The IL-2 is an attacker which excels at low altitude. You'll be flying close to the ground in order to hit your targets with your cannons and machine guns, so watch for obstacles and use the IL-2's phenomenal low-speed performance and tight turning circle to get out of harm's way, though beware of the mediocre roll rate and the weak acceleration. Give yourself time to build up a good amount of speed before going for another attack, otherwise, you'll struggle to climb away. Make note of what targets you can eliminate: light pillboxes can be destroyed by your cannons, and even extended MG fire from your 7.62 mm guns, but other pillboxes will be impossible to destroy with your guns, and bombs will need a direct hit. Likewise, light tanks and armoured cars can be destroyed with your guns, but medium tanks will need to be hit from the top or rear to penetrate the thicker armour, and heavy tanks are invulnerable unless you land a direct bomb or rocket hit.
Your bombs and rockets are best used for tougher targets, like pillboxes and medium/heavy tanks. You lack any sort of bombing reticule in Realistic Battles, so aim carefully and get used to how your rockets fall and their velocity. Overall, your load is still very strong. Direct bomb hits will destroy any sized tank, and your rockets can be devastating against ground convoys, especially with your 8 x RBS-132 rockets.
Another way to play is to select the loadout with the 2 x 250 kg bombs which are a lot more powerful and easier to use than the 100 kg bombs. After dropping your bombs gain some altitude and attack with your guns from a high angle to increase your chances of penetrating the target. This loadout has much less damage potential but takes much less skill.
The armoured cockpit keeps your pilot safe from harm, and while your engine does have a tendency to take damage, you should still be safe from anti-aircraft artillery unless you're exposed to it for too long. The biggest threat posed to the IL-2 is enemy fighters since you're slower and less manoeuvrable than any fighter at this rank. Unlike the later Shturmovik models, you lack any form of defensive armament, so once an interceptor is on you, typically your outlook is grim. Keep an eye on the movement of enemy fighters and use terrain to hide your movements to and from targets if you can. Once intercepted, make use of the IL-2's slow speed to force overshoots, and use the adequate turning capabilities to dodge fire and get around the fighters. If you have a shot, take it: the 23 mm cannons will shred even large heavy fighters with ease.
The IL-2 lacks bombsight, however from this model on these planes have white lines on the engine cover in front of the cockpit. In cockpit camera mode, the pilot can use them to aid themselves in predicting where the bombs will fall. Each line has an indicated altitude at which it can be used written near it. Although this helps a lot with smaller bombs, when using heavier ones the lines won't be very helpful, so diving is better than level bombing when using 250 kg bombs.
aircraft : Il-2-1941/1942/(M)1943
ammo : tracer 0.50 cals, ground 20mm/23mm/23mm
convergence : 400m
Setup : Keyboard and mouse mouse joystick (not mouse aim as there is no Instructor in Air Simulator Battle)
game mode : Aircraft Simulated Battle Enduring Confrontation