Best tank killer aircraft of WW2

aussie jim · Mar 1, 2004

Hans Ulrich Rudel, the Stuka pilot who was
Nazi Germany's most-decorated soldier.
In 2,530 combat missions flying dive-bombers,
mainly on the Russian front, Rudel was credited with
destroying 519 tanks, 150 gun emplacements and 800
combat vehicles of various types.
According to Luftwaffe records, he also damaged
or destroyed three large warships and 70 smaller
craft. For this he was awarded the "Golden Oakleaf
with Sword and Diamonds to the Knight's cross of the
Iron Cross." He was the only German soldier to
receive that award in World War II.

Stuka gets my vote ..IL2 was a good plane but is overated -do a search on the tank battle at Kursk and see how many tanks were destroyed by Stukas vs IL2s ..funny how you only hear lots about the IL2 since the game came out a few years ago p51 is definitely not up there as a tankbuster...Typhoon /Tempest and the Hurri in the desert are all good.

cheddar cheese · Mar 2, 2004

wow thats pretty impressive ive always been put off of the stuka for some reason though

kiwimac · Mar 2, 2004

Some pictures about Rudel are here attached.

His record

His Aircraft

Interestingly he also flew the FW 190 D9

His medals

His records

519 russische Panzer
519 russian tanks

1 Schlachtschiff
1 battleship

1 Zerstörer
1 detroyer

70 Landungsboote
70 landing boats

800+ motorisierte Fahrzeuge
800+ motorized vehicles

150+ Artillerie-, Pak- und Flakstellungen
150+ Artillery -, Pak and anti-aircraft positions

9 Luftsiege (7 Jäger, 2 Schlachtflugzeuge Il 2)
9 air victories (7 hunters, 2 battle airplanes Il 2)

...und viele Bunker, Brücken und Nachschublinien.
...and many shelters, bridges and supply lines.

Source: http://www.pilotenbunker.de/Stuka/Rudel/rudel.htm

Kiwimac

cheddar cheese · Mar 2, 2004

wow thanks for icludthe german too, i love shouting it, it sounds great when you shout it 8)

cheddar cheese · Mar 2, 2004

wow thanks for including the german too, i love shouting it, it sounds great when you shout it 8)

the lancaster kicks ass · Mar 2, 2004

ah! doing a double to get your spam up hey........................

aussie jim · Mar 2, 2004

Thanks for the pics Kiwi ..i have actually been skinning Rudels D9 for EAW over the last two weeks and i havent been able to find that black and white pic ..apparently its pretty rare ..so cheers 8)

This is about halfway through(heaps of work to go yet) and its with the 98 default terrain so it looks pretty crappy

GermansRGeniuses · Mar 2, 2004

DAMN THAT GAME HAS BAD GRAPHICS!!! SERIOUSLY!!! I dont think i could stand looking at something that ugly for an extended period of time like i do in fb =P

cheddar cheese · Mar 3, 2004

nope, my puter was on a spaz that day 8)

bronzewhaler82 · Mar 3, 2004

I think the reason Stukas always put you off C.C is that they're ugly and very very very easy to shoot down - Hurricanes and Spitfires made mincemeat of them during the Battle of Britain

cheddar cheese · Mar 3, 2004

you know i think you could be right 8)

kiwimac · Mar 3, 2004

Stukas had a few advantages but speed was not one of them

Kiwimac

the lancaster kicks ass · Mar 3, 2004

i wouldn't call the stuka ugly....................

bronzewhaler82 · Mar 3, 2004

Not speed, armour or manourvarability...i must say its hard to think of much it did have to its advantage...apart from a really scary sound when it dive-bombed hapless civilians maybe?

anyway lanc i would expect you to think the stuka wasn't bad looking - you think the lancaster is a piece of art...

cheddar cheese · Mar 3, 2004

kiwimac · Mar 3, 2004

Well, actually

The Stuka was, surprise, surprise, a damn fine DIVE-BOMBER. The German's mistake was to believe that ANY dive-bomber could protect itself against fighters without some kind of cover.

Interestingly the Japanese made the same discovery with the Aichi 'Val'

Kiwimac

bronzewhaler82 · Mar 4, 2004

Yes the Stuka was a fine dive-bomber....as long as there wasn't any of the following in the immediate vacinity...

A) An enemy fighter
B) Anti-aircraft guns
C) A soldier with a rifle
D) A soldier with a pistol
E) A child with a peashooter
F) An OAP with a really dirty look on their face

because any one of the above could have crippled a Stuka with one fell swoop because lets face it....a plane thats easy to shoot down during wartime...is not much good at all - even if it can cause alot of damage given the oppurtunity....like clear skies for 100miles!

Sad but very very true

kiwimac · Mar 4, 2004

And yet, Whaler, there is Rudel whose 'score' seems to give the lie to your statement. Could it be that in the hands of a superior pilot even a very ordinary machine can become more than its makers concieved?

Kiwimac

cheddar cheese · Mar 4, 2004

aussie jim · Mar 4, 2004

And yet, Whaler, there is Rudel whose 'score' seems to give the lie to your statement. Could it be that in the hands of a superior pilot even a very ordinary machine can become more than its makers concieved?

indeed...but if you guys are looking for the best tank killer of the war ... and not a fighter- i really think the Stuka is it. A tank killer would normally operate under a fighter escort cover anyway as its role is ground attack and not fighter to fighter engagement. As i said before the IL2 was ok as was the p47 and Typhoons in ground attack BUT the stuka was conceived way before any of these as primarily a ground attack weapon and performed perfectly in this role...and lasted the whole war still getting kills in the hands of novices as late as April 1945.

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