"were struggling to re-equip with similarly modern types and to train up aircrew. Early German successes, with the notable assistance of the Junkers Ju 87 ""Stuka"" dive-bomber, overran Europe and left Britain open to attack. During the ensuing Battle of Britain, the British fighter squadrons had to quickly relearn the old tactical lessons from the first war. Initially the RAF fighters flew in a tight three-fighter arrowhead formation, soon changing to the looser four-aircraft arrangement which the Germans called the ""finger-four."" They soon also relearned the value of climbing above your opponent before attacking. At the same time, the development"
"new Stuka. The Ju 87 G-2, based on the Ju 87 D-5 with extended wingtips, replaced the Ju 87 G-1 during 1944. This was a dedicated tank-buster, with no secondary dive-bombing role. While II./SG 2, formerly II./SchlG 1, had been equipped with Focke-Wulf Fw 190 since late 1942, I./SG 2 was converted to the new machine in June 1944. III./SG 2 kept on flying the outdated Junkers Ju 87 until the end of World War II. By early 1944 II./SG 2 was covering the gradual Wehrmacht withdrawal around Kirovograd with II./JG 52. As one of only two F w190 equipped"
"a two-seat monoplane dive-bomber used by Germany's ""Luftwaffe"" (Air Force) during WWII. Langhurst patterned his replica on the Ju 87B-2, as this version was in production at the outbreak of WWII and constituted the largest number of all Stukas built during the war. With no original plans available, Langhurst spent the next three years gathering and studying research materials on the aircraft and making the necessary aerodynamic calculations in order to draft plans for a 7/10th scaled-down version. Only two original and intact Ju 87 Stukas existed in the world. One, a Ju 87D model, was on display at the"
"Blohm & Voss P 194 The Blohm & Voss P 194 was a German design for a mixed-power ""Stuka"" or ground-attack aircraft and tactical bomber, during World War II. Along with the P 192, P 193, and P 196, the P 194 was one of four designs Blohm & Voss submitted in response to a requirement issued by the RLM in February 1944 for a ""stuka"" or ground-attack aircraft and tactical bomber to replace the venerable Junkers Ju 87. In the event, the RLM decided not to go ahead with a new aircraft but instead to adapt the existing Messerschmitt"
"setbacks with crashes of prototypes in 1937 and 1938. Further refinements enabled certification in 1939 and spurred South African Airways to make an initial order for two aircraft fitted with US-built Pratt & Whitney engines. Just as the aircraft was being readied for its first commercial flights, World War II began. With the outbreak of hostilities, all models were requisitioned by the Luftwaffe for military air-transport roles, and later, long-range maritime patrol. Military aircraft production was begun by the company in the 1930s and eventually monopolized all its resources. Perhaps the most notable design was the Junkers Ju 87 ""Stuka"""
"Junkers Ju 87 The Junkers Ju 87 or Stuka (from ""Sturzkampfflugzeug"", ""dive bomber"") is a German dive bomber and ground-attack aircraft. Designed by Hermann Pohlmann, it first flew in 1935. The Ju 87 made its combat debut in 1937 with the Luftwaffe's Condor Legion during the Spanish Civil War and served the Axis forces in World War II. The aircraft was easily recognisable by its inverted gull wings and fixed spatted undercarriage. Upon the leading edges of its faired main gear legs were mounted the ""Jericho-Trompete"" (Jericho trumpet) wailing sirens, becoming the propaganda symbol of German air power and the"
"and assigned to the Air Historical Branch. The aircraft was stored and displayed at various RAF sites until 1978, when it was moved to the RAF Museum. In 1967, permission was given to use the aircraft in the film ""Battle of Britain"" and it was repainted and modified to resemble a 1940 variant of the Ju 87. The engine was found to be in excellent condition and there was little difficulty in starting it, but returning the aircraft to airworthiness was considered too costly for the filmmakers, and ultimately, models were used in the film to represent Stukas. In 1998,"
"Stuka was obsolete in what was now a fighter-bomber's war. The Bf 109 and Fw 190 could at least fight enemy fighters on equal terms after dropping their ordnance but the Stuka could not. The Ju 87's vulnerability was demonstrated on 11 November 1942, when 15 Ju 87 Ds were shot down by United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) Curtiss P-40Fs in minutes. By 1943, the Allies enjoyed air supremacy in North Africa. The Ju 87s ventured out in ""Rotte"" strength only, often jettisoning their bombs at the first sight of enemy aircraft. Adding to this trouble, the German fighters"
