Ju-87G Stuka

[Furio]

Originally Posted by Pursuivant

I have no idea. Rudel didn't describe the incident in detail. He claims that the Russian pilot was either shot by his gunner or lost control due to the backwash of the Stuka's propeller. All we know is that Rudel and his gunner survived and the Russian pilot did not.

The incident is possibly historically accurate, since the Soviet ace Shestakov went missing in the same operational area where Rudel was operating. Beyond that, there's no real evidence.

But, I think that we're in agreement that the odds heavily favor a competently-flown fighter against a Stuka.

The point is: all we know is what Rudel told about this encounter. And his tale is very suspicious. He was flying a plane with much slower top speed, much lower manoeuvrability and probably higher stalling speed (depending on load, of course). Its only advantage was the presence of a gunner, and we should eventually applaud gunner’s marksmanship, but we know that most, if not all, light bombers had similar defensive armament, and usually suffered heavy to appalling losses, regardless their pilots ability.

Overall, Rudel’s memories defy all the rules of probability and his victory tally makes one wonder how Germany lost the war.