Stuka Main Page

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This is the final mock model that Chauncy built

In the mid-1940s the McDonnell Aircraft Company in the USA built a carrier-based jet fighter which it named the Banshee. It is a name that might with considerably greater aptness have been bestowed upon a much less attractive warplane of a decade earlier; but the Junkers Ju 87 gave rise to a name of its own that was to have far more terrifying connotations to millions of Europeans. For the Ju 87 was a Sturzkampfflugzeug, the German word for dive-bomber, and with deadly effect it was to personify the sterm 'Stuka' for the rest of its career. Development of the dive-bomber in Germany was fostered by Ernst Udet, after seeing a demonstration by the American Curtiss Helldiver in 1933.

The Ju 87, designed by Dipl Ing Hans Pohlmann of Junkers, made its first flight in the early pan of 1935. Even today it would still be in any 'top ten' awards for ugliness, but beauty was hardly its business. To put it as generously as possible, its design was strictly functional, and there is no doubt that this objective was achieved. The initial Ju 87A version, blooded in the Spanish Civil War from December 1937, was soon superseded by the improved Ju 87B with (though it may not have looked like it) aerodynamic improvements and a substantially more powerful engine. Able to carry up to 1,000kg of bombs, according to version, the Ju 87B also was fitted with small sirens near the tops of the main undercamage leg fairings, to add a devastating and demoralising scream to the whine of its engine and the whistle of its falling bombs. Hailed as the 'supreme weapon' by the German propaganda machine, it did indeed appear to justify this title as it screamed and bombed its way through Poland, Norway, France and the Low Countries during World War 2, against little or no effective fighter opposition. Then, at Dunkirk and in the Battle of Britain, it came up against the Hurricane and Spitfire - and was quickly proved to be clumsy, poorly an-ned and extremely vulnerable. Before the end of August 1940 it had been withdrawn from major operations against Britain, though later, in conditions more favourable to it, it succeeded again in Greece, in Crete and on the Russian Front. But the 'supreme weapon' myth had by then been exploded, and even its quite successful use as a tank-buster (Ju 87D) and anti-shipping aircraft (Ju 87R) was not enough to restore fully its tarnished reputation.

The United States and Germany, in particular, were enthusiastic proponents of the dive bomber during the later 1930s and the early part of World War 2. This particular species of warplane seemed to be typified in the Ju 87, whose ugly lines and wailing engine struck an especial note of terror in the skies above Poland, France and the Low Countries in 1939-40. Design of the Ju 87, by Dipl-Ing Pohlmann, started in 1933, and the first prototype flew early in 1935. This was powered by a Rolls-Royce Kestrel engine and had rectangular twin fins and rudders, but the Ju 87V2, flown in the following autumn, had a single tail and a 6 1 Ohp Junkers Jurno 2 1 OA engine, and was more representative of the production aircraft to follow. A pre-series batch of Ju 87A-Os was started in 1936, and in the spring of 1937 delivery began of the Ju 87A- I initial production model, followed by the generally similar A-2. About two hundred A series were built before, in the autumn of 1938, there appeared the much-modified Ju 87B. Powered by the Jumo 211, this had an enlarged vertical tail, redesigned crew canopy and new-style cantilever fairings over the main legs of the landing gear.

Dr. Jim Cookson sends in this photo showing how he detailed the Stuka wings...

Both the A and B models were sent for service with the Condor Legion in Spain in 1938, but by the outbreak of World War 2 the A series had been relegated to the training role, and the three hundred and thirty-six aircraft in front-line service were all Ju 87B- Is. The fighter superiority of the Luftwaffe ensured the Ju 87 a comparatively uninterrupted passage in 1939-40, but opposition during the Battle of Britain was much sterner, and losses of the Ju 87 were considerably heavier. Nevertheless, production of the B seiies continued into 1941, and substantial numbers were supplied to the Regia Aeronautica, and to the air forces of Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania. In production alongside the B series was the long-range Ju 87R, which from 1940 was used for antishipping and other missions. Before the war small numbers were also completed of the Ju 87C, a version of the B with arrester hook, folding wings and other 'navalised' attributes. This was planned for service aboard the carrier Graf Zeppe1in, but the ship was never completed, and the few Ju 87C-Os built served with a land-based unit. Others laid down as C-Is were completed as B-2s. After the setbacks in the Battle of Britain the Ju 87B continued to serve in the Mediterranean and North Africa.

