Ju 87 dive brakes and fighter capabilities

[net_sailor]

That is the first allied victory.

They very first victory of the war was when a Ju 87 shot down a Polish Polikarpov Po-2.

The victory was credited to Kettenführer Leutnant Frank Neubert on Sept 1, 1939 and the Polikarpov Po-2 was piloted by Captain Mieczysław Medwecki.

To be more precise Polikarpov Po-2 was never used on prewar period however was used by postwar communist Polish Air Force.

Captain Medwecki was shoot down by Ju 87 durinng take off under common attack of Junkers and Dorniers on Kraków-Balice airfield. His PZL P-11c exploded in the air.
Medwecki's wingman Lt. Gnyś was more lucky. He took off safetly and catch up the last Do 17 formation over Żurada willage. When he opened fire the bullets shoot off one of the Do 17 engines. The Dornier started falling down but she flew in thight formation so collided with other Dornier and both crashed on the ground.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Well that is what every account I have read has said. Someone needs to edit history then I guess....

 

[CharlesBronson]

never seen those videos and the last german propoganda movie

Actually the is not the last "Deustche Wochenschau" the last one released to german cinemas dated 30 march 1945 and (unsurprisingly) it depicted Ju-87g attacking armor in Latvia.

Perfectly Charles. Merely wanted confirmation and 'closure' on a 31 yr old belief that Gnys was the man, based on that book. Obviously the word 'allied' was omitted. The book in question; The Guinness History of Air Warfare, by Brown, Shores, and Macksey (1976). Thanks Charles and Adler.

The question is easy, a lot of new data had been released since 1976.

 

[black out]

Latvia, thats intersting cuz im originaly from Lithuania, the lowest balic state under Latvia and we never realy had Luftwaffe beacouse we were under Russian banner most of the time although Ive heard of some Lithuanians being arrsted by the Russian gov for working in a factory buildin Heinkels in this town called Kaunas.

 

[CharlesBronson]

The Stukas in that video operated over the Kurland Pocket, to be honest I dont know if that was Latvia or Lithuanian. So many countries there and so small that you get confused.

 

[black out]

Kurtland Pocket is where the Russians trapped Germans and cut of their supplies in 1944 somwhere in the Balitic states right? I think I red about that but cant rmember the details. I believe III./sg2 led by Rudel commenced attacks there with the d5 model for convoys along the g's that attacked tanks.

 

[CharlesBronson]

Kurtland Pocket is where the Russians trapped Germans and cut of their supplies in 1944 somwhere in the Balitic states right?

It does, check this:

Now, compare the picture above with the todays Latvia.

 

[CharlesBronson]

Here you have an original schematic description, as well as a straight shot of that notorious, but habitually misinterpreted Sturzflugautomatik (automated pull-out) device.

I think that aforementioned piece of airplane equipment deserves some additional explanations. As you know, dive-bombing always was and still is connected with the high G-forces, completely capable to generate total unconsciousness of the pilot, together with all those concomitant flight perils. Confronted with aforementioned threat German engineers have introduced back in 1937. an automated pull-out mechanism, that was installed in all Junkers 87 airplanes, which enormously facilitated the complex task of dive-bombing.

General concept was highly inventive and completely pilot-oriented one. Usually flying at normal cruising height and speed Ju 87 pilot was able to locate his target through a window in the cockpit floor. Subsequently, target was visually aimed by pilot and after that he was supposed just to decrease the throttle, to close up the radiator grille, to adjust the propeller-pitch to neutral and finally to pull upward the first (smaller one!) lever located on the upper side of the apparatus.

After that dive brakes were driven out automatically by action of the hydraulically operated mechanism, and equally without human intervention activated trim tabs on the elevator surfaces brought the machine into a plunging flight. Additionally, the control stick was limited to an lateral excursion of only 5 degree, toward preventing potentially dangerous maneuvers. However, this limitation actually was overridable by implementation of a strong muscular tractive force (approximately 30 kg), and this possibility was actually used by some renowned, physically able pilots (like Hans Ulrich Rudel) for sharp corrective in-dive maneuvers.

When the aircraft was close to the target, a green light on the altimeter panel indicated the arrival of the previously calculated bomb-release point. With reaching a pre-calculated release height the pilot was obliged just to press a button on the completely neutrally positioned control stick to release a bomb and to initiate the automatic pull-out mechanism. Apparatus was able to automatically reactivate the trim tabs, to retract diving brakes, to open the throttle, to adjust the propeller pitch on "climb", and finally to levelize the machine. After that the pilot was obliged only to push back that previously activated lever and to retake full operational command.

 

[Micdrow]

Interesting, thanks CharlesBronson. I like the drawing.

 

[CharlesBronson]

Yea, is a nice one, I forgot to mention that given the very high angle of dive ( actually it could reach 85 º) the pilot use the reticle of Revi C-12 reflex gunsight as a bombsight.

In favorable conditions the system was very accurate:

 

[Civettone]

Just because it shot down an aircraft, doesn't mean it was EVER used as a fighter.

I suggest you read Rudels biography. It clearly shows the capabilities of the Stuka and that with the proper tactics it could hold its own against enemy aircraft. That and a whole lot of luck meant that Rudel could fly his Stuka until the last weeks of the war!!

What you guys forgot to stress was that the dive brakes were removed because the Stuka changed its role. It was still an excellent dive bomber and dive bombing was still very effective but the Stuka was - as strange as it may seem to some of you - a tactical-strategical bomber, bombing the enemy behind their lines. From 1943 onwards it got used more as a Schlachtflugzeug instead of a Sturzkampfflugzeug. This meant it had to go down and attack the enemy directly. For this it got some necessary modifications: armour and cannons. Dive brakes were also no longer necessary which doesn't mean that the Stuka couldn't dive bomb any more, just no more vertical slow dives.
Kris

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Just because it shot down an aircraft, doesn't mean it was EVER used as a fighter.

Did anyone say it was EVER used as a fighter?

 

[Civettone]

No. Am I only allowed to comment on questions?

Kris

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Did I say that?