"""carrier Stuka"" was to be built at the Weserflug Company's Lemwerder plant between April and July 1940. Among the ""special"" equipment of the Ju 87 C was a two-seat rubber dinghy with signal ammunition and emergency ammunition. A quick fuel dump mechanism and two inflatable 750 L (200 US gal) bags in each wing and a further two 500 L (130 US gal) bags in the fuselage enabled the Ju 87 C to remain afloat for up to three days in calm seas. On 6 October 1939, with the war already underway, 120 of the planned Ju 87 Tr(C)s on"
"""blitzkrieg"" victories of 1939–1942. The Stuka's design included several innovative features, including automatic pull-up dive brakes under both wings to ensure that the aircraft recovered from its attack dive even if the pilot blacked out from the high g-forces. The Stuka operated with considerable success in close air support and anti-shipping at the outbreak of World War II. It spearheaded the air assaults in the invasion of Poland in September 1939. Stukas were crucial in the rapid conquest of Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium and France in 1940. Although sturdy, accurate, and very effective against ground targets, the Stuka was vulnerable"
"Blohm & Voss P 196 The Blohm & Voss P 196 was the last of Blohm & Voss's World war II design projects for a ""stuka"" dive bomber and close support aircraft to replace the ageing Junkers Ju 87. Twin BMW 003 engines were slung in pods under the fuselage centre section. To make room for the main undercarriage twin tail booms were attached to the straight, tapered wings, with the undercarriage retracting into the front of the booms. The tailplane was raised midway up the twin tail fins, in order to clear the jet exhaust, with twin tailwheels retracting"
"had been ineffective and disorganised, and as a result, ""Stuka"" losses were mainly due to ground fire. 120 machines, one-third of the Stuka force, were destroyed or damaged by all causes from 10 May to 25 June 1940. For the Battle of Britain, the Luftwaffe's Order of battle included bomber wings equipped with the Ju 87. Lehrgeschwader 2's IV.(St), Sturzkampfgeschwader 1's III. Gruppe and Sturzkampfgeschwader 2's III. Gruppe, Sturzkampfgeschwader 51 and Sturzkampfgeschwader 3's I. Gruppe were committed to the battle. As an anti-shipping weapon, the Ju 87 proved a potent weapon in the early stages of the battle. On 4"
"and the restoration was stated to take between 18 months and 2 years to complete. Work will be conducted in a display hangar so members of the public can see the work underway. Other aircraft survive as wreckage recovered from crash sites: Junkers Ju 87 The Junkers Ju 87 or Stuka (from ""Sturzkampfflugzeug"", ""dive bomber"") is a German dive bomber and ground-attack aircraft. Designed by Hermann Pohlmann, it first flew in 1935. The Ju 87 made its combat debut in 1937 with the Luftwaffe's Condor Legion during the Spanish Civil War and served the Axis forces in World War II."
"It was produced until 1944 for lack of a better replacement. By then ground-attack versions of the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 had largely replaced the Stuka, but Stukas remained in service until the end of the war. An estimated 6,500 Ju 87s of all versions were built between 1936 and August 1944. ""Oberst"" Hans-Ulrich Rudel was the most successful Stuka ace and the most highly decorated German serviceman of the Second World War. The Ju 87's principal designer, Hermann Pohlmann, held the opinion that any dive-bomber design needed to be simple and robust. This led to many technical innovations, such as"
"air forces, losing 420 aircraft to all causes. The RAF would lose 203, including 128 on the ground. During the Blitzkrieg operations of Fall Gelb and Fall Rot, as in Poland, it was the ""Stuka"" that stood out. The ""Stukas"" took a heavy toll of Allied Naval and Ground forces. Its ability to deliver accurate payloads with pinpoint precision along with its psychological screaming sirens became the scourge of the Allies. Although lightly armed, slow and unmaneuverable the Luftwaffe had established virtual air superiority and Stukas were to operate without much opposition. Regarded as 'flying artillery' the Stukas responded to"
"tenth of the cost of a four engine heavy bomber, such as the projected Ural bomber, and it could reach the battlefield well ahead of field artillery. Soon the Luftwaffe issued a contract for its own dive bomber design, resulting in the Junkers K 47, which, following extensive trials, would in turn result in the gull-winged Junkers Ju 87 ""Stuka"" (a contraction of ""Sturzkampfflugzeug"", literally ""diving combat airplane""). Several early Junkers Ju 87 dive bombers, which first flew in on 13 September 1935, were shipped secretly from Germany to Spain to assist General Francisco Franco's Nationalist rebels in the Spanish"
"The Stukas carried 250 kg bombs: the A-bomb dropped by the B-29 was equivalent to 23,000 tons of TNT and couldn't have been lifted by any plane besides the B-29s. In just six years of warfare, air power had changed and grown in destruction capability almost beyond recognition. Based on the international bestselling book by Walter Boyne, director of the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum, the ""Clash off Wings"" series is the definitive film history of aerial warfare during World War II. Immensely detailed the series uses authentic film footage from archives around the world. The series covers the air"
