WWII 1943 German Army Dive Bomber "Junkers JU 88" W.E.F.T.U.P. ID Poster

Description: Size: 19 x 25 inchesThis original ‘RESTRICTED’ aircraft identification poster was published by the U.S. Naval Aviation Training Division Jan 1943. This poster was posted as a training tool as well as an in theater ID poster to help U.S. and other Allied pilots, bomber crews and Naval personal to identify Allied and enemy aircraft. W.E.F.T.U.P. or Wing, Engine, Fuselage, Tail, Undercarriage, Peculiarities was a system set up for the purpose of aircraft identification and recognition. World War II saw some of the first introduction of these aircraft ID poster to prevent friendly fire and more accurate plane recognition in combat. It was believed these posters alone could save countless lives from friendly aircraft-on-aircraft or friendly anit-aircraft fire. These posters also could cut down precious second pilots, bomber gunners, and naval gun crews would have to ID a plane flying towards them intern saving their lives by shooting first. Each poster provides the silhouettes, dimensions, and relevant information to educate both air and ground personnel in aircraft identification. Immediate identification of aircraft, friendly or not, was essential in order for the observer (whether in the air e.g., pilot, gunner, or patrol observer, or on the ground, e.g., anti-aircraft crew) to determine his next course of action (e.g., acknowledge, attack, evade, or report). Each poster details a large clean sky and background image of the specified aircraft located as the main top imagine on the poster. It also contains important ‘peculiarities’ such as where certain gun emplacements are located, other special aircraft features, as well as wing and length measurements. Junkers Ju 88:The Junkers Ju 88 is a German World War II Luftwaffe twin-engined multirole combat aircraft. Junkers Aircraft and Motor Works (JFM) designed the plane in the mid-1930s as a so-called Schnellbomber ("fast bomber") that would be too fast for fighters of its era to intercept. It suffered from technical problems during its development and early operational periods but became one of the most versatile combat aircraft of the war. Like a number of other Luftwaffe bombers, it served as a bomber, dive bomber, night fighter, torpedo bomber, reconnaissance aircraft, heavy fighter and at the end of the war, as a flying bomb.Despite a protracted development, it became one of the Luftwaffe's most important aircraft. The assembly line ran constantly from 1936 to 1945 and more than 15,000 Ju 88s were built in dozens of variants, more than any other twin-engine German aircraft of the period. Throughout production the basic structure of the aircraft remained unchanged.Only 12 Ju 88s saw action during the invasion of Poland. The unit Erprobungskommando 88 (Ekdo 88) was responsible for testing new bomber designs and their crews under hostile conditions. They selected 12 aircraft and their crews and attached them to 1./Kampfgeschwader 25. As a result of its small operational numbers, the type made no impact.The Luftwaffe's order of battle for the French campaign reveals all but one of the Luftwaffe's Fliegerkorps (I. Fliegerkorps) contained Ju 88s in the combat role. The mixed bomber units, including the Ju 88, of Kampfgeschwader 51 (under the command of Luftflotte 3) helped claim between 233 and 248 Allied aircraft on the ground between 10 and 13 May 1940. The Ju 88 was particularly effective at dive-bombing. Between 13 and 24 May, I. and II./KG 54 flew 174 attack against rail systems, paralysing French logistics and mobility. On 17 June 1940, Junkers Ju 88s (mainly from Kampfgeschwader 30) destroyed a "10,000 tonne ship", the 16,243 grt ocean liner RMS Lancastria, off Saint-Nazaire, killing some 5,800 Allied personnel. Some 133 Ju 88s were pressed into the Blitzkrieg, but very high combat losses and accidents forced a quick withdrawal from action to re-train crews to fly this very high-performance aircraft. Some crews were reported to be more scared of the Ju 88 than the enemy, and requested a transfer to an He 111 unit. By this time, major performance deficiencies in the A-1 led to an all-out effort in a major design rework. The outcome was a longer, 20.08 m (65.9 ft) wingspan, from extended rounded wing tips that had already been standardised on the A-4 version, that was deemed needed for all A-1s; thus the A-5 was born. Surviving A-1s were modified as quickly as possible, with new wings to A-5 specifications.

Price: 245 USD

Location: Bloomington, Illinois

End Time: 2024-11-16T20:56:51.000Z

Shipping Cost: 15 USD