Junkers Ju-87 D/G “Stuka”

I haven’t tried to count them, but there are plenty of Stukas on SP. So I wanted to put my two cents in and made yet another one. You decide if it looks the part.

The version uploaded here is the Ju-87 “Gustav” tank killer with twin autocannon pods. You can get the standard dive-bombing version (in Eastern Front winter camo) from this link if you like.

I guess I can probably be brief on the “history” part, since most people already know this plane. It was a basic instrument of the nazi “blitzkrieg”, designed to swoop down on its target with a banshee scream from wind-driven “Jericho trumpet” sirens. But iconic though it may be, it wasn’t really all that good. It worked fine against defenseless civilians and enemy soldiers who were already on the run, but the design was already outdated and it was slow and vulnerable -an easy prey for any WW2-era fighter plane. After having received a sound thrashing early in the Battle of Britain, the Stuka was mostly used on battlefields where there weren’t too many (preferably, none at all) allied planes around.

In its final incarnation, the Ju-87G, it was no longer a dive bomber; because Soviet tanks were relatively small targets, they were difficult to hit with a bomb… so the Stuka gained a pair of Bk 3,7 underwing cannons (retired Flak, actually), lost its sirens and dive brakes, and so became a “panzerjäger” (tank hunter) overnight.

This version was not for the faint-hearted; low-level attacks in the face of Russian AA and fighters seemed more than a bit suicidal. Still, in the hands of capable pilots it was relatively successful in this role, and inspired later designs of ground attack planes.

The build

Though perhaps not 100% historically correct on all points –it’s still a game, after all- the build is intended to be at least very recognizable as a Stuka in all its dieselpunk ugliness and to be as detailed as reasonable. Some features;

• Typical “Junkers flaps” and ailerons with lots of visible hinges and levers.
• Way too many parts spent on getting silly parts like e.g. the canopy and engine exhausts to look the way I wanted them to.
• For just this once, a cockpit –although I never play from “cockpit view” myself. The dash is mostly modeled on a picture of a Ju-87 cockpit, although some instruments were left out.
• A working rear gunner’s station with twin MG-81’s. Their field of fire is too limited to really be of much use, but OK…
• Realistic fuel and weapons. This means you won’t have much range, only 12 shells per cannon, and a total of 2k rounds for the rear gunner’s machine guns. Feel free to XML these if you want to go on a tank-killing spree.
• The dive bombing version has a working “trapeze” bomb release mechanism to avoid chucking a 500kg bomb through your propeller, dive brakes, and uses the “Jericho Trumpet” mod for added sound effect. The latter isn’t mandatory though, and the plane works just fine without it.

Flying it

I made the plane easy to fly –perhaps too much so- since the Stuka was reputed to handle well at all speeds. It’s not very fast of course, and rolls slowly when compared to a fighter plane. Taking off and landing should be simple, and in flight the plane is very stable.

Low-level attacks with the cannons are quite easy; just throttle back and extend your flaps for some slow flying. It’s not that difficult to get the plane down to just 150-160 km/h and to keep it there. That would be dangerously close to a stall in a fighter plane, but it’s fine for the Stuka. Just remember that at these speeds you’re a sitting duck.

In the dive-bombing version; get some altitude (3000-4000 m will do fine) and drop to your target in a > 60-degree dive. The Stuka will dive at speeds between 500-600 km/h; dive brakes and sirens are automatic. Once you’re ready, hit AG2 to release your single bomb and pull up immediately at some 6 G’s. The Stuka will lose its diving speed quickly, the bomb trapeze and dive brakes will return to their position automatically. The siren also shuts down after the bomb run -in fact, you don’t need to do much of anything except drop the bomb and pull out of your dive.

Ju-87G armament: Gustav’s Guns

The offensive armament of the “tank killer” version as uploaded here is limited to its two BK 3,7 cannons with 12 rounds each. These are in fact 37mm Flak guns which have been put to a slightly different use; though obsolete in their anti-aircraft role, they’re still quite respectable cannons which are very effective against armor. Each shell is capable of destroying a tank (or some other vehicle or small building), but you have to make your shots count; the BK’s have a high firing rate, but you don’t have the ammo to profit from it. Think twice, aim carefully, and shoot only if you’re relatively sure you will hit something.

For defense, the Stuka is equipped with twin MG-81 machine guns. You have 1000 rounds for each machine gun; that sounds impressive, but at the firing rate of these buzzsaws (around 1500 rpm) you won’t last long if you’re trigger-happy. Never mind, though; the chances of the rear gunner actually hitting something are very small indeed. The Stuka doesn’t have a real “turret”, and the field of fire is therefore quite limited -additionally, the plane’s tail is always in your way.

Ju-87D armament: Dora’s Droppings

The “standard” dive bombing version carries a single PC-500 armor-piercing bomb, has a pair of 20 mm cannons in the wings, and of course the rear gunner’s MG-81’s. When going on a bomb run, don’t drop the bomb using SP’s standard command; in fact, it’s even better not to even select/activate the bomb because that would activate SP’s aiming system –which won’t work. SP standard bombs have a funny way of falling; not like bombs at all, really. So the PC-500 has most of its weight at the front, and has “real” fins (wing parts). It behaves somewhat bomb-ish, but not like a standard SP bomb. Ergo, it won’t hit where the software expects it to. For dive bombing attacks, just point your nose at what you want to hit and release by hitting AG2 –as late as possible.

Controls

Standard controls, with VTOL down for flaps, Trim slider for pitch trim.
AG1: in both versions this will activate a gyroscope and disables the flight controls, allowing you to use the rear gunner’s MG-81’s (control using pitch &yaw)
AG2: bomb release (dive bomber version only)
AG8: toggle lights

Mods

I used two mods –thanks to the designers of those, by the way. One is for some of the instruments in the Stuka’s cockpit, the other one (only on the D version) sounds the “Jericho Trumpet” in a dive attack (or rather, whenever the plane’s speed exceeds 395 km/h). Neither of these mods is really necessary to use the planes; both are mainly cosmetic. If you actually want to use the cockpit, the instrumentation mod is recommended though.

Anything else?

No, not really –that’s about it. Have fun wrecking stuff…