Chapter 91 Stuka Attack 1

Before dawn the next day, Frank and other fighter pilots received a new mission to escort these Ju87 dive bombers to bomb Mercadal, which was controlled by the government. This was originally an ordinary town in Spain, but there was a military airport there, where an air force regiment supported by the Soviet Union was stationed. The enemy planes that often ambushed the German Air Force recently basically took off from there.

Although there was no loss, it was not a pleasant thing to be ambushed one after another. Maybe one day you would accidentally capsize in the ditch. Therefore, the superiors decided to destroy the airport to teach the Spanish government forces and some opponents a lesson.

After breakfast, the flight formation was ready to attack.

"Stuka First Formation is ready to take off." Edman, sitting in a Ju87, reported to the tower.

In the German Army Air Force dive bomber unit, the three-plane formation is the most basic unit. 4-5 three-plane formations form a squadron, usually equipped with 12-16 aircraft, with 20-25 pilots and corresponding ground crew. The brigade is composed of 3-4 squadrons plus a brigade headquarters.

At this time, the Jumo 211A1 liquid-cooled V-type 12-cylinder engine in the Stuka engine has started, making one roar after another.

"Stuka first formation, you can take off." After getting permission from the tower, Edman pushed the throttle lever to the maximum. The engine roared, bursting out 1,000 horsepower, the propeller turned rapidly, and the Stuka slid forward along the runway, faster and faster.

Pulling the operating lever, the Stuka bomber left the ground somewhat clumsily. Although it has 1,000 horsepower that sounds not small, it is not sufficient for the weight of more than five tons.

Under Yannick's attention, the Stuka bomber skipped the early Ju87A? with mediocre performance and directly served the mature Ju87B. Standard mounting SC250? 250kg bomb 1, under the wing smaller SC50? 50kg bombs counted 4. Sometimes there is also a configuration of only hanging 1 SC500?500kg?piece. (If there is only one pilot, the bomb load can reach 1 ton)

When the Ju87D was finally equipped with an engine with more than 1,400 horsepower, the maximum bomb weight limit was increased to 1,800kg, which is enough to show that the design of this aircraft is excellent.

The first formation of Stukas took off, followed by the second formation, followed by ten BF109s.

After taking off, the two formations of Stukas did not continue to climb, but flew forward at an altitude of several hundred meters. This ultra-low-altitude flight is the specialty of Stuka, and this bombing method of sudden attack on the enemy has not been outdated until later generations.

However, the last BF109 fleet to take off began to climb, climbing to an altitude of 5,000 meters.

After all, bombers can fly at ultra-low altitudes, but fighters are not suitable. Fighter escort is more suitable at high altitudes, so that when the situation is discovered, they can dive down from high altitudes at any time to provide support!

Not long after the formation set off, Edelman encountered a troublesome matter. "Fledgling No. 2, Fledgling No. 2, keep the formation, you are flying too fast." Edelman covered his throat intercom, turned his head and stared coldly at the wingman on the left.

Like fighter pilots, the Army Aviation Corps called those newly graduated pilots fledglings.

However, this newly graduated fledgling seemed to be too energetic and even a little unruly. Even if he kept a close eye on it, he could still make trouble under his nose. If pilots were not an extremely valuable resource, he really wanted to kick this guy back to his hometown to farm.

As if he felt Edelman's cold eyes or heard the dissatisfaction in his words, Fledgling No. 2 immediately slowed down and slowly returned to his position in the formation.

In this way, he kept knocking and warning from time to time along the way, and Edelman finally waited for the contact of the bf109 formation in the sky. "We see the Mercader, the visibility is good, there are no enemy planes in the air."

"Very good, Stuka formation, start climbing, dive bombing according to the predetermined target!" Edelman gave an order on the radio and pulled the joystick to control the plane to climb up.

Dive bombing requires altitude first. Just now, we were flying at ultra-low altitude all the way. When we were close to the target, we almost flew at an altitude close to the ground to avoid being discovered by the enemy's lookouts. Now, we need to pull up!

The propeller in front of the Stuka bomber was rotating at the maximum speed, and it began to climb clumsily and slowly.

If fighter pilots were asked to fly such a slow plane, they might go crazy on the spot. Fortunately, for a professional dive bomber, flight speed and altitude are not particularly important performances. The longitudinal stability and sturdiness of the body during dive are the issues that must be concerned about. So these dive bomber pilots still like this bomber very much.

I don't know how big the German aircraft designers are. The stability of this aircraft during dive is surprisingly high. This stability is due to the two huge fixed landing gear and the huge dive speed brakes under the wings, also known as "aerobrakes".

The huge landing gear is equivalent to two vertical stabilizers in a dive, and the dive speed brake makes this effect more significant. But this also caused another problem. The longitudinal stability of the Stuka is really too good. It is so good that it becomes very difficult to make it suddenly make a slightly larger maneuver, and this type of action is often the most common way to avoid the attack of the opponent's fighter.

The Stuka's sturdy fuselage enables it to withstand the huge torque that other aircraft can hardly imagine, allowing it to immediately recover from a dive after a high-speed dive. In this process, the fuselage must withstand at least six g of pressure. Ordinary fighters may be shattered before they reach half of the recovery process.

These remarkable performances make this dive bomber deserved to be the best ground support force in the early stage of World War II. Its appearance has fundamentally changed the combat mode of the German Army. Some old combat methods in the past were abandoned, and new close air support tactics were formulated based on the use of this aircraft.

When the war began, the development of this tactic created by the German Army Aviation Corps was far ahead of their counterparts in Europe. Especially in Britain, when the Germans just created this tactic, some people in the British Army also proposed similar theories, but they got the opposite results from the Germans. Due to the opposition of those old-fashioned and stubborn British Empire diehard officers, even the troops would be ruthlessly reprimanded for practicing this tactic. As a result, the British paid a heavy price for their short-sightedness.

Of course, this is really good news for Yannick and Germany.