Junkers Ju 87 "Stuka" (Dive bomber)

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I was curious about the fixed landing gear so I did a search and found several peoples thoughts on the matter....

"The Stuka did not need extra range of retractable gear. It’s not a fighter, so it did not need the extra something for a dog fight. It was purpose built. Non retractable landing gear has a great advantage of cost, build time and simpler wing construction."

"The stuka was a dive bomber. The conventional gear makes for some real nice built in drag, to slow down the plane in a dive. Back in those days, you had a problem with materials. Weak wings and speed, would cause a control lock and reversal. The wing due to torque would twist the wing, reversing the desired effect from stick input. Just about every plane I can think of can exceed airframe red line in a dive. Fast air does damage the aircraft. Big honkin gear slows the plane down with, dive breaks,"

"Other reasons were weight, simplicity and ease of maintenance, all important factors in the design specification."

"Many dive bombers had, as wheel housings and hydraulics in the wing would cause a weaker wing structure."
 
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