IL-2 Sturmovik Recovering from Lake and Restoration | 2012 | Murmansk, Russia
In November 1943, pilot Valentin Skopintsev and gunner Vladimir Gumennym on IL-2 Sturmovik made an forced landing on the ice of lake Krivoe in the Murmansk region. Their aircraft was damaged by anti-aircraft artillery and a Me-109 fighter during an assault attack on the German airfield Luostari. The pilot and the gunner got out of the plane and got to the base, and then went through the entire war together. The emergency crew tried to evacuate the plane (the plane is wrapped in cables, some hatches were open), but could not, and the plane broke through the ice and sank.
In 2010, the Foundation was contacted by the pilot's children, Oleg and Eugene, with a request to find and raise the plane based on their father's documents and memories, and restore it if possible. In 2012, we found and raised it, and in 2017, the Sturmovik came back to the sky.
Currently, the Il-2 belongs to the Foundation, is based at an airfield near Moscow, on memorable dates it flies over Russian cities and takes part in air shows and historical reconstructions.