The IAR-80 was a Romanian low-wing monoplane originally designed in the late 1930s by Industria Aeronautică Română (IAR, or Romanian Aeronautic Industry in English). First flown in 1939, the IAR-80 was comparable to other fighter aircraft designs of the late 1930s and would remain in service with the Royal Romanian Air Force throughout World War II until the end of the war in May 1945.
The armament of the IAR-80 initially consisted of Belgian-made Fabrique Nationale FN 7.92 mm light machine guns, which were a licensed version of the Browning M1919 machine gun. These machine guns would eventually be replaced by 13.2 mm FN heavy machine guns and German 20 mm MG FF/M and MG 151/20 cannons. In 1941, the IAR-80 was modified to become a dive bomber and thus became the IAR-81. This new model was fitted with a bomb cradle under the fuselage which would throw the bomb clear of the propeller when the bomb was released.
The first production IAR 80s were completed in January 1941, and they were in action against the Soviets from the first day of Operation Barbarossa on June 22,1941. IAR-80s and 81s both saw action during the Battle of Stalingrad and later took part in combat over the Kuban and the Crimea throughout 1943 and into 1944. Meanwhile, in August 1943 IAR-80s took part in the defense of the Romanian oil fields at Ploesti for the first time against US Army Air Force B-24 heavy bombers.
Further defensive missions would be flown over Romania through the summer of 1944 against American heavy bomber raids. After Romania switched sides in August 1944 and joined the Allies, IAR-80s and IAR-81s fought alongside the Soviets until the war ended in May 1945.
In addition to Quick Mission Builder, Advanced Quick Mission Generator and Multiplayer modes, you can fly it in Career mode during Battle of Stalingrad (Grp. 6 BoPi ARR and Grp. 8 Vânătoare ARR) and Battle of Kuban (I.A.R. 80-A in Grp. 3 Vânătoare ARR and I.A.R. 80-B in Grp. 4 Vânătoare ARR).
'Short' I.A.R. 80-A
- Default armament: six 7.92mm machine guns "FN Browning 7.92 mod 1938", 2400 rounds, 1500 rounds per minute, wing-mounted
- Length: 8.9 m
- Wingspan: 10.5 m
- Wing surface: 16.1 m²
'Long' I.A.R. 80-B
- Default armament: four 7.92mm machine guns "FN Browning 7.92 mod 1938", 1600 rounds, 1500 rounds per minute, wing-mounted and two 13.2mm machine guns "FN Browning 13.2", 350 rounds, 1080 rounds per minute, wing-mounted
- Length: 8.97 m
- Wingspan: 11.0 m
- Wing surface: 16.5 m²
Modifications
- I.A.R. 80-B series 181-200: two 7.92mm MGs replaced by 13.2mm ones, new headrest, sturdier flaps (14.7 kg weight increase, 1 km/h speed loss).
- I.A.R. 80-C series 251-290: four 7.92mm MGs and two 20mm MG FF/M guns, tail struts, new air filter, second oil radiator, sturdier fuselage and flaps (24 kg weight increase, 12 km/h speed loss).
- I.A.R. 80-M: two 7.92mm MGs and two 20mm MG151/20 guns, tail struts, new air filter, second oil radiator, late type headrest, sturdier fuselage and flaps (62 kg weight increase, 9 km/h speed loss).
- I.A.R. 81 series 151-175: centerline (249 kg SC 250) and underwing bombs (two 55 kg SC 50), tail struts, sturdier flaps (379 kg weight increase with racks, 32 km/h speed loss before drop, 14 km/h after drop).
- I.A.R. 81-C series 301-450: two 7.92mm MGs and two 20mm MG151/20 guns, centerline (249 kg SC 250) and underwing bombs (two 55 kg SC 50), tail struts, sturdier flaps (427 kg weight increase with racks, 41 km/h speed loss before drop, 19 km/h after drop).
Paint Schemes
- Alternative national markings (customizable tactical number).
- 1943 paint scheme (customizable tactical number).
- 1944 paint scheme (customizable tactical number).
- Allied markings (customizable tactical number).
- "Mouse Knight". Escadrilla 53 Vânătoare, Grupul 5, Mamaia airfield, July 1943.
- "Mamy". Escadrilla 47 Vânătoare, Grupul 9, Pipera airfield, Summer 1942.
- Escadrilla 41 Vânătoare, Flotila 2 Vanatore, Stalingrad Front, late Autumn 1942.
- Escadrilla 61, Vanatore BoPi, Tirgsor airfield, 1942.
- Slt. Av. Petre Mihăilescu, Escadrilla 64, Roșiori de Vede airfield, June 1944.
- "Skull and bones". Escadrilla 64, Grupul 4, 1944.
- Escadrilla 65, Grupul 2, Zvolen airfield, April 1945.
- I.A.R. 80-B No. 225, Escadrilla 42 Vânătoare, Grupul 8, 1942.
- I.A.R. 80-C No. 254, Escadrilla 43 Vânătoare, August 1944.
- "Lenuta". I.A.R. 81-C No. 429, Escadrilla 67 Vânătoare, Grupul 2, Gheraesti/Bacău, June 1944.