"2 (Stuka), having the dubious honour of becoming the first aircraft shot down in the Second World War. The first Allied air victory, the shooting down of a Junkers Ju 87, was achieved 20 minutes later by Medwecki's wingman, Władysław Gnyś, who went on to shoot down a pair of Dornier Do 17s with his P.11c. The P.11c was also the first aircraft to successfully ram an enemy aircraft in the Second World War. The first large air battle of the War took place in the early morning of 1 September over the village of Nieporęt just north of Warsaw,"
"the retractable undercarriage being discarded in favour of one of the Stuka's distinctive features, its fixed and ""spatted"" undercarriage. Pohlmann continued to carry on developing and adding to his ideas and those of Dipl Ing Karl Plauth (Plauth was killed in a flying accident in November 1927), and produced the Ju A 48 which underwent testing on 29 September 1928. The military version of the Ju A 48 was designated the Ju K 47. After the Nazis came to power, the design was given priority. Despite initial competition from the Henschel Hs 123, the ""Reichsluftfahrtministerium"" (RLM, the German aviation ministry)"
"Ukrainian army pilot, built a 3/4-scale replica Stuka from scrap and powered it with a four-cylinder engine. He flew it for the first time in June 2002 at an airfield in Dzhankoi, Ukraine. The plane is currently on exhibit at the Central Air Force Museum at Monino Airfield, just east of Moscow. As of 2016, Jeff Willoughby was still working on a 5/8-scale Stuka replica in Pennsylvania, a project he began in 2003. Construction is primarily wood with an aluminum main spar and aluminum skinning for the wings and fuselage. The plane will be powered by a 110 hp converted"
"of 500 sorties per day and caused heavy losses among Soviet forces, losing an average of only one Stuka per day. The Battle of Stalingrad marked the high point in the fortunes of the Junkers Ju 87 Stuka. As the strength of the Soviet Air Forces grew, they gradually wrested control of the skies from the Luftwaffe. From this point onward, Stuka losses increased. The Stuka was also heavily involved in Operation Citadel, the Battle of Kursk. The Luftwaffe committed I, II, III./St.G 1 and III./StG 3 under the command of Luftflotte 6. I., II, III. of StGs 2 and"
"first flew in March 1941. It had a zero incidence wing, which was perfect for vertical dives as there was no lift from wing or tailplane in a dive. But it had to fly in a nose up attitude to maintain level flight, which made landings difficult. Initial orders were 300 for France, but France fell before they could be delivered. The RAF, with the cancellation of the Hawker Henley and having noted the success of Stukas in Poland, took delivery instead. It was considered too vulnerable to German fighters for use in Europe or North Africa, but large numbers"
"Stukas (film) Stukas is a 1941 Nazi propaganda film, directed by Karl Ritter and starring Carl Raddatz, which follows three squadrons of Luftwaffe dive-bomber (Stuka) flyers. The plot largely alternates between combat and lulls in combat, with the exception of two narratives. In one, three of the flyers who have been shot down behind enemy lines make their way back to the German position, finally succeeding after one of them manages to talk a French unit into capitulating. In the other, a shell-shocked flyer whose doctor has prescribed ""a profound experience"" recovers the will to fight when he hears ""Siegfried's"
"Josef Stalin decreed that no more ships were to pass within range of German aircraft without his personal permission. Towards the end of the war, as the Allies gained air supremacy, the Stuka was being replaced by ground-attack versions of the Fw 190. By early 1944, the number of Ju 87 units and operational aircraft terminally declined. For the Soviet summer offensive, Operation Bagration, 12 Ju 87 groups and five mixed groups (including Fw 190s) were on the Luftwaffe's order of battle on 26 June 1944. Gefechtsverband Kuhlmey, a mixed aircraft unit, which included large numbers of Stuka dive bombers,"
"United Kingdom. A similar fate befell unescorted RAF Fairey Battles over France. The Stuka had 7.92mm machine guns or 20mm cannons mounted in the wings. Some were modified to destroy tanks with heavy calibre, 37mm ""Bordkanone"" BK 3,7 autocannons mounted in gun pods below the wings. They were very successful in this role in the early days of Operation Barbarossa before the Red Army Air Force countered with modern fighters, such as the Yakovlev Yak-1 and later Yakovlev Yak-3 The most successful dive bomber pilot was Hans-Ulrich Rudel who made 2,530 sorties. He sank the Soviet battleship Marat at Kronstadt"
