Ju-187.

This is coolbert:

In the previous blog entry I had referred to the Super Phantom. That American F-4 Phantom from the Vietnam War era "souped" up with new and more powerful engines, new fuel tank and avionics. A much more robust and capable aircraft the basic design of which dates to the late 1950's!!

And here from the era of World War Two [WW2] was the Super Stuka!

The Ju-187. German dive bomber the successor to the famous Stuka, the Ju-87. That Ju-87 the aircraft of which even by 1940 the performance of which was found to be inadequate , in particular too vulnerable to attacking enemy fighter war planes. A "sitting duck" shot down with ease by the adversary.

That dive bomber concept still felt to be valid, the much more adequate war plane as needed by the Luftwaffe for the same mission as was to be the Ju-187. An improved and "super" version of the original aircraft.

That Super Stuka a project and development that never got further than the R & D phase, some interesting and novel design features nonetheless included, REARWARD DEFENSE A MAJOR CONSIDERATION!!

That Ju-187 design features to include:

* Retractable landing gear.
* Pressureized cabin.
* Remote rear-ward firing machine gun and cannon.
* Rotating 180 degree tail fin!


That rotatable 180 degree tail find allowing the rear gunner a clear shot at an enemy attacker! I would have to think that such an assembly would be a contrivance that the idea of which was worthy but the difficulties from the mechanical standpoint would out weight the advantages?

  "One of the most unusual features was the movable vertical tail fin, which could be moved 180 degrees in flight, thus clearing the field of fire for the rear gunner."

That tail gunner firing a remotely operated turret with weaponry of DIFFERENT CALIBERS contained in the same assembly! Armaments described by various web sites as consisting of:

* "one 151/20 20 mm cannon and one MG 131 13mm machine gun."

* "A 13mm MG 131 series machine gun as well as a 15 mm MG 151/15 series cannon"

Calibers of different types makes for a ballistics problem that creates difficulties that are not needed and only complicate the mission of that rear gunner!!

That Ju-187 never did fly in combat other warplanes already fulfilling the task of dive bomber and doing so in a manner superior to what was expected of the Super Stuka. That Super would not have been in hindsight so Super?

coolbert.