Its subsequent development and employment was mainly in the close-support role or as a trainer. Next major variant was the Ju 87D, whose evolution had begun in 1940. Several sub-types of this model were built, their chief characteristics being the use of a more powerful jumo engine, increased fuel tankage similar to that of the ju 87R, and a considerably refined airframe with reinforced armament and extra armour protection for the crew. Most D variants were evolved for a ground-attack role, and could carry a variety of different weapon loads ranging from a single 3,9681b (1,800kg) bomb beneath the fuselage to a pair of underwing pods each containing six 7 - 9mm machineguns. The dive brakes fitted to the earlier ju 87s were usually omitted.

The ju 87D-5 introduced an extended wing of 49ft 21, in (15 .00m) span, and the D-7 was a specialised night-attack version. Variants of the Ju 87D served in the Mediterranean, North Africa and on the Eastern Front, equipping units of the Hungarian and Romanian air forces as well as those of the Luftwaffe. Proposals to replace the D model by developments of it designated ju 87F and ju 187 were abandoned in 1943, but one other variant was encountered operationally. This was the ju 87G, which entered service in 1943 as an anti-tank aeroplane with a 37mm BK 3.7 cannon mounted in a streamlined fairing attached beneath each wing. These could be replaced by bombs for more general ground-attack missions.

The Ju 87G was essentially a conversion of the long-span D-5, and aircraft of this type were quite successful in knocking out Soviet tanks along the Eastern Front until the appearance of better-class Soviet fighter opposition in the autumn of 1944. Operational trainers for pilots engaged in ground-attack work were produced, under the designation ju 87H, by converting various D sub-series to have dual controls and modified cockpit hoods. When production of the Ju 87 series finally ended in September 1944, more than five thousand seven hundred of these aircraft had been built.

The Ju 87G-1 anti-tank aircraft ..
..was the last variant of the Ju 87 to become operational, apart from the Ju 87H trainer. The G-11 was not a new-build variant, but was converted from Ju 87113-5 airframes. The basic Ju 87D-5 was adapted to carry a pair of massive Flak 18 (BK 3,7) 37-mm cannon pods under its outer wing panels. It could carry bombs instead of guns, but had no dive-brakes. The removal of divebombing equipment made ~the G-11 most unrepresentative among Stuka variants. The concept was the brainchild of the extraordinary Hans-Ulrich Rudel who, despite being shot down 30 times, flew no fewer than 2,530 combat sorties and destroyed 519 Russian tanks. 10 (Pz)./SG3 formed in MarGh 1944 through the redesignation of 4./StG2, and was based at Jakobstadt in Latvia as part of Luftflotte I between April and July 1944. The unit helped cover the retreat westwards, becoming incorporated in I/SG 9 as 2. Staffell on 7 January 1945, and ending the war in the Courliand pocket.

Where the Stuka Units served: Unit Ju 87s took part in the Polish campaign, the attacks on the Low Countries and the Battle of France. The Stukas then faced the fighters of the RAF in the Battle of Britain, and suffered accordingly. Another successful campaign in Greece and the Balkans followed, before the Stukegeschwader turned their attentions to the Eastern Front, where they fought until late 1943, when the units were redesignated as Schlachtgeschwader, most later transitioning to the more potent Fw 190. The Ju 87G-I s served only with l I I/SG 2 and with 10. (Pz)/SG 1, 10.(Pz)/SG 2, 10.(Pz)/SG 3, and 10 (Pz)/SG 77. Luftwaffe tactical aircraft carried four-digit/letter codes on the rear f uselage. The first pair denoted the major unit (Geschwader or Gruppe), the third identified the individual aircraft and was presented in differing colours depending on whether the unit was the staff f light, first, second or third Staffel of each group, and the fourth identified the Staffel itself.

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