresin machine gun each.

With a maximum bomb load of over 8,000 lbs. the Pe-8 was potentially as effective as the B-17 or Lancaster bombers of the Western Allies. However, the lack of engines started to plague the plane. A production series was built using M-30 and M-40 diesel engines. While in theory these would increase range, they proved so unreliable that losses from engine failures were as common as losses from enemy action.

The most successful variant employed four AM-35As and was not equipped with the M-100 driven supercharger. Unlike the earlier diesel variants, the AM-35A model could reach 16,000 feet, enough to avoid most flak. Production difficulties conspired with the lack of engines to mean that few Pe-8s reached active service. However, starting in July 1941, Pe-8s were used to strike targets as far away as Berlin, mostly in night operations.

By Spring 1944 the Pe-8 was being phased out in favor of the American-built North-American B-25 Mitchell. Remaining Pe-8s were relegated to the transport role until well beyond the war's end.

Sources

Stapfer, Hans-Heiri; Petlyakov Pe-2 In Action; Squadron/Signal Publications, Carrollton, TX; 2002.

Gordon; Yefim and Khazanov, Dmitri with Medved, Alexander; Soviet Combat Aircraft of the Second World War Volume Two: Twin-Engined Fighters, Attack Aircraft and Bombers; Midland Publishing Limited, Leicester, England; 1999.

See Also

Fighter Ace Planes Inventory

Aircraft Manufacturers During World War II