Junkers Ju 87 Stuka

The Junkers Ju 87, universally known as the Stuka, is a German dive bomber designed by Hermann Pohlmann and built by Junkers, first flying on September 17, 1935, and entering Luftwaffe service in 1936. Its inverted gull wings and fixed, spatted undercarriage gave it a distinctive silhouette, and it carried automatic dive brakes that forced the aircraft to recover from a bombing dive even if the pilot blacked out from the g-forces, along with wailing sirens mounted on its landing gear legs intended to terrorize troops and civilians below. The Stuka became a propaganda symbol of German air power and Blitzkrieg during the invasion of Poland and the early campaigns of 1939 to 1942, proving highly effective in close air support and anti-shipping roles, though its vulnerability to fighter aircraft became clear during the Battle of Britain, when it required heavy fighter escort to survive. Roughly 6,000 Ju 87s were built between 1936 and August 1944, and pilot Hans-Ulrich Rudel, who flew the type throughout the war, became the most highly decorated German serviceman of the conflict.