Luftwaffe Stuka - strange damage

[Stijn David]

Hello,

Here is one that did came in today in a glider officer grouping. This Ju 87 sure had better times => i just wonder what happened with it? hit by a bomb from very nearby ? hit from anotehr plane?

The picture was taken at Lemberg - july 1943.

Has anyone similar pictures from german aircrafts with strange damage?

Cordial greetings + thanks for looking,

[Ralph A]

Wild guess: electrical fire in the radio equipment.

[Stogieman]

Looks like he just set it down a little too hard on the tail and the airframe buckled... note all the panels/skin laying haphazardly about...

[hankmeister]

Fat back seater?

Hank

[slava1stclass]

To all:

Hermann Goering would be my guess.

Regards,

slava1stclass

[Stijn David]

Hello,

=> a few fine answes for sure, hehe

I think however that the damage is to be sought in a bomb attack, here is a picture from the very same airfield. This Go 242 was obviously hit by a bomb of some sort.

I think that the Ju 87 was hit in a same way, but that picture is probably neater due to the fact that they cleaned up already a few things and did start in removing usable parts for reuse.

Cordial greetings,

[Laurence Strong]

Could it be the result of strafing or rocket attacks? My guess would be that the bombs would have punched through the aircraft and into the ground prior to detonating, thus leaving some form of discernable crater

[Dolf]

Right.

If hit by bombs then where are the craters?

Dolf

[Stijn David]

Hello,

Indeed no visible crater => howver iff we look close to the picture of the Go we can see earth lying upon the aircraft etc ... (wingpart, body of the plane) and also some uneven places on the ground.

It depends offcoarse on wich type of bomb did hit these planes. Obvious the power of destruction was good enough to disable the Go 242.

About the Ju, is it possible that it would have been replaced from the original place where it was hit by something (or came in to hard) to scrap it?

Cordial greetings,

[Gene]

Hard landing

[Dolf]

I guess I agree with Laurence, it looks more like the result of strafing or rocket attacks, probably followed by a fire. Or a direct point blank artillery hit!

I don't know if a hard landing would provoke that kind of damage!

Dolf

[Andy_F]

Hello,

Here is one that did came in today in a glider officer grouping. This Ju 87 sure had better times => i just wonder what happened with it? hit by a bomb from very nearby ? hit from anotehr plane?

The picture was taken at Lemberg - july 1943.

Has anyone similar pictures from german aircrafts with strange damage?

Cordial greetings + thanks for looking,

Just guessing but if the photo was taken in Jul43 then I doubt very much that the aircraft were damaged in a strafing/rocket attack as Lemberg (Lvov) is located in Poland and as of mid 43 was beyond Western Allied or Soviet ability to attack in such a manner.

I would guess the damage is as a result of heavy landings in both cases.

Edited July 15, 2006 by Andy_F

[Bob Hunter]

Probably the first of the Luftwaffe Low Riders. Happens every time you put a guy in the air with less than 8 hours stick and rudder time.

[Kev in Deva]

Hallo Stijn David

The damage to this Stuka looks more surgical than that to plane in the second picture, the ground under the Stuka looks relatively undamaged, and some of the parts of aluminum seem to have been removed by a salvage crew, also there is no sign of a fire, no evidence of soot or melted metal, and from the area around the cockpit and wings there appears to be very little damage, so I guess its been pranged, or suffered a burst of fire through the rear fusalage.

At worst a bad attack of rado battery acid gremlins

Kevin in Deva.

Edited July 15, 2006 by Kev in Deva

[Kev in Deva]

Hallo Gents just spotted this on Ebay at:

http://cgi.ebay.com/1942-Original-INP-Phot...1QQcmdZViewItem

Sorry its a small picture but this really is ANTI-AIRCRAFT in its very basic role

Kevin in Deva