- Yes.
- No.
- As a techtree aircraft
- As a premium aircraft
- As a squadron aircraft
- As an event aircraft
- I said “No” in the first question.
- 4.0 (Between the Yer-2 M-105’s and Yer-2 Ach-30B’s)
- 4.3 (Same as the Yer-2 Ach-30B’s)
- 4.7 (0.3 higher then the Yer-2 Ach-30B’s)
- Other (Please explain in the comments).
- I said “No” in the first question.
Hello everyone! Today I’m going to suggest a prototype variant of the iconic Yermolayev Yer-2!
This is the Yermolayev Yer-2 AM-37, the fastest Yer-2 ever!
According to some sources, the Yer-2 AM-37 was also referred to as the Yer-4. But I do not know how accurate this is so take it with a grain of salt.
A nice photo of the Yer-2 AM-37. On the outside it looks exactly like the Yer-2 M-105, but this one has much more powerfull engines
Source: Уголок неба ¦ Ермолаев Ер-2
History
Spoiler
A front view photo of the Yer-2 AM-37
Source: Уголок неба ¦ Ермолаев Ер-2The Yer-2 AM-37 was born from the DB-240 (The Yer-2 Prototype). When the DB-240 was being developed, it was made with 1.350 hp engines in mind, but in the end it was fitted with the 1.100 hp M-105’s instead. This lead to a big reduction in performance. And while the DB-240 was still under testing, a new project was already started to fix this lack in performance.
This new project would take a DB-240 airframe and put new engines on it to improve it’s performane. Two engines were tested, the Mikulin AM-35A and AM-37. In this suggestion I’m talking about the AM-37 powered version, so let’s focus on that.
The Mikulin AM-37 engine was pretty much a boosted supercharging version of the Mikulin AM-35. Due to the boost and supercharger the engine did not reduce in horsepower with higher altitude. So the takeoff power of 1.400 hp remained roughly the same even at higher altitudes.
A side view of the Yer-2 AM-37
Source: Уголок неба ¦ Ермолаев Ер-2The Yer-2 AM-37 made it’s first “flight” on the 25th of October 1940. I say “flight” in quotations because there was a huge problem with the aircraft. Due to the the extreme time pressure the team was in, they had not done any changes to the existing cooling system of the Yer-2. But the AM-37 engine produced about 40% more heat then the standard M-105 engine of the Yer-2. So the aircraft could only be flown for super short durations, the flights were more like quick hops into the air. The pilot only managed to check the stability and controllability of the aircraft at this time.
Over time new cooling systems were installed, but this proved to be a lot of work, and even with these improvements the engine continued to overheat.
It was on the 8th of June 1941 when the Yer-2 AM-37 made it’s record run. Dispite the overheating issues the aircraft was pushed to 519 km/h at an altitude of 6.750 meters! This is roughly 90km/h faster then the Yer-2 with M-105 engines whilst also flying at a higher altitude!Despite the amazing performance, the Mikulin AM-37 was simply not a very reliable engine. Aside from a few aircraft like this Yer-2, the engine was never mass produced.
In the end the Yer-2 AM-37 stayed as just a prototype. When the aircraft worked the pilots loved it, it’s the fasted version of the Yer-2 ever made after all.
A rear view of the Yer-2 AM-37
Source: Уголок неба ¦ Ермолаев Ер-2
Design
Spoiler
A photo taken of the side of the Yer-2 AM-37, clearly showing the dorsal and ventral machine guns
Source: Уголок неба ¦ Ермолаев Ер-2The Yermolayev Yer-2 AM-37 was a twin-engine, inverted gull-wing bomber. The aircraft was powered by two Mikulin AM-37 engines producting 1.400 hp each on takeoff.
Two photos of the Mikulin AM-37 engine mounted on the Yer-2 AM-37
Source: “Дальний бомбардировщик Ер-2. «Самолет несбывшихся надежд»” book by Dmitry Khazanov and Alexander MedvedThe straight line speed at an altitude of 6.750 meters and at a weight of 12.230 kg, was 519km/h. Making it the fastest Yer-2 ever made!
The main defensive gunner the Yer-2 AM-37 had was a 12,7 mm Berezin UBT machine gun mounted in a dorsal TAT-BT turret. This turret had excellent firing angles, this machine gun could even shoot downwards to the sides of the aircraft.
There were two more 12,7 mm Berezin UBT machine guns. One was mounted in the nose, on a NU-134 mounting. And another was on a ventral LU-MV-2B mount. This ventral mount had a rounded cover around it to reduce drag.