- I.A.R. 81-C No. 448, Escadrilla 67, Grupul 2, Miskolc, April 1945.
- "Bambi". I.A.R. 81-C No. 320, Escadrilla 61 (its emblem was Bambi talking to Mrs Quail and her chicks), Popești-Leordeni, June 1944.
Technical details
Indicated stall speed in flight configuration: 154..162 km/hIndicated stall speed in takeoff/landing configuration: 143..151 km/h
Dive speed limit: 750 km/h
Maximum load factor: 12 G
Stall angle of attack in flight configuration: 16,0°
Stall angle of attack in landing configuration: 13,8°
Maximum true air speed at sea level, engine mode - nominal: 433 km/h
Maximum true air speed at sea level, engine mode - emergency: 450 km/h
Maximum true air speed at 4700, engine mode - nominal m: 511 km/h
Maximum true air speed at 3800 m, engine mode - emergency: 514 km/h
80-B maximum true air speed at sea level, engine mode - nominal: 427 km/h
80-B maximum true air speed at sea level, engine mode - emergency: 447 km/h
80-B maximum true air speed at 4700, engine mode - nominal m: 505 km/h
80-B maximum true air speed at 3800 m, engine mode - emergency: 511 km/h
Service ceiling: 10500 m
Climb rate at sea level: 14,1 m/s
Climb rate at 3000 m: 13,6 m/s
Climb rate at 6000 m: 9,7 m/s
80-B сlimb rate at 3000 m: 13,1 m/s
80-B сlimb rate at sea level: 13,9 m/s
80-B сlimb rate at 6000 m: 9,4 m/s
Maximum performance turn at sea level: 17,8 s, at 300 km/h IAS.
Flight endurance at 3000 m: 1.9 h, at 350 km/h IAS.
Takeoff speed: 150...180 km/h
Glideslope speed: 200...220 km/h
Landing speed: 170...180 km/h
Landing angle: 14.2 °
Note 1: the data provided is for international standard atmosphere (ISA).
Note 2: flight performance ranges are given for possible aircraft mass ranges.
Note 3: maximum speeds, climb rates and turn times are given for standard aircraft mass.
Note 4: climb rates are given for mominal power, turn times are given for emergency power.
Engine:
Model: I.A.R. 14 K. IV. C-32
Maximum power in Emergency mode at sea level: 1050 HP
Maximum power in Emergency mode at 2700 m: 1100 HP
Maximum power in Nominal mode at sea level: 930 HP
Maximum power in Nominal mode at 3200 m: 1000 HP
Engine modes:
Nominal (unlimited time): 2300 RPM, 850 mm Hg
Emergency (up to 3 minutes): 2300 RPM, 935 mm Hg
Oil rated temperature in engine output: 40..110 °C
Oil maximum temperature in engine output: 120 °C
Empty weight: 1980 kg
Minimum weight (no ammo, 10% fuel): 2293 kg
Standard weight: 2650 kg
80-B empty weight: 2093 kg
80-B minimum weight (no ammo, 10% fuel): 2522 kg
80-B Standard weight: 2745 kg
Maximum takeoff weight: 3030 kg
Fuel load: 324 kg / 450 l
Useful load: 1050 kg
Combat debut: Summer-Autumn 1941 (Autumn 1942 for 80-B series)
Operation features
- The aircraft has no constant propeller governor. The propeller speed is controlled by manually changing the propeller pitch using a switch on the instrument board (default propeller pitch commands in the sim are [RShift + +/-]).
- Due to the absence of a constant propeller speed governor, it is necessary to carefully monitor the propeller RPM, especially in a dive - due to the spinning up of the propeller during acceleration, it is possible to exceed the maximum RPM and cause an engine failure.
- The aircraft has no cylinder head temperature gauge - only an oil temperature gauge.
- The oil radiator has no regulation (there is a second adjustable oil radiator on I.A.R. 80-M, 80-C and 81-C modifications).
- The aircraft is equipped with elevator trimmer.
- Mixture control is automated, the automatic regulator maintains the set mixture composition and automatically enriches the mixture at low and full throttle. The optimum mixture is set by the center position of the control lever.
- The flaps are hydraulic and can be set to any angle up to 60°. In the dive bomber version, the fully released flaps are used as air brake. There is no flap position indicator.
- The aircraft has differential pneumatic wheel brakes with shared control lever. This means that if the brake lever is held and the rudder pedal the opposite wheel brake is gradually released causing the plane to swing to one side or the other.
- The aircraft has a hydrostatic fuel gauge which shows total fuel remaining only when manual sucker lever is pushed in. In the sim, hold [RShift+I by default].
- To drop bombs, you must switch on the bomb release system first [N key]. After dropping bombs, the system should be manually deactivated.
- When the bomb release system is switched on, the flaps are automatically fully released as an air brake and retract automatically either when the bomb release button is pressed or when the system is switched off.
- The bomb release system can either drop only the central bomb or all three bombs at once.
- The gunsight is adjustable: both the target distance and target base can be set.
- In the dive bomber version, the tilt of the gunsight is adjustable [RAlt + F by default].
- The gunsight has a sliding sun-filter [LAlt + F by default].
