FD scale aircrafts 12

Naixoterk

Post subject: Re: FD scale aircrafts 12

Posted: September 24th, 2015, 6:35 pm

Posts: 521
Joined: July 8th, 2013, 7:55 pm

Preliminary notes

-I'd like to thank Eswube because without his inestimable help this project wouldn't have been possible. Kudos for him.
-Before starting the post itself, open this video in a background tab, please:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZZ504TGDpE
Chances are, that if you heard that siren during 1940, the back side of your pants had already adquired an unsetting brownish tone.
-As my skills with German language are very rudimentary, i may have commited grammatical, ortographical or other kind of mistakes. Please, forgive them.
-Also, a suggested song to hear while reading this post:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vg0Tmydj29M

The Junkers Ju.87 Stuka, was a two-man (pilot and gunner-radio operator) German dive bomber, ground attack aircraft and torpedo-bomber (though in this last role it never went beyond the prototype stage). It was designed by Hermann Pohlmann in 1935 and flew for the first time in a combat mission in 1936 as part of the Condor Legion during Spanish Civil war.

It featured inverted gull wings and fixed undercarriage. Some of them had incorporated the so-called 'Jericho Trumpets' which produced a wailing siren sound effect when attacking which became the most characteristic symbol of the Luftwaffe, specially during the early years of the war.
It also featured some very innovative features like automatic pull-up dive brakes under the wings to ensure the stabilization of the airplane after the dive attack, even if the pilot blacked-out from the high g-forces.

Even if it was highly efficient against ground targets, sturdy and accurate, it was very vulnerable against the most modern fighters of the era due to it's poor manoeuvrability. That flaw was very exploited during the Battle of Britain and required every Stuka to be escorted by fighters.

The Stuka continued operating with success in the rest of the theaters of war, both in Mediterranean and Eastern Fronts, were the Soviet fighter power was rather scarce.

Once the Luftwaffe lost the air superiority in all fronts, the Stuka became, again, an easy target, but due to the lack of a better replacement, it was still produced until 1944. By the end of the war, the Stuka had been replaced by the attack versions of the Focke-Wulf 190 but in some sub-fronts was still in use until 1945.It's estimated that around 6500 airplanes were made between 1936 and 1944.

Variants:

-Prototypes:
- -Ju.87 V-1: Flown on 17 September 1935. The very first prototype
  -Ju.87 V-2: registration D-IDQR. Flown on 25 February 1936. Flown again as registration D-UHUH on 4 June 1937
  -Ju.87 V-3: Flown on 27 March 1936
  -Ju.87 V-4: Flown on 20 June 1936
  -Ju.87 V-5: Flown on 14 August 1936
-Ju.87A
- -Ju.87 A-0: Ten pre-production aircraft, powered by a 640 PS (471 kW or 632 hp) Jumo 210C engine.
  -Ju.87 A-1: Initial production version.
  -Ju.87 A-2: Production version fitted with an improved 680 PS (500 kW or 670 hp) Jumo 210E engine.
- -Ju.87B/C/R
  - -Ju.87 B-0: B-series preproduction batch, with new fuselage, substantially more powerful Jumo 211A engine, larger tailfin, sliding canopy elements, spat landing gear, and a second fixed MG-17 gun.
    -Ju.87 B-1: Initial full-production B-series variant, similar to Ju87B-0 but with Jumo 211Da engine.
    Ju.87 B-2: Uprated Jumo 211D engine, new propeller, and other small improvements. Modification kits were introduced for the Ju-87B-2, such as the "Ju-87B-2/U2" with a new radio, "Ju-87B-2/U3" with more armor for close-support, "Ju-87B-2/U4" with ski landing gear, and "Ju-87B-2/Trop" with sand filters and survival kit for desert use. Similar kits were fitted to the Ju-87B-1 and later Stukas.
    -Ju.87 C-0: Small batch of carrier-capable dive-bombing Stukas, much like the B-series but with folding wings, catapult attachment, arresting gear, floatation gear, inflatable life-raft, and jettisonable landing gear.
    -Ju.87 R-1: Long-range variant with "wet" wing attachments and additional internal fuel. There were other very similar subvariants in the R-series, including the "Ju-87R-2", "Ju-87R-3", and "Ju-87R-4", but the R-series was not built in large quantities.
  -Ju.87D/E/F/G/H
  - -Ju.87 D-1: Initial production D-series machine, with Jumo 211J-1 engine and new propeller, generally redesigned airframe and canopy, more armor, and rear MG-15 gun replaced by twin MG-81 guns.
    -Ju.87 D-2: Similar to D-1 but with glider tow attachment.
    -Ju.87 D-3: Like D-1 but with more armor for close-support role.
    -Ju.87 D-4: Land-based torpedo-bomber conversion of Ju-87D-3 equipped with a LFT-5b torpedo, not used operationally, all converted back to original Ju-87D-3 specification.
    -Ju.87 D-5: Longer wings, jettisonable landing gear, no dive brakes, MG-17 guns replaced by MG-151/20 cannon.
    -Ju.87 D-6: Retooled design, not proceeded with.
    -Ju.87 D-7: Night attack variant with flame damper exhausts and other optimizations.
    -Ju.87 D-8: Conversion of Ju-87D-5 to Ju-87D-7 night-attack configuration.
    -Ju.87 E: Carrier-based torpedo-bomber variant, never flew. (See the never-built post)
    -Ju.87 F: Codename for the Junkers Ju.187 which was a follow-on Stuka derivative with retractable landing gear and many other refinements that never flew.
    -Ju.87 G-1: Ju-87D-3 conversion with twin 37-millimeter cannon for tank-busting role.
    -Ju.87 G-2: Ju-87D-5 conversion with twin 37-millimeter cannon for tank-busting role.
    -Ju.87H: Trainer conversions of Ju-87D, with an H-series conversion retaining the subvariant number of the D-series machine from which it was converted -- a Ju-87D-3 became a Ju-87H-3, for example.

Germany, Bulgaria, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy (Kingdom of and Co-Belligerent), Japan, Croatia, Yugoslavia, United States of America, Slovakia, Russian Liberation Army, Nationalist Spain and Czechoslovakia, Junkers Ju.87 Stuka:

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