"during these campaigns. Having suffered heavy losses during operations over Britain, the Luftwaffe command realised it was vulnerable against a well-organised and determined air defense. These components were lacking in the Yugoslavian Air Force, and as a result the Stuka was able to operate effectively without fear of opposition. The ""Stukas"" took a heavy toll of Yugoslav ground and naval forces, which including the destruction of most of its torpedo-boats and sinking the 1870-ton seaplane tender ""Zmaj"". During the very brief campaign in Yugoslavia, the Luftwaffe engaged the Yugoslavian Air Force's Do 17s and Bf 109s. The Yugoslavs had license"
"grossing 3.18 million RM in the seven months prior to January 1942 on costs of 1,961,000 RM. The declining fortunes of the Luftwaffe made it ""the last major [Nazi] aviation film"". ""Stukas"" is classified by the Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Foundation as a ""Vorbehaltsfilm"" (controlled film), meaning that in Germany it may only be screened under specific conditions for educational purposes. Stukas (film) Stukas is a 1941 Nazi propaganda film, directed by Karl Ritter and starring Carl Raddatz, which follows three squadrons of Luftwaffe dive-bomber (Stuka) flyers. The plot largely alternates between combat and lulls in combat, with the exception of"
"several main themes of interest, each through a series of design projects and proposals. These included; large maritime aircraft """"stuka"""" dive bomber / ground attack replacements for the Junkers Ju 87, fast bombers and advanced fighters. Many studies had unusual configurations such as asymmetry, novel multi-engine layouts and crew locations, wings swept forwards or back (or both) and sometimes tailless. All these lines of study followed through into the jet age, some with piston+jet mixed-power engine combinations. Significant internal projects of the World War II era included: Transports: Bombers: Fighters: Hamburger Flugzeugbau Hamburger Flugzeugbau (HFB) was an aircraft manufacturer, located"
"strip. It was also, by order of the ""Stavka"", being separated from its rear organisations. The supply centres were to be organised on the forward airfields, enabling 36 air bases to operate in the western military districts and supply between two and four air divisions. This was carried out to ensure a high state of combat readiness. Extensive aerial intelligence flights were carried out on Soviet air bases after 21 September 1940. The main units involved were the high-altitude Junkers Ju 86, Heinkel He 111, and Dornier Do 217, which could fly so high as to be invulnerable to interception"
"continued to operate with great success throughout 1943-45, operating the Ju 87 G variants equipped with 37 mm cannons, which became tank killers, although in increasingly small numbers. In the wake of the defeat at Kursk, Ju 87s played a vital defensive role on the southern wing of the Eastern Front. To combat the Luftwaffe, the Soviets could deploy 3,000 fighter aircraft. As a result, the Stukas suffered heavily. SG 77 lost 30 Ju 87s in August 1943 as did SG 2 ""Immelmann"", which also reported the loss of 30 aircraft in combat operations. Despite these losses, Ju 87s helped"
"to contemporary fighter aircraft, like many other dive bombers of the war. During the Battle of Britain its lack of manoeuvrability, speed and defensive armament meant that it required a heavy fighter escort to operate effectively. After the Battle of Britain the Stuka took part in the Balkans Campaign, the African and Mediterranean theatres and the early stages of the Eastern Front where it was used for general ground support, as an effective specialised anti-tank aircraft and in an anti-shipping role. Once the Luftwaffe lost air superiority, the Stuka became an easy target for enemy fighter aircraft on all fronts."
"a publication called Trade-A-Plane. It came complete with a three-blade constant speed propeller. Kurzenberger simplified some of the forms on his Stuka, especially around the nose of the plane, so it did not adhere as faithfully as Langhurst's to the original Ju 87 dive-bomber's lines. He also chose to omit the swastika emblems on the tail. In overall appearance, however, there was no mistaking what historical plane it represented. In July 1986, Kurzenberger took his Stuka up on its first test flight. It was given the FAA registration code N87DK and sported the fuselage registration code T6+KL. Kurzenberger received an"
"was rushed to the Finnish front in the summer of 1944 and was instrumental in halting the Soviet fourth strategic offensive. The unit claimed 200 Soviet tanks and 150 Soviet aircraft destroyed for 41 losses. By 31 January 1945, only 104 Ju 87s remained operational with their units. The other mixed ""Schlacht"" units contained a further 70 Ju 87s and Fw 190s between them. Chronic fuel shortages kept the Stukas grounded and sorties decreased until the end of the war in May 1945. In the final months of the war the ground attack groups were still able to impose operational"