Sukhoi Su-2
Short-Range Bomber
Dmitri Khazanov &
Nikolai Gordyukov
Publishing House
Tekhnika-Molodezhi, ©2000
108 pages, Softbound
$6.90 from GP Hobby
Reviewed by Matt Bittner
This book is a must for anyone interested in the Sukhoi Su-2. There are over 180 photos, 9 color profiles and 20 pages of drawings, most in 1/48th scale. Although written in Cyrillic - with photo captions in English - you can tell the book starts from the design, and continues through to experimental versions later in the type's operational career.
The Su-2 is an often overlooked, important VVS aircraft. Although not produced in the numbers the Ilyushin Il-2 was, it found favor with the pilots who flew it. Not only does this book contain the design history but it also touches on operational sorties as well.
This book brought a few things to light I didn't know about the Su-2. First it appears there were three separate types, all differentiated by the engine. The navigator officer - the person in back manning the guns, etc. - had dual controls and could fly the plane. There was a gun on the underside, which the navigator officer could use by opening up a set of "trap doors" to fire underneath and behind the aircraft.
