JU-87G-2 STUKA 'HANS-ULRICH RUDEL'
Scale: 1/72
Brand: ACADEMY
Item # 12404

With new molds and highly detailed decal set, Academy has
masterfully reproduced the extended wingtip version of the JU-87
that was personally flown in combat by Hans-Ulrich Rudel, the
most decorated Luftwaffe pilot of WWII.

The JU 87 STUKA (the word for dive bomber) flew for the first
time in 1935, and it entered production in 1937 with large
landing gear wheel pants and full equipment for dive bombing,
including a heavy bomb crutch that swung the missile well clear
of the fuselage before release.

During the Spanish Civil War, without serious enemy fighter
opposition, the JU 87 proved ideal for the mission, able to dive
very steeply at relatively slow speeds with an automatic pull-out

device, yielding excellent accuracy. In Poland, the Low
Countries and France, the JU 87 was extremely effective and it
repeated its success in Greece, Crete and parts of the Russian
front. But, during the Battle of Britain the slow STUKA with its
fixed landing gear was slaughtered by Allied fighters and was
withdrawn to attack targets which were not heavily defended.

In 1942~45, its main work was close support on the Russian Front
where it was an exceptional tank killer. The JU 87G-1 version
carried two 37mm flak cannons in under wing pods. Hans Ulrich
Rudel, the most decorated Luftwaffe pilot of the war, claimed 519
Russian tanks. Throughout the war STUKA production was
repeatedly ordered to end, only to be restarted since there were
very few aircraft specialized enough to replace it.