![]() ![]() However the did make the later restoration of it as G-USTV much harder having removed and discarded many original parts in favour of British hardware. (I'm sure if someone can confirm or deny that and they read this, we'll hear!) At the same time a keen team bastardised the Messerschmitt Bf 109G-6 10639 'Black 6', but didn't get it airworthy. I have also been told that one reason is didn't fly for the film was that the electrics were fried either by putting the wrong voltage through, or just issues with (then) 20 plus year old wartime wiring. Since then, the aircraft has gradually been returned to a more authentic configuration for it as a later model-type. So that's why the film models have the far-too-late tapered nose and tapered canopy of the D & G model Stukas, the 1940 examples all being "Bertha" - 'B' models.Īlso the colo(u)r photos Mark posted above are (as he's said) from when it was at Colerne, and just post filming. Inspection at this time confirmed that the w/nr was 494083 (FlyPast Aug/Sep 67). The film makers eventually obtained MoD permission to restore the Ju87 to airworthy condition, and Viv Bellamy had started the engine on the third pull (Aeroplane Monthly May 98 p.62) but inspection of the airframe revealed that restoration to airworthiness would be a costly exercise, so three Percival Proctors were modified as `Proctukas', although scale models (fashioned after late model Stukas to match the RAFM example if it had flown for the film) were used in the final film version. Photos: Flying Review International Sep 67, Air Pictorial Sep 67 p.327, Aeromilitaria 3/1984 p.75, The Captive Luftwaffe (009336) p.62 Aircraft Illustrated Sep 71 p.358 Aeroplane October 2009 p.25 Flypast February 2011 p.72. See St Athan Collection Guide 1973 (R015562) and archives B2707. Engine run at least once and probably taxied Also given dummy wooden dive brakes, undercarriage leg sirens, a fibreglass bomb and a modified rear gun position (removed and replaced by the original rotating twin 7.92mm MG81 Z mount in Dec 1998). Repainted, codes W8 + A (carried by a Ju87 unit in Europe in 1940). Moved to RAF Henlow, Beds by this date (Air Britain Digest April 1967 p.99) along with other AHB aircraft for possible use in the `Battle of Britain' film. These photos clearly show these wailing sirens. The Ju 87B was armed with two forward firing machine-guns, one machine gun in the rear cockpit for defense, four 110lb-bombs under the wings, and one 551lb-bomb under the fuselage in a clutch." He would drop the bomb at around 2,000ft, and then immediately pull up the nose and overcome a force of four G to resume level flight. The common practice of a pilot was to begin his dive at 15,000ft at an angle of 60o-90o, turn on the cardboard siren, and dive earthward at up to 350mph. Usually a wing of 30 Stukas would attack a target in 10 groups of three planes. The bombs were basically controlled by the pilot until the very last moment. The Ju 87 was slow and had a limited range, but it was a surprisingly accurate bomber. The tight and smooth cooperation and communication between army and Luftwaffe commanders were the key elements in the successful campaigns in 1940. The plane was used extensively and almost exclusively to support army operations. When air superiority was obtained, the seagull-looking Stukas would harass retreating or trapped Allied troops. ![]() ![]() In the heat of the battle, however, army commanders would radio the Luftwaffe to send Stukas to destroy any unexpected opposition. It was usually deployed before the army's attack and would soften any known defensive strong points. Highly popular with the Propaganda Ministry, the Stukas represented the peak of German military might. "The screaming siren of the Junkers Ju 87 dive-bomber was, at least for the early part of the war, synonymous with German blitzkrieg tactics and Nazi prowess. Quote from Stuka-Pilot Hans-Ulrich Rudel: His Life Story in Words in Photographs Sometimes the brake didn't reset, and the pilot had to listen to the thing all the way back to base. As soon as the drive brakes are retracted, the Jerico Trumpet disengages. There's a "brake" or more closely, a clutch, that keeps the siren mechanism from sounding until the drive brakes are released. The small prop spins in flight anyway but the actual siren engaged by the pilot electrically (solonoid contact) from the cockpit. The siren is electrically engaged from the cockpit. Upon the leading edges of the Junkers Ju87 Stuka's faired main gear legs were mounted the Jericho-Trompete ("Jericho Trumpet") wailing sirens, becoming the propaganda symbol of German air power and the blitzkrieg victories of 1939–1942. ![]()
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