- quality wooden model WWI and WWII airplanes -
- quality wooden model WWI and WWII airplanes -
Junkers Ju87-D Stuka, Luftwaffe
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This German 2-seat dive-bomber and close-support aircraft was in service between 1937 and 1945. One of the most famous of warplanes, the Ju87 is better known as the Stuka, a name abbreviated from Sturzkampfflugzeug -or dive bomber. The first Ju87 flew in 1935. After much development, the Ju87-A1 was delivered in numbers after April 1937. Tested in the Spanish Civil war, the Ju87 demonstrated amazing pinpoint accuracy. The Stuka variant used against Crete was the Ju87-B of which pre-production examples were flying in late 1938, so it was being produced in volume by 1941. In all there were 7,509 Stukas built - up to the Ju87-D. The main external differences between the D and the B variants were the smoother nose cowling on the D, and the flatter radiator cowl under the engine. The Ju87 was a 2-man aircraft with one pilot and one rear-facing gunner. It was a deceptively large aircraft and - while slow in the cruise (maximum speed only 240 mph) - it was fast in the dive, reaching speeds up to 400 mph. The dive was slowed by large dive brakes that would extend below the wings, outboard of the undercarriage, and give the pilot more time to aim the bomb. The characteristic scream came from sirens attached to the undercarriage struts as well as whistles that were fixed to the bombs - the Germans having realized the terror effect of the screaming dive. The aircraft had an automatic dive pull-out device in case the pilot should black-out under the G-stress of recovery. The device initiated automatically at the top of the dive when the dive brakes were extended and activated when the bomb released. As well as the main 500 lb or 1000 lb bomb under the belly, the Stuka could carry two 110 lb bombs under each wing. The main bomb was carried slung under the body of the plane - behind the engine radiator cowling. Because the normal bomb delivery was from a steep dive, this bomb position obviously presented some problems. If the bomb were released as was, its flight path would be through the propeller arc. To avoid this, the bomb was slung from a hinged cradle. On release in the dive, the cradle would hinge out and down thereby effectively extending the release point away from the aircraft enough so that the path of the falling bomb would now be outside the propeller arc. The Germans knew that the effect of the dive bombing against the troops in Greece had been reduced because the bombs penetrated the ground before exploding. Therefore they welded a 60cm rod with a disc on the end to the bomb's nose. This contraption would cause the bombs to detonate some 30cm above the ground - where they had a much more devastating sideways explosive effect. The aircraft was armed with only three machine guns - one rear facing 7.92mm gun aimed by the rear gunner and two forward facing 7.92mm guns in each wing - which were useful for strafing ground targets. The combination of Stuka and Panzer was irresistible. In Poland the dreaded Stukas smashed a path for the German panzers, and they repeated the technique even more forcefully in the invasion through the Low Countries during May 1940. However, over Britain, the almost defenseless Ju87 was an easy target but in Russia (and over Greece and Crete) it was a much feared weapon in the German armory and caused heavy losses of Royal Navy ships. Crew:
Pilot and rear gunner |
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