Junkers Ju 87 of 500 sorties per day and caused heavy losses among Soviet forces, losing an average of only one Stuka per day. The Battle of Stalingrad marked the high point in the fortunes of the Junkers Ju 87 Stuka. As the strength of the Soviet Air Forces grew, they gradually wrested control of the skies from the Luftwaffe. From this point onward, Stuka losses increased. The Stuka was also heavily involved in Operation Citadel, the Battle of Kursk. The Luftwaffe committed I, II, III./St.G 1 and III./StG 3 under the command of Luftflotte 6. I., II, III. of StGs 2 and
Junkers T 29 L1a inline engine cowled with its cylinder heads slightly exposed. Pilot and passenger sat side by side over the wing in a cockpit open apart from a longitudinal arch over their heads to protect them like a roll bar, set perpendicularly to the similar cross-fuselage device only used directly "behind" the cockpit on the Junkers J 2, the Junkers J 7 experimental duralumin-structure monoplane and production Junkers D.I fighter of the late World War I years. This unusual feature reminded observers of a handle and earned the J 29 the nickname "Bügeleisen" (en: flat iron). The fuselage tapered to the