Il-2 Restoration Completed, Aircraft Returns to Display

The restoration of the Il-2 ground-attack aircraft raised from a lake bed has been completed. The machine has returned to the Great Patriotic War hall and is open for viewing. The work took thirteen months. Airframe geometry and lost structural members were restored; every authentic surface, including the holes in the armoured hull and the rivets of the 1943 field repair, has been preserved unchanged. New parts were made to factory drawings and carry the workshop stamp. The AM-38 engine is exhibited separately, partly opened — restoration to working condition was judged impractical. During the restoration some two thousand people visited the workshop: the work went on behind a glass wall and was open to observation every day. The museum plans to keep that format for the next project.