As the first PB-100 was rolled out it was renamed in Pe-2. The first five aircraft were produced in such a hurry that they were built with the armament in mock-up form, and were used to test and improve the concept of the Pe-2.
The first trials didn't go well at all, every other flight ended in an emergency landing because of problems with the propellers. On top of that the shock absorbers were constructed wrong, making the aircraft bounce on landing.
Since the Pe-2 was born out of a fighter design, it was initially fitted with a fighter-type joystick. The forces on the control surfaces were too high however, and it was replaced by a bomber-type control collumn. Some Duralumin components were additionally replaced by steel examples for the same reason. |
