The Little World

I am led to this line of thought by the glued-together Stuka – devoid of filler, undercoat, paint, wheels or any other signs of civilisation. As luck would have it it sat next to a completed model of a Northrop BT-1 for a while and the differences in the ships was marked:

a. The Stuka is bigger in all dimensions – higher, stalkier, wider. The wingtips stick out like the ears of a British crown prince. The wheels and spats are ludicrously simple and oversized.

b. The pilot gets a good look ahead in the Stuka and the gunner gets a good look behind in the BT-1. Otherwise not so hot. They all get a good look out the sides of their respective greenhouses.

c. They both need a trapeze to dive-bomb without taking off their own propellers. The German one looks a smarter design, but. Could have made a torpedo bomber of it, perhaps.

d. The folding dive brakes of the BT-1 are far in advance of the Stuka’s air blockers.

The fact that the BT-1 had to fit on a carrier’s elevator meant that its dimensions were circumscribed – the Stuka was a land plane. But if the GRAF ZEPPELIN had ever got to sea apparently they were going to put modified Stukas on it. It would have surely had clipped and folding wings, but I bet it would still have been a sitting duck – albeit one further out to sea.