Legion Condor Junkers Ju 87A-1 "Anton" of Jolanthe Kette/St.G 163, Spain 1938 Version 1.2

BACKGROUND

The reputation of the Junkers Ju 87 as a weapon of war was made in the early days of World War II, when this dive-bomber was used in the Polish campaign, following up its success there with operations across Europe. The Stuka, as it became known universally (from Sturzkampfflugzeug, or dive-bomber), was considered by the Luftwaffe to he virtually invincible, but this was true only after air superiority had been gained. During the Battle of Britain in 1940 the RAF rapidly disproved the myth -- the Stukas were so severely mauled by Hurricanes and Spitfires that they were eventually withdrawn from operations over Western Europe. 

Junkers began construction of three prototypes of the Ju 87 in 1934 and a specification was issued around it. Ironically, in view of later events, a 640 hp (477 kW) Rolls-Royce Kestrel engine powered the first aircraft. Square twin fins and rudders proved too weak when during dive testing in 1935 they collapsed and the aircraft crashed. The second prototype had a redesigned single fin and rudder and a 610 hp (455 kW) Junkers Jumo 210A engine. It was soon joined by a third prototype with further modifications, and official evaluation took place in 1936 against three competitive aircraft, the Arado Ar 81, Hamburger Ha 137 and Heinkel He 118. Orders were placed with Junkers and Heinkel for 10 aircraft each, the other two types being eliminated.


The pre-production batch of Ju 87A-0 aircraft had 640 hp (477 kW) Jumo 210Ca engines and changes to facilitate production, these being followed by Ju 87A-1 initial production aircraft which began to replace Hs 123 biplanes in the spring of 1937. Three aircraft were tested under operational conditions by the Condor Legion during the Spanish Civil War. The Ju 87A-2 was the next production model, with a 680 hp (507 kW) Jumo 210Da engine with supercharger, but this remained in production and service for only about six months before a major redesign was undertaken with the seventh prototype and Ju 87B-0 pre-production series. The new model was the Ju 87B-1 with considerably more power, its Jumo 211Da giving 1,200 hp (895 kW), while the fuselage and landing gear were completely redesigned. Large, streamlined spats replaced the earlier model's trousered main landing gear units and the fin and rudder were enlarged. Again tested in Spain, the new variant proved its abilities, and the production rate was stepped up.


THE ANTON

Ju 87A (A-1/A-2) - The production Ju 87A featured the revised tail with a single fin, but the heavy "trousers" on the fixed undercarriage of the prototype were retained, making it easy to distinguish this version from later models of the Ju 87. The radiator intake was (relatively) small and rectangular, and is another easy recognition feature. The cockpit of the A-model featured two small angled out antenna masts, later replaced by a single, vertical, one. The canopy had hinged panels instead of the sliding sections featured on later models. The Ju 87A-0 pre-production model entered service in the spring of 1937. The engine was the Jumo 210, which was to be retained in different versions by the production A-series. The 640 hp (477 kW) Jumo 210Ca for the Ju 87A-1, and the 680 hp (507 kW) supercharged Jumo 210Da for the Ju 87A-2 with an improved VDM propeller. Production of the A-series ended after 262 aircraft, at the end of 1938.

The Junkers Ju 87A had two fixed, forward-firing MG 17 guns, installed in the wing outboard of the undercarriage attachment points. There was a flexible MG 15 in the rear cockpit. The Ju 87A could carry a 551 lbs (250 kg) bomb, or a 1,102 lbs (500 kg) bomb if the rear gunner was left home. The bomb was carried on a swing-down rack, a tubular structure of which the front end was attached under the engine. On release, the bomb was swung forward and downward, so that it was free of the propeller disc. (The swinging bomb crutch seems to have been an American invention. The USN considered it important enough that they refused, in 1939, to allow export of such bomb racks to France). There were also two small racks for SC-50 110 lbs (50 kg) bombs under each outboard wing panel. They equipped four Gruppen, of which StG 163 sent three aircraft to Spain during the civil war and they did see action.


EAW version

Added lots of detail (struts, pitot tubes etc.), fixed some of the normals and remapped the 3DZ to a new skin.

This version includes Claudio's new cockpit. To use this, you will need to rename one of the German 2-D cockpit files to P271VIEW.CPT (this is not included due to its size).

Also, I added hardpoints on the wing outboard of the dive brakes and wrote some new code to allow for four 50 kg bombs to be carried (along with a 250 Kg bomb on the centreline).

hex: 1948 to hex: 19CB (default EAW loadout.DAT file)

1B 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 1B 00 05 00 07 02 01 03 00 00 00 00 05 02 01 01 10 00 00 00 05 02 01 02 20 00 00 00 05 02 01 04 10 00 00 00 05 02 01 05 20 00 00 00 1C 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00

Also included are Andy's re-skinned SC 50 and  SC 250 bombs.

Enjoy!

Steve T

September 2002


**Previous Versions**

*V1.1

I Unmirrored the 3DZ and fixed some of the texture mapping

*V1.0

A new 3DZ and skin by Alatriste based on the EAW originals.