The demonstrators played a key role in making dive bombing central to Luftwaffe doctrine. dive bombers back to Germany (the Curtiss Hawk version of the Helldiver). After the Nazis rose to power, Udet became a champion of to concept of using dive bombing to support ground forces. Udet even brought two U.S. The spectacle made an impression on the visiting flier. During his trip, the 36-year-old fighter pilot witnessed a Curtiss F8C Helldiver make a simulated dive bombing attack at an air show. In 1931, Ernst Udet, the second-highest scoring German fighter ace of the First World War and future Luftwaffe architect, was in the United States to take part in a stunt flying display.
The Ju 87 was inspired by American dive-bombers like the Curtiss F8C (Image source: WikiCommons) The Stuka: An American idea In fact, it would soldier on in various roles long after the tide had turned against the Nazis. Here are 11 remarkable facts about this famous warplane. In fact, the Ju 87 was a critical contributor to Axis victory in a number of campaigns in the war’s opening years. The notorious single-engine, two-man, dive-bomber’s iconic ‘gull wings’ and ‘spatted’ undercarriage are as unmistakable as the plane’s instantly recognizable wailing siren, dubbed the “Jericho Trumpet” ( ♬ LISTEN TO IT HERE).īut the Stuka was more than just a terror weapon – its ability to deliver bombs where needed with then unheard of precision made it a potent war machine that crippled the defenders of both Poland and France. IT WOULD BE difficult to come up with a more potent symbol of the German Blitzkrieg of World War Two than the Ju 87 Sturzkampfflugzeug or “Stuka”. “The Stuka was more than just a terror weapon – its ability to deliver bombs where needed with then unheard of precision made it a potent war machine.” Click above for ’s e-book “Stuka Tank Busters ’43” So I decided to do some surgery and turn this littleīastard (I mean that in the literal sense of the word) into a true late model Stuka.Īs the differences between a 'B' and a 'D' model aren't that easily noticed on aġ/144 model I opted for the spectacular 'G' tankbuster variant.Junkers Ju 87 Sturzkampfflugzeug (“dive bomber”) or Stuka for short was the most famous German ground attack aircraft of World War Two. Later Stuka models (Ju-87D and onwards) but not on any Ju-87B's. Its rearward sloping canopy and the long fat nose. The Mitsuwa Ju-87B kit has a couple of shape problems, the most significant ones are The model has deteriorated a bit over the years: the aerial mast is due for replacement and the port wing tip developed a weird bend.ĪHM/Mitsuwa Ju-87B Stuka to Ju-87G tankbuster conversion Most of the markings were painted by hand. cut open radiator intake and exhaust and added radiator.Some years earlier I built the magnificent 1/24 scale Airfix Stuka, so for fun I opened the canopy and engine cover of this little Revell kit, added some details from scratch and finished the model in the same paint scheme as the 1/24 scale model. This kit yields a rather simplified rendition of a Stuka, I changed and detailed some things, but left the wing with its incorrect anhedral and dihedral as it was. I used the decals that came with the kit. I added some detail by carefully drilling holes in the gun ports and muzzles and adding a pitot tube out of metal wire. The most significant modification was shortening the main landing gear and packing the nose with lead, to give the model the typical nose-up stance of the real P-39. This little Airacobra kit already looks good straight from the box, so I made very little changes to the kit. This site has moved to This page will remain available for a few more weeks, but it will no longer be updated, click here to go to the latest version. Erix7' model kit gallery 1/144 WW2 aircraft