3D model
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A procedural model built in Blender from published dimensions, drawings and photographs, painted as Werknummer 494083 ‘RI+JK’, the RAF Museum’s Junkers Ju 87 G-2, thought to have been built in 1943–44 as a D-5 dive-bomber and rebuilt to G-2 anti-tank standard with the long-span outer wings and mounting points for the 37 mm cannon, found at Eggebek in Schleswig-Holstein in May 1945, one of twelve German aircraft the Air Ministry set aside for museum display, briefly coded ‘W8+A’ for the 1969 Battle of Britain film, repainted ‘RI+JK’ at St Athan in 1975 and displayed at Hendon since 1978: an inverted gull-winged two-seater with a Jumo 211 engine, a chin radiator, fixed trousered main legs and the Junkers ‘double wing’ flaps hung below the trailing edge, shown as it is displayed there, without its cannon or dive brakes and with a bomb on the centre-line swing crutch: black-green upper surfaces with light blue undersides, yellow wing tips beneath and a yellow fuselage band, ‘RI+JK’ codes with a red ‘J’, a black swastika on the fin, a white tank kill marking on the port cowling, twin MG 81 Z guns in the rear cockpit and a three-blade propeller with a white spinner cap. Drag to orbit, scroll or pinch to zoom · download .glb (1.1 MB)
Data plate
Specification
- First flight17 September 1935
- Built~6,000
- Top speed242 mph
- EngineJunkers Jumo 211J inverted V-12, 1,410 hp
- Crew2
- Wingspan15 m
- Length11.5 m
- Height3.88 m
- In service1937–1945
- RoleDive-bomber and anti-tank aircraft
- MakerJunkers, Germany
- UK collections1
First flight, number built and top speed are for the whole family (G-2); engine, crew and dimensions are for the Ju 87 G-2 modelled here.
History
The Ju 87
The Ju 87 was designed by Hermann Pohlmann’s team at Junkers in Dessau for the new Luftwaffe, which wanted an aircraft that could hit a small target by diving almost vertically onto it. It was a low-wing, all-metal two-seater with an inverted gull wing, a fixed undercarriage in streamlined trousers, and the Junkers “double wing”: full-span flaps and ailerons hung below the trailing edge. The first prototype flew in September 1935 with a Rolls-Royce Kestrel and twin fins; it crashed in a dive early in 1936, and the later aircraft had a single fin and German engines. Its name came from Sturzkampfflugzeug, the German word for any dive-bomber.
Ju 87As went to Spain with the Condor Legion in 1938, and the Jumo 211-powered Ju 87B led the attacks on Poland in September 1939 and on France and the Low Countries in 1940, with automatic dive recovery, dive brakes under the wings and wind-driven sirens on the undercarriage legs. Against modern fighters it was slow and vulnerable. Over southern England in August 1940 the Stuka units lost so many aircraft that they were withdrawn from the Battle of Britain after the attacks of 18 August. They did better over the Mediterranean, where Ju 87s crippled HMS Illustrious in January 1941 and sank many ships off Crete.
The Ju 87D of 1941 had the 1,410 hp Jumo 211J, a cleaner cowling with the radiator moved under the nose, more armour and a bigger bomb load, and from the D-5 a longer wing of 15 m span. On the Eastern Front the Stukas became ground-attack aircraft, and in 1943 Hans-Ulrich Rudel helped develop the Ju 87G, which carried a 37 mm BK 3.7 cannon in a pod under each wing to attack tanks. Some 210 G-2s were converted from D-5 airframes. About 6,000 Ju 87s of all marks were built, and Ju 87s were still flying in combat in May 1945.
This airframe
Junkers Ju 87 G-2 494083 “RI+JK”
Werknummer 494083 is thought to have been built in 1943–44 as a Ju 87 D-5 and rebuilt to G-2 standard, with the long-span wings and the mountings for the 37 mm cannon. British forces found it at Eggebek in Schleswig-Holstein after the surrender in May 1945, coded RI+JK, and it was one of twelve German aircraft the Air Ministry chose for museum display rather than for test flying. It left Eggebek by road in September 1945 and spent the next 15 years in store at Sealand, Stanmore Park, Wroughton and Fulbeck before going to St Athan in 1960. In 1967 it was moved to Henlow for the Battle of Britain film and repainted as W8+A, with dummy dive brakes, undercarriage sirens and a fibreglass bomb. Its engine was started on the third pull, but restoring it to fly would have cost too much, and the film used converted Percival Proctors and models instead. It was repainted RI+JK at St Athan in 1975 and has been at Hendon since 1978. Its original twin MG 81 Z rear guns were found in store and refitted, and since 2017 it has been in the Bomber Hall. It is one of only two complete Ju 87s left. The model shows it as it is displayed now, without the cannon or dive brakes and with a bomb on the centre-line crutch: black-green upper surfaces, light blue beneath, yellow under the wing tips and a yellow band round the rear fuselage, the codes RI+JK with the J in red, a black swastika on the fin, a white tank kill marking on the port cowling, and a white spinner cap. The museum stands it on low pads, but the model sits on its tyres, and the stencils are left off.
Where to see one
In the gazetteer
The gazetteer records the Ju 87 in one UK collection. The airframe modelled here is marked.