![]() ![]() Udet had actually seen the spunky double-winger for the first time two years before, at the Cleveland Air Show, and was greatly impressed by the trim craft’s maneuverability and steep diving ability.ĭuring the show, the Hawk (called the Falken by the Germans) plunged nearly vertically like a stone, pulled out of its dive only a few hundred feet above the ground, only to begin its upward climb anew and repeat the same series of maneuvers to the cheering of the crowd below. Y., supervising the disassembly and crating of two brand-new Curtiss BFC-1 Hawk aircraft for shipment to Germany. 1933, Ernst Udet was at the Curtiss-Wright factory in Buffalo, N. German prewar propaganda and secrecy have clouded so much of this interesting phase of aviation history that even now, nearly fifty years after the beginning of World War II, new facts regarding the Stuka and its development are coming to light. ![]() More than once the entire project was nearly scrapped. In the military jargon of the day, the longer Sturzkampfflugzeug was shortened to Stuka, the aircraft that has become synonymous with German aggression in World War II.īoth the Junkers Ju-87 Stuka as well as the technique of dropping bombs while plunging earthward at speeds often in excess of 350 mph had an unusual, highly controversial developmental history. Only later was it specifically applied to the Junkers Ju-87. This new plane was dubbed a Sturzkampfflugzeug, literally a “diving fighting plane,” a designation originally used by the Germans for any aircraft used as a dive- bomber. Yet Goring’s highest praise was bestowed on his former comrade’s support for and development of a specific type of aircraft, the offensive weapon without which the Blitzkrieg tactics used in Poland, France, and later Russia during the first years of the war would have been impossible. He praised his accomplishments in the Great War, his sixty-two air victories-second only to Baron von Richthofen-and his total dedication in helping to build Hitler’s air force. In January 1942, during the state funeral for Ernst Udet, World War I fighter ace and Generalluftzeugmeister (Director General of the Luftwaffe) Hermann Goring spoke eloquently about the fallen hero’s deeds. ![]()
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