Last time a Stuka flew?

[p51]

Someone asked me today when the final flight of a Stuka occurred.
I have no idea. Many of us know of the survivors and I've seen two of them. But is it reasonable to think one of those made the last flight?
Does anyone know for sure?

[mike furline]

Found this, https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/ind ... t-mission/
"Until 25th May 1945, the Stuka flew 34 combat sorties in the hands of the Yugoslav Partisan Army of a total duration of 33 hours and 15 minutes. During that period 16 50kg bombs and 88 12kg bombs had been dropped onto enemy positions. Some sources say that this aircraft was used for the last time on 28 May 1945 attacking German forces refusing to surrender, making it the last combat sortie of a Ju 87!"

Perhaps a later 1945 flight by a USAAF or RAF captured aircraft?

[Paul Stroud]

This is the RAF Museum record for their Ju87G-2. Unfortunately it doesn't date the last flight and says it was captured for preservation not evaluation, so no clues. Interestingly it was considered for airworthy restoration for the 'Battle of Britain' film but cost put a stop to that. (See entry for March 67)

https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/documents/ ... -Ju-87.pdf

[DoraNineFan]

This is the RAF Museum record for their Ju87G-2. Unfortunately it doesn't date the last flight and says it was captured for preservation not evaluation, so no clues. Interestingly it was considered for airworthy restoration for the 'Battle of Britain' film but cost put a stop to that. (See entry for March 67)

https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/documents/ ... -Ju-87.pdf

The RAF Museum records say that the G-2 W.Nr. 494083 never flew and was never assigned an Air Ministry number. So it was moved around by truck for years. The museum also says that during planning for the Battle of Britain film, the MoD gave permission to bring the aircraft to airworthy condition. It was started and taxied around in March 1967 but the efforts to get it flying were soon stopped because of the costs to get it flying. There are home movies and "behind the scenes" film from the Battle of Britain filming and I've always wondered if someone thought to record the Stuka.

I'm not seeing any records of any Ju-87 at Freeman Field for testing by the AAF.

Looking to today, I'm losing hope of seeing the example at Flying Heritage being completed anytime soon. The combination of the delay from Paul Allen's sister closing the museum and the death of one or more of the experts for that project have stopped all progress. And I think it will be at least a decade before the Collings Foundation example will be close to done.

Last edited by DoraNineFan on Sun Mar 30, 2025 10:11 am, edited 1 time in total.

[Firebird]

Found this, https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/ind ... t-mission/
"Until 25th May 1945, the Stuka flew 34 combat sorties in the hands of the Yugoslav Partisan Army of a total duration of 33 hours and 15 minutes. During that period 16 50kg bombs and 88 12kg bombs had been dropped onto enemy positions. Some sources say that this aircraft was used for the last time on 28 May 1945 attacking German forces refusing to surrender, making it the last combat sortie of a Ju 87!"

Perhaps a later 1945 flight by a USAAF or RAF captured aircraft?

Highly probable those were the last flights of a Ju-87. I don't think any Ju-87 were flown post war by RAF or USAAF (or even Soviet AF) as by then it was old tech, and the enemy evaluation flights post war were only interested in the Germans late war new and jet tech, and certainly not a Ju-87.
The fact that so few even survived beyond 1945 shows they were just been collected up and thrown into scrap yards for melting down more than any thing else.

[Dave Smith]

Captain Eric Brown's book Wings of the Luftwaffe describes his flight of a Ju 87D on 23 August 1945. He encountered the Stuka at Husum, Schleswig Holstein while looking for more modern types to ferry back to England. He writes that he always wanted to fly one, so here was an opportunity.

[hurricane_yank]

I would assume that some of the "other" operators still used them post-1945.

Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Yugoslavia

I could have sworn years ago I saw a picture of one in 1946.

[JohnB]

I agree with Firebird above, I've never heard of or seen one being flown for evaluation.
I can't imagine one being flown as a captured "hack", but that might have been done.

For a type that was so influential to U.S. procurement policies...leading to the USAAF's brief infatuation with dive bombers (A-31, A-24, A-25, A-36)...you would think someone might have Ben curious to evaluate its performance.

[sandiego89]

Czechoslovakia operated a small number of Ju-87D postwar designated the B-37. Some sources say 5, some say two lingered as which was likely the last operational use of any Ju-87.

Good catch by Dave Smith with the August 1945 date by Eric Brown.

Wiki states: "The Czechoslovakian Air Force operated captured aircraft postwar, five Ju 87 D-5s registrations OK-XAA – OK-XAE - OK-KAC. These were operated by the Czechs under the “B-37" designation" citing the reference of Griehl, Manfred (2001). Junker Ju 87 Stuka. London/Stuttgart: Airlife/Motorbuch. ISBN 1-84037-198-6.

Another source:

"It was either divine justice or a bad joke that the last operational Ju-87s in the world were two survivors flown as trainers after the war by one of the Reich’s first conquests—the postwar air force of Czechoslovakia, which by then had become a Soviet satellite".

https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your ... ough-wwii/

possible Czech reference:

https://www.databazeknih.cz/knihy/letad ... otu-152364

[sandiego89]

Czechoslovakia operated a small number of Ju-87D postwar designated the B-37. Some sources say 5, some say two lingered as which was likely the last operational use of any Ju-87.

Good catch by Dave Smith with the August 1945 date by Eric Brown.

Wiki states: "The Czechoslovakian Air Force operated captured aircraft postwar, five Ju 87 D-5s registrations OK-XAA – OK-XAE - OK-KAC. These were operated by the Czechs under the “B-37" designation" citing the reference of Griehl, Manfred (2001). Junker Ju 87 Stuka. London/Stuttgart: Airlife/Motorbuch. ISBN 1-84037-198-6.

Another source:

"It was either divine justice or a bad joke that the last operational Ju-87s in the world were two survivors flown as trainers after the war by one of the Reich’s first conquests—the postwar air force of Czechoslovakia, which by then had become a Soviet satellite".

https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your ... ough-wwii/

possible Czech reference:

https://www.databazeknih.cz/knihy/letad ... otu-152364