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There has been some discussion about how good the Stuka was, in particular its survivability in a fighter enviroment.
My personal opinion is that the Stuka is very vulnerable when caught unescorted.
But to get beyond the issue of its vulnerability :
How good a divebomber was the Stuka? How effective was it in its assigned role?
Captain Eric Brown, the British Naval Combat and Test pilot flew a wide variety of aircraft, including such divebombing aircraft as the Douglas Dauntlas and Helldiver. He rated the Stuka as the best divebomber he encountered. Here is a description of flying the Stuka : (without bombload)
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`…The Ju87D-3 was fairly lightly loaded and with full power accelerated surprisingly well, unsticking at about 72mph in a distance of some 500 yards. The climb was made at 2300 rpm and 1.15 atas of boost, the flaps retracting meanwhile… Climbing speed could then increased to 133mph and was eased off 6mph for every 3280ft of altitude gained…
The Ju87D was big enough and slow enough to present an ideal target to the humblest tyro among fighter pilots and it must even have come high in the popularity stakes with anti-aircraft gunners. Certainly its large ailerons failed to instil any liveliness into evasive maneuvers, and although its elevators were reasonably light the aircraft just too stable longitudinally to be very maneuverable…
The following check list for preparing the Ju87D to enter the dive was as follows :
Landing flaps at cruise position
Elevator trim at landing position
Rudder trim at cruise position
Airscrew pitch set at cruise
Contact altimeter switched on
Contact altimeter set to release altitude
Supercharger set to automatic
Throttle pulled right back
Cooler flaps closed
Dive Brakes opened
This last action made the aircraft nose over into the dive under the influence of the pullout mechanism which was actuated by the opening of the dive brakes which also actuated the safety pilot control. The most difficult thing in dive bombing training is avoiding overestimating the dive angle which invariably feels much steeper than it actually is. Every dive bomber of WW II vintage featured some form of synthetic aid to judging dive angle, and in the Ju87 this consisted simply of a series of lines of inclination marked on the starboard front side screen of the cockpit.
These marks, when aligned with the horizon, gave dive angles of 30 degrees to 90 degrees. Now a dive angle of 90 degrees is a pretty palpitating experience for it always feels as if the aircraft is over the vertical and is bunting, an dall this while terra firma is rushing closer ith apparent suicidal rapidity. In fact, I have rarely seen a specialist dive bomber put over 70 degrees in a dive, but the Ju87 was a genuine 90 degree screamer! For some indefinable reason the Ju87 felt right standing on its nose, and the acceleration to 335mph was reached in about 4500 ft, speed thereafter creeping slowly up tothte absolute permitted limit of 373mph so that the feeling of being on a runaway rollercoaster experienced with most other divebombers was missing.
As speed built up, the nose of the Ju87 was used as the aiming mark. The elevators were moderatly light in the initial stages of the dive but they heavied up considerably as speed built up. Any alterations in azimuth to keep the aiming mark on the target could be made accurately using the ailerons. These also heavied up as speed increased but always remained very effective. Use of the elevator or rudder trimmers in a dive or pullout was strictly forbidden. During the dive it was nessesary to watch the signal light on the contact altimeter, and when it came on, the knob on the control column was depressed to initiate the automatic pullout at 6g`s a 1450ft height margin being required to complete the maneuver.
…I must confess that I had a more enjoyable hour`s dive bombing practice than I had ever experienced with any other aircraft of this specialist type. Somehow the Ju87D did not appear to to find its natural element until it was diving steeply… Obviously the fixed undercarriage and the large span dive brakes of the Junkers were a highly effective drag combination.`
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Brown talks about the accuracy of the Stuka. It is interesting to note that this, considered to be the best way to place a bomb on a target, only guaranteed to hit within 30 yards or less. The AH level bombers hit their targets within a few feet it seems.
Ju87D1 Performance :
Max. Speed at 13,450 ft : 255mph
Max, continuous cruise with bombload : 193mph
Bombload : One 1800kg bomb for shortrange overload operations. One 1000kg or two 500kg bombs for normal range operations. Various small bomb types or gunpods underwing each with twin 20mm MG FF as alternative.
Armament : Two fixed forward firing 7.92mm MG 17 in wings, twin mount 7.92mm MG81 in flexible mount in rear cockpit.
