Junkers Ju.87 Sturzkampfflugzeug

        During World War II, Germany used Blitzkrieg, or lightning war, tactics to quickly overcome Allied opposition.  For such tactics to work, close aerial support was needed for ground units.  The Ju.87 dive bomber was one aircraft that fulfilled this role.
        In the early 1930s, the German Luftwaffe, or Air Force, decided that it needed a tactical dive bomber for supporting ground forces.  By 1933, the idea of having a ground support plane to aid infantry was largely supported.  A dive bomber could also destroy enemy tanks.  In 1934, official specifications for such an airplane were sent to three large manufacturers: Arado, Heinkel, and Junkers.
        Junkers began building its Ju.87 prototype in 1934.  The competition, the Ar.81, Ha.137, and He.118 would have a hard time beating the Ju.87.  The Heinkel He.118 was much better on paper, but the design did badly during trials.  The pilot of the aircraft had to leave the plane by parachute after experiencing problems.  Therefore, the Ju.87 won the competition and became the most important attack aircraft of the Luftwaffe.
        The V-1 prototype was flown in the spring of 1935.  Its design was very awkward, with an imported British Rolls-Royce Kestrel V in-line engine, square twin tails, and trousered landing gear.  This design was not very successful and had overheating problems, as well as tail assembly failure which caused the prototype to crash.  The second Ju.87 used a German Jumo 210 in-line engine with 610 hp, and the twin tail design was changed to a single fin design.  Another three prototypes were flown, and in 1936, the Luftwaffe received the reproduction A-0 series, with a 7.92-mm Mg-17 gun in the right wing and a hinged belly crutch for a 250-kg bomb or a 500-kg bomb if flown as a single seater.
        Contrary to Allied propaganda during WWII, the Ju.87 Sturzkampfflugzeug, or Stuka, had extremely light controls.  They were so light that pilots at first overcontrolled.  The technique for bombing a target was to fly until the target appeared to be passing along the left wing root, out of view to the pilot, who then had to shut the cooling grills, set the propellor to full coarse, open slat-type airbrakes hinged below the outer wing, and wing over to the left and point at the target, usually at an angle of about 80 to 85 degrees.  The bomb was swung out on a crutch to avoid hitting the propellor, and release was a matter of pilot judgment.
        The A-0 variation could only reach a top speed of 200 mph without a bombload and 183 mph with bombs.  By May 1938, 200 A-2 versions with 680 hp Jumo 210Da engines were ready for action.  By then, the underpowered A series was quickly being replaced by the much more powerful Ju.87 B-1 with a 1200 hp Jumo 211Da engine.  This model had a completely new fuselage, spatted wheels, sliding canopy, and could carry one 1100 lb and four 110 lb bombs on wing racks.  By late 1939, the number of B-1s was 557.  Meanwhile, a B-2 model was designed to carry one 2200 lb bomb when flown as a single seater.
        When the Second World War started in 1939 there were nine Stukagruppen, or Stuka groups, equipped with the B-1.  This was a total combat force of 336 planes.  The first mission of the war was flown by a Kette (flight) of three planes.  These planes succeeded in destroying a Polish demolition crew trying to blow a bridge over the river Vistula which bordered Poland.  The German Wehrmacht, or Army, needed to cross this bridge to invade Poland.  Also destroyed by other Stukas was a Polish infantry division switching trains and nearly all of the major vessels of the Polish Navy.  By April 1940, the Ju.87R with wing tanks greatly improved the range of the Stuka.  The Ju.87Rs made an important contribution to the Norwegian campaign by sinking many Allied ships off the coast of Norway.  One Stuka's bomb went through a ship and exploded in the water below because the bomb was released from such a low altitude.  In France, the Stukas did excellent work by destroying tanks, infantry, and important buildings.  In the Low Countries, Stukas were fitted with sirens on the landing gear.  These sirens, called the Trombones of Jericho by the Luftwaffe, destroyed Allied morale.  Plus, the Stukas appeared to be aiming at each man, making the attacks seem worse.  Operating in partnership with the Panzer tank formations, Stukas worked twenty-four hours a day.  By this time they were mostly B-2s and various sub-types.
        With the attacks on British shipping and radar stations during the Battle of Britain in 1940, Stukas ran into fighter opposition and suffered heavy losses.  Even though Stukas were escorted by the best German fighters, 20% of the total number of Stukas were shot down.  As a result, after ten days, Stukas were pulled from the battle.
        Stukas continued Blitzkrieg destruction in Greece, Crete, North Africa, and against the Soviet Union until 1942.  During 1942, Germany began to loose air supremacy and flying a Stuka became a dangerous job, except at night.  In 1943, the Stuka G model arrived, with two 37mm antitank guns mounted under the wings.  The only problem with this setup was a lack of ammunition.  One Stuka pilot, Hans-Ulrich Rudel, was credited with destroying 519 Soviet tanks while flying the Gustav.  In North Africa, the Ju.87D was the cheif version.  The Dora had a 1400 hp Jumo 211J-1 engine with wider propellor blades and a new cooling system.  It could carry 3968 lb of bombs for short distances.  It also had two MG 17s firing foreward, and two firing through the back of the cockpit.  However, after loosing supremacy in North Africa, Stukagruppen were altered to Schlachtflugzeug (attack), or Nachtschlacht (night attack) units, destroying Allied armies with antipersonnel bombs.  Other units were converted to Focke Wulf Fw. 190 fighter units.  By 1944, Rudel's unit, III/SG.2, was the only Stukagruppe on day operations.  Although seriously outclassed in the later years of the war, the Stuka fulfilled the role of close support for Axis ground units.  The Stuka helped to make the Blitzkriegs through France, the Balkans, and the Soviet Union a great success.