Planes & Pilots No. 4
Junkers JU87 From 1936 to 1945

Authors: Herbert Leonard
& Andre Jouineau

Publisher: Histoire & Collections
ISBN: 2-913903-53-3
MSRP: $20.00

By Ray Mehlberger

The JU-87 was nicknamed the Stuka. This is a contraction of the German word "Sturmkampflugzueg", which means "dive bomber". Its combat efficiency and psychological effect, as much on the military as on civilian populations, was written in blood during WWII. At first, it carried wind-driven sirens on its wheel pants that was meant to scare the hell out of the enemy.

This is the 4th book in the series, from this French publisher, that has been translated into English from the original French. The book is in their usual 8" x 9 1/2" soft-cover format. It contains 82 pages. There are 32 black and white war-time photos, 16 line drawings (five of which are multi-views), no less than 115 full color side profiles, a listing of all the types - from prototype to JU-87H, a listing of Luftwaffe units that flew Stukas, drawings of various Stuka unit letter codes used on fuselages, color drawings of 47 different Stuka unit insignias, and camouflage pattern explanations etc.

The book covers: the first prototypes, the organization of Stuka units, the JU-87A "Anton series" (including a color profile of the single one that went to Japan) , JU-87B "Bertha" series (including an interesting one on skis), JU-87R long-range version, JU-87C "Caesar series" (includes a drawing of one with folded wings and a tail hook, intended for use aboard the never finished Graf Zeppelin aircraft carrier), JU-87D "Dora" series (including a drawing of one with above-wing pods for carrying spies), JU-87E, JU-87F, JU-187, JU-287 (all four of these being engineering projects), the JU-87G tank buster version, and the proposed JU-87H (never built).

Color profiles are shown from Germany and her allies that flew Stukas. There are Legion Condor (Spanish Civil War) schemes, Hungarian, Italian, Romanian, and Bulgarian schemes.

This book is wealth of information for the aircraft modeler, aviation enthusiast, or historian. Highly recommended.

I purchased my copy at the Barnes & Nobles book store in town.