Ju 87 ~ I need help

[NETSCAPE]

This is a slightly edited copy of a post I made in the Luftwaffe section of the Axis History Forum. I'm working on the first stages of a scripted campaign for the Ju 87 over Stalingrad, so any questions I ask please consider I'm primarily concerned with this time frame historically (mid-late August 1942 through December). There are two weapons related questions so I wasn't sure if this was the proper sub-forum to post so feel free to move mods. Thanks for any input or help it is greatly appreciated. Here are some basic questions I still scratch my head over:

 

#1 - August 23rd was the official start of the battle... "Six hundred attack aircraft from Fliegerkorps VIII, mainly Ju87 Stuka
dive-bombers, were active over the city that night, bombing indiscriminately over a wide area. Some specially-designated targets were knocked out, including the water works and the telephone exchange. The power station was also hit and would eventually be destroyed."

My question is where did the stuka's take off from during this time frame? Various sites all have the same information listed as to bases of flight groups for example StG1, second group:

8.42 - 9.42     Gorlowka         
9.42 - 10.42     Obliwskaya         
10.42 - 11.42     Karpowka-Waet         
11.42 - 12.42     Obliwskaya & Morosowskaya     

Gorlowka seems quite far away from Stalingrad... did they fly from there or from a farther east operating field? did they land and refuel or load up bombs in Obliwskaya or Morozovskiy ect? I'm asking these questions because I'm making a scripted campaign. On the game map the farthest major airfield to the west is Tatsinskaya. I would like to kick the campaign off on Aug 23rd and have it run through Christmas week.

#2 - What were the most common bomb load outs? How often were the more "exotic" SC1000/SC1800 bombs used and for what purpose (antishipping?)? I am greatly assuming by photos I've seen over the years that the SC500 or SC250 with 4xSC70's was the most common bomb load out. Chris Bishops encyclopedia states the SC250 is the most common bomb used generally.

#3 - When flying on a mission how many Stuka's would typically fly a sortie together in formation? What formation was most common? By reading a couple books I can't seem to get a clear picture on this, numbers vary (just 2, 4, 6 ect), perhaps this reflects reality. Any insight into this would be greatly appreciated. The interview with Heinz-Georg Wilhelm Migeod gave me some insight into defensive tactics like how the formation would purposely form up at slightly different altitudes for MG coverage.

#4 - How much fuel would the Stuka's typically carry? Would they always be filled up completely or would they sometimes carry less to make the plane lighter/faster/increase climb? The flight from Karpowka to Stalingrad is so short I know they had to circle the airfield in order to get altitude.

#5 - What was the typical Altitude for a dive-bomb attack? I recall reading or hearing that they would pull out of the dive around 1km. In the game I personally find diving from 4km to work perfect. sub-question: what if the clouds were so low and heavy that a proper dive attack was impossible? Would they just do shallow dives of 30 or 40 degrees like a Ju 88?

#6 - How often was fighter cover/escort given to the Stuka's sorties? And what kind of (ballpark) ratio are we talking here? I know the air war kind of had a dramatic shift from late summer '42 into winter...so I know there probably isn't any one answer to this, but any input would be awesome.

#7 - How often, if ever, would Stuka's go on patrol looking for enemy tanks/columns ect rather than attack a SPECIFIC designated target?

#8 - How often was the Waffenbehälter 81 (machinegun pods) used? It appears they would be relatively easy to put on and take off, much like a bomb. Though I am no expert and do not know if some special modification had to take place to enable their use. Was it practical to take on and off or were some stuka's just assigned this roll specifically? The weapon practically has no use in multiplayer but in singleplayer I like to mess around with it. The sound of 14 mgs firing is just.....beautiful :D and it would be a blast to implement it in my campaign. But if it's highly unrealistic I won't, plenty of bombs...

Thanks again for any help guys. I know these are really basic questions. But sometimes it's the most basic information that most of my history books leave out. They always focus on the "big picture" too much...

Edited April 27, 2017 by NETSCAPE

[DerNeueMensch]

I found this, unfortunately no sources: https://ww2-weapons.com/stuka/

[NETSCAPE]

Thanks for that. The bit about bombs and formation is helpful. One more site to bookmark among the dozen I already have... lots of highlighting in books too :D