Legion Condor Junkers Ju87B-1 of 1.K/88, Spain, Summer 1938 (The Ebro Campaign)

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rapidly disproved the myth -- the Stukas were so severely mauled by Hurricanes and Spitfires that they were eventually withdrawn from operations over Western Europe.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 (six aircraft), the new variant proved its abilities (though only against lightly-defended targets), and the production rate was stepped up.


THE "B" MODEL

The Ju 87B was to be the standard model during the early years of World War II. It was powered by the much more powerful Jumo 211A engine. This engine had fuel injection, an important feature for an aircraft which had to be subjected to heavy G-forces and acrobatic manoeuvres making it immune to icing and engine cut-outs. A new engine cowling was designed, with a new air intake on top of the cowling, and a deep half-circular radiator under it. The radiator was larger for the B-2 model than for the B-1, because the B-2 had an even more powerful engine, and it can only be described as a deliberate insult to the aerodynamicists. The Ju 87B-1 was powered by 1,200 hp (895 kW) supercharged Jumo 211Da engine with a SC 500 1,102 lbs (500 kg) bombload. The Ju 87B-2 was an improved version with a 2,205 lbs (1000 kg) bombload. Some Ju 87B-2s flew as single seaters allowing the use of a single 2,205 lbs (1000 kg) centerline bomb.

An important development was that of the automatic bombing or dive control system of the Ju 87B. This consisted of an Askania autopilot, which was used together with a Revi gunsight. The bomb release gear, elevator controls, and dive brakes were linked to this system. Before attacking the pilot would set the bomb release height and go through a checklist of about 10 items. The deployment of the dive brakes automatically set up the dive adjusting the elevator trim tab, and putting the aircraft into a dive. The use of the elevator was forbidden (except in case of emergency) so the pilot used ailerons only when setting up the attack angle via red degree lines painted at various angles on the canopy. When the bomb release height was reached and the bombs were dropped and a light came on the contact altimiter. All the pilot had to do was push a button on the control column and the autopilot adjusted the elevator trim tab again, so that the aircraft became tail heavy and pulled itself out of the dive. The pilot thus needed not to be concerned too much with the pull-out. This was just as well, because the pull-out put an acceleration of 6g on aircraft and pilot. Normal procedures called for a bomb release at an altitude of about 2,953 ft (900 m), which brought the Stuka down to about 1,312 ft (400 m) before it started to regain altitude.

The trousered undercarriage of the A-model was replaced by a 'spatted' one, with closer-fitting leg covers and better streamlined wheel spats. The change was more than cosmetic, for the undercarriage was also redesigned and considerably strengthened. The mainwheels were also moved slighlty backwards. If the Ju 87 had to operate from poor airfields, such as found at the Eastern front, the spats were often removed because they tended to get clogged with mud. It was not even uncommon for Ju 87s to have their undercarriage ripped off when operating from such airfields. Speed in a dive built up to about 342 mph (550 km/h) and it became common practice to fit sirens, called 'Trumpets of Jericho' on the undercarriage legs in a special fitting to enhance the effect on morale of the Ju 87's attacks. This was driven by a small propeller on the left undercarriage leg. When the siren was not installed the mount was faired over, leaving a protrusion on the undercarriage. The sirens were mostly discarded during the Battle of Britain, because they reduced the performance of the already slow and vulnerable Ju 87. The greenhouse canopy of the Ju 87B was also different of that of the Ju 87A, with sliding sections for the pilot and the gunner, which replaced the earlier hinged entry panels. The twin radio masts of the JU 87A were replaced by a single, tall, vertical mast. Italy used several examples of this aircraft under the name "Picchiatello" which led to the mistaken belief that it was made in Italy as the Breda 201. Three Ju 87B-1s made the first combat mission of World War II wheny took of from Elbing at 4:26 am on 1 September 1939 and devastated the approaches to the Dirschau bridger over the Vistula at 4:34 am, some 11 minutes before Germany declared war on Poland. Subsequently, the Ju 87B-1 played a tremendous part in the Polish Campaign, destroying all but two of the Polish Navy surface warships, heavily bombing Polish troops (on many occasions within 330 ft/100 m of advancing German forces. On one ghastly occasion Ju 87B-1s virtually wiped out a Polish Infantry Division at the Piotrkow railway station.

Sources: http://www.kotfsc.com/aircraft/ju87-v.htm#Ju%2087B
         http://usuarios.lycos.es/mrval/GCE.HTM


EAW VERSION

Nothing new really, just an update of Varonh's skin to make it into a Spanish civil war era example. The 3DZ is unchanged (Andy, Geo, Ghostboy, Paulo Morais and C. Wilches). Also included is Claudio's cockpit. 

*THANKS TO ALL YOU GUYS*

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


The code below gives 50 Kg bombs on the outer-wing hardpoints (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

Ju87 B-1 Stuka of IV/(St)LG I
Poland - September 1939.
**************************************


Included : 
*C.Wilches new Stuka cokpit and wingview
*Andy new bombs (SC zip)

*3DZ : Andy, Geo, GhostBoy, Paulo Morais, C.Wilches 
*Skin : Varonh

Installation:
Just copy all files not beginning with '_' to your eaw directory.

304 JU87 were involved in the Poland campaign :
Luftflotte 1 : II & III/St.G.2 , I ,II ,III/St.G.1 , IV(St)LG-1
Luftflotte 4 : I/St.G.2 , I/St.G.76 & St.g.77
Luftflotte 3 :III/St.G.51.

The 1st September at 06:30 AM, over Balice,
Lt.Frank Neubert of I/St.G.2 , flying his JU87 B1,  shot down the PZL-11C of Kapitan M.Medwieckiego,
the first plane to be shot down in WWII  !

Enjoy !

Varonh 26/04/2002
x.x119@libertysurf.fr