FS2002/FS2004 Junkers Ju 187.
Luft'46 Art Aircraft Series No.5.
By the time of the Battle of Britain, the venerable Junkers Ju 87 design was beginning to show some of its shortcomings.
A new, faster, better armed and better armored replacement was needed, so work was begun on the Ju 187 design.
It kept some of the features of the earlier Ju 87, such as the cranked (gull) wing and two man crew, but added retractable landing gear and a very novel reversible vertical tail.
One of the most unusual features was the movable vertical tail fin, which could be moved 180 degrees in flight, thus clearing the field of fire for the rear gunner.
Although windtunnel models and even a full-sized mock-up was built, the project was canceled due to the fact that the projected performance was not that much of an improvement from the older Ju 87, and also that fighter-bombers such as the Fw 190F series could do the job as well as specialized dive bombers.
Original Paint Art by Gino Marcomini.
by Kazunori Ito.