Storm Bird Anna Yegorova, Soviet Sturmovik pilot

Ross Granley maneuvers the Flying Heritage and Combat Armor Museum’s impressive Ilyushin IL-2 Sturmovik, one of only two airworthy examples in the world, up close to the camera ship. This ultra-rare warbird was assembled from three wrecked donor aircraft. (Photo John Dibbs/Facebook.com/theplanepicturecompany)

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“I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the airplane. It was a beauty. It had a streamlined, elongated fuselage with a glassed-in cockpit that looked out across a great distance of pointed engine cowling. Four menacing rapid-fire cannons and machine guns bristled from the wings’ leading edges, and eight launch rails for anti-tank missiles hung beneath the wings. The aircraft’s central wing section held four bomb bays, and six more 100-kilogram bombs could be fastened...

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