JUNKERS JU 87 STUKA
The cockpit of the Junkers Ju 87 Stuka was a tandem two-seat enclosure designed for a pilot in the forward position and a rear gunner-radio operator immediately behind, protected from the engine by a firewall ahead of the wing centre section that housed the fuel tanks. Constructed as an all-metal structure with an oval fuselage cross-section, it featured a distinctive greenhouse-style canopy of Plexiglas panels set in a strong welded steel frame that divided the crew stations into two compartments, each fitted with its own sliding hood for independent access and egress. Early A-series aircraft used twin radio masts on the aft canopy, later simplified to a single forward mast on B and subsequent models, while the D-series introduced an aerodynamically refined canopy offering improved visibility and greater internal space together with increased armour plating. The pilot sat on his parachute pack against a rear cushion and padded headrest, facing a Revi reflector gunsight for the wing-mounted MG 17 machine guns and an instrument panel that mixed flight, navigation and engine gauges, a layout sometimes criticised for readability under combat stress. A strengthened transparent window in the cockpit floor allowed the pilot to sight the target during the steep dive, while controls for the automatic pull-out dive-brake system were readily at hand to recover the aircraft even if the pilot blacked out under high g-forces. The rear crewman faced aft, operating a flexible 7.92 mm MG 15 machine gun (later upgraded to the high-rate dual-barrel MG 81Z) mounted on a flexible ring, and managed the radio equipment while also sitting on his parachute. At the rear of the cockpit a canvas-covered bulkhead could be breached in an emergency, permitting the crew to escape into the main fuselage. The overall arrangement emphasised robustness and functionality for dive-bombing and ground-attack missions, with the fixed undercarriage sirens providing audible speed cues that complemented the pilot’s instruments, and later variants adding further armour and refined ergonomics while retaining the essential tandem layout that defined the Stuka’s combat identity throughout the war.
Oberst Walter Sigel (1906-1944) was born on 12 January 1906 in Ulm and served as an officer in the Luftwaffe from 1934 until his death, rising to the rank of Oberst; as commanding officer of Sturzkampfgeschwader 76 he led the Junkers Ju 87 demonstration at Neuhammer on 15 August 1939 that became known as the Neuhammer Stuka-Unglück when low cloud caused thirteen other crews to crash fatally while he himself barely pulled out, and on the opening day of the Second World War he directed the German bombers in the attack on Wieluń. He received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 21 July 1940 as Hauptmann and Gruppenkommandeur of I./Sturzkampfgeschwader 3 for the outstanding success of his Gruppe in the Polish campaign and especially in the West, where his personal leadership from the front enabled effective strikes against troop concentrations in the Libramont–Givet area of southern Belgium, the Maginot Line south of Sedan, enemy tanks near Laon, columns near La Fère, St. Quentin, Lens, Arras, Béthune and Amiens, as well as against destroyers southwest of Calais and the harbour of Dunkirk, repeatedly facilitating the advance of German ground forces and repelling armoured counter-attacks. Promoted further, he was awarded the Eichenlaub (116th recipient) on 2 September 1942 as Oberstleutnant and Geschwaderkommodore of Schlachtgeschwader 3 in recognition of his continued command achievements during the air battles over the English Channel, in Greece, over Crete and throughout the North African campaign; Sigel was killed on 8 May 1944 when his aircraft crashed into the Trondheimsfjord in Norway.
Source :
https://alifrafikkhan.blogspot.com/2017/10/foto-pilot-luftwaffe-dengan-pesawatnya.html
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