Ilyushin Il-6

The Ilyushin Il-6 was a Soviet long-range bomber developed from the Il-4 during 1942. It was first meant as a high-speed replacement for the Il-4, then recast as a very long-range bomber with fuel-conserving diesel engines, and construction of the single prototype began in December 1942. It was outwardly like the Il-4 but faster, with a longer and slimmer fuselage and a new, highly tapered wing. The original M-71 radial engines were replaced by Charomskiy ACh-30 diesels, and the aircraft made its first flight at Irkutsk on 7 August 1943 using lower-powered ACh-30B engines because the stronger ones were unavailable. Testing showed controllability problems when landing at high weights, and the engines were hard to start in cold and slow to answer the throttle. Further development was cancelled in 1944.