That is prototype, with its unlikely prone pilot position, is here at all. The only reason it made it onto our list is that it attempted to address the primary failing of the dive bomber: its inability to get away from fighters. The world is still waiting patiently for a jet dive-bomber to make an appearance. The Hs 132 was intended to be the world’s first jet-propelled dive bomber but it was never finished. Prior to the War, Henschel were a locomotive manufacturer who noted that Germany was going a teensy bit belligerent, and decided to cash in on this trend by building tanks and combat aircraft. What is up with the fascination for Nazi prototypes anyway? They were hastily assembled, with cheap plywood construction and short-lifespan turbojets clamped to all the wrong places? It’s like Scrapheap Challenge for racists with a uniform kink. These were sometimes impressive (like the Tiger tank) but often crap. Henschel rinsed the Third Reich for seven bazillion Reichsmarks-worth of weapons systems. “Not a photograph at all, rather a remarkably lifelike drawing by artist Gerd Heumann” – Dan Sharp As you can see it has been heavily retouched to make the aircraft look more finished than it actually is. Only one ‘photograph’ exists of the complete Hs 132 and this is it. Dive bomber pilots and their back-seaters had to be young and fit, and capable of ice-cold aggression. Ground-fire, fast enemy fighters and the rapidly approach ground itself savaged the unlucky. A diving attack had greater precision than a conventional approach, but it was also exceptionally dangerous. ![]() They needed to be strong, as diving at a steep (sometimes near vertical) angle and then abruptly pulling-up after weapons release puts great strain on the airframe –and the pilot. ![]() One is even a jet.ĭive bombers are rarely pretty, but what they lack in beauty they make up for with structural strength some of these airframes are among the strongest ever built. You knew we were going to do this some day and here we are. Take a deep breath and shove the control column forward as you plummet into the hellscape of the top ten dive bombers. Italy never developed a decent dive bomber but in 1939 Tullio Crali painted the best dive bombing picture: ‘Nose Dive on the City’.
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