ACA12404 1:72 Academy Ju 87G-2 Stuka ‘Kanonen Vogel”

Academy has masterfully reproduced the extended wingtip version of theJU-87 that was personally flown in combat by Hans-Ulrich Rudel, the mostdecorated Luftwaffe pilot of WWII.
The JU 87 STUKA (the word fordive bomber) flew for the first time in 1935, and it entered productionin 1937 with large landing gear wheel pants and full equipment for divebombing, including a heavy bomb crutch that swung the missile wellclear of the fuselage before release.
During the Spanish CivilWar, without serious enemy fighter opposition, the JU 87 proved idealfor the mission, able to dive very steeply at relatively slow speedswith an automatic pull-out device, yielding excellent accuracy. InPoland, the Low Countries and France, the JU 87 was extremely effectiveand it repeated its success in Greece, Crete and parts of the Russianfront. But, during the Battle of Britain the slow STUKA with its fixedlanding gear was slaughtered by Allied fighters and was withdrawn toattack targets which were not heavily defended.
In 1942~45, itsmain work was close support on the Russian Front where it was anexceptional tank killer. The JU 87G-1 version carried two 37mm flakcannons in under wing pods. Hans Ulrich Rudel, the most decoratedLuftwaffe pilot of the war, claimed 519 Russian tanks. Throughout thewar STUKA production was repeatedly ordered to end, only to be restartedsince there were very few aircraft specialized enough to replace it.