A closeup photos of the 12,7 mm LU-MV-2B mount on the Yer-2 AM-37
Source: Уголок неба ¦ Ермолаев Ер-2For the bombload the Yer-2 AM-37 could the same bombs as the normal Yer-2 M-105’s. FAB-50, FAB-100, FAB-250, FAB-500 and FAB-1000 bombs are all part of it’s loadout, together with some armour piercing equivalents of those bombs, and some lesser known cluster bombs and smoke and chemical sprayers.
The total maximum bombload the Yer-2 AM-37 could carry was 4.000 kg.
Ingame
Spoiler
Ever since I started playing War Thunder back in 2013, the Yer-2 has always been a weird favourite of mine. It’s looks and insane bombloads made it such a cool aircraft to me. Also back in those early days the Yer-2 had this godlike reputation of ending games on it’s own by bombing your airfield if you didn’t shoot it down in time.
This is why I want to see more Yer-2 variants ingame, and this Yer-2 AM-37 is simply awesome! It pretty much one of the best versions of the Yer-2 we can have ingame. Sure it does not carry AS much bombs as the later Ach-30B versions, but it more then makes up for it in sheer performance.
I think the Yer-2 AM-37 would be a nice event plane to have ingame. I think it would sit at the same 4.3 BR as the Yer-2 Ach-30B’s. The Yer-2 AM-37 does not have the 20mm Dorsal gunner ofcourse, and it lacks the third external bomb rack, but we must remember that it’s also almost 100km/h faster then them! And if there is something I’ve learned flying the Yer-2’s, being able to go faster and get to the bombing targets first is more important then carrying a little more bombs.
But let me know what you think in the poll above!
Specifications
Spoiler
A simple blueprint of the Yer-2 AM-37
Source: Уголок неба ¦ Ермолаев Ер-2Crew: 4 (Pilot, Navigator/Bombardier, 2 x Gunners)
Length: 16,23 m
Wingspan: 21,68 m
Height: 4,82 m
Empty weight: 8.872 kg
Standard weight: 12.230 kg
Max weight: 13.500 kg
Powerplant: 2 x Mikulin AM-37 engines with three-bladed ViSh-22E propellors
Performance of the Mikulin AM-37:
– Takeoff power: 1.400 hp
– Power at 4.000 m: 1.400 hp
Maximum straight line speed: 519 km/h at 6.750 meters and 12.230 kg weight
Armament
Guns:
1 × 12,7 mm Berezin UBT machine gun in a NU-134 nose mount
1 × 12,7 mm Berezin UBT machine gun in a TAT-BT dorsal turret
1 × 12,7 mm Berezin UBT machine gun in a LU-MV-2B ventral mountBombs: (4.000 kg max)
Internal bombbay:
(KD2-240 bomb racks)
– 12 x FAB-50 (HE bomb)
– 12 x FAB-100 (HE bomb)(KD3-240 bomb racks)
– 4 x FAB-250 (HE bomb)
– 4 x FAB-500 (HE bomb)
– 4 x ABP-240 (Cluster bomb used to carry small bombs up to 15kg inside, including incendiary mixture ampoules)External racks:
(Der-19-20 bomb racks)
– 2 x FAB-100 (HE bomb)
– 2 x FAB-250 (HE bomb)
– 2 x FAB-500 (HE bomb)
– 2 x FAB-1000 (HE bomb)
– 2 x BRAB-220 (AP bomb)
– 2 x BRAB-500 (AP bomb)
– 2 x BRAB-1000 (AP bomb)
– 2 x VAP-500 (Chemical tank used to lay smokescreens or spray toxic substances)
– 2 x UKhAP-500 (Chemical tank used to lay smokescreens or spray toxic substances)
A rear view of the Yer-2 AM-37
Source: Уголок неба ¦ Ермолаев Ер-2
So there you have it! Please make sure to vote in the poll above, and let me know what you think of this unique Yer-2 variant!
Sources
Spoiler
Russian sources:
- “Дальний бомбардировщик Ер-2. «Самолет несбывшихся надежд»” (Long-range bomber Yer-2. “Airplane of unfulfilled hopes”) book by Dmitry Khazanov and Alexander Medved
- Уголок неба ¦ Ермолаев Ер-2
- Дальний бомбардировщик Ер-2 (ДБ-240). - Российская авиация
English sources: