Keith Ferris Originals

In summer 1944, Oberstieutnant Hans-Ulrich Rudel jinks away from his target, a group of Russian T-34 tanks, in his Junkers 87G-1.  Equipped with two 37-mm BK (flak) cannons in pods under the wings, the notorious Sturzkampfflugzeug, or dive bomber, (Stuka for short) became an effective tank buster on the Easter Front.  Covered by FW 190s, Rudel led his anti-tank flight to great success, himself destroying 519 tanks against a loss of thirty personal aircraft in 2,530 sorties, the highest mission tally on record.  Attacking from a height of a thousand meters and a slant range of 200 meters, Rudel never held wings level for more than 1.5 seconds, or just long enough to fire a burst. Any longer and the aircraft would certainly be hit by antiaircraft fires.  While the cannon-carrying aircraft go into attack, wrote Rudel, As a part of the bomber formation

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deals with ground defenses; the rest circle at a fairly low level like a broody hen round her chickens in order to protect the antitank aircraft from interception by enemy fighters.

 

Of all Luftwaffe aircraft in World War II, the ugly Ju 87 was the most famous.  Very successful in Poland and through May 1940 in France, the type became synonymous with the terror of the dive bomber and the word Stuka.  Even though it first flew at the end of 1935, the Stuka remained in service through the end of the war as an effective ground attack weapon.

 

Published: The Keith Ferris Military Aviation Calendar 1981 by Air Force Association

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(Currently held in the family estate as a family favorite)

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