Junkers Ju 87 It was produced until 1944 for lack of a better replacement. By then ground-attack versions of the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 had largely replaced the Stuka, but Stukas remained in service until the end of the war. An estimated 6,500 Ju 87s of all versions were built between 1936 and August 1944. "Oberst" Hans-Ulrich Rudel was the most successful Stuka ace and the most highly decorated German serviceman of the Second World War. The Ju 87's principal designer, Hermann Pohlmann, held the opinion that any dive-bomber design needed to be simple and robust. This led to many technical innovations, such as
Junkers J 2 earlier J 1's structure. Junkers began wind tunnel and design work promptly upon receipt of the contract, and by the end of the spring of 1916 the first example was completed. The J 2 differed from the J 1 in having a cowling that almost entirely enclosed the engine, a rounded upper and lower fuselage section instead of the rectangular section of the J 1., and a narrower and deeper ventral radiator enclosure, and had a horizontal stabilizer planform shape that would become familiar on later, all-duralumin Junkers monoplane designs to be built during 1917-18. The "all-moving" rudder still possessed