Digital History Seminar: 20th Century Spain

VJ/88 - Versuchsjagdstaffel 88

The Versuchsjagdstaffel 88 VJ/88 was an experimental fighter aircraft group. This unit did help develop and test the Messerschmidt Bf 109s, Heinkel He 112s, and Junkers Ju 87As, before being integrated with J/88. A special feature of the group were the single-engine dive bombers Junkers Ju 87A "Stuka", which were used in small quantities. These belonged at times to the J/88, but ultimately they formed as Stuka 88 an independent part of the K/88 [1].
After the decision in 1937 to use the Bf 109 over the He 112 the experimental unit VJ/88 was reassigned under the command of J/88 [2].
The Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter, the Heinkel He 111 medium bomber and, from December 1937, the Junkers Ju 87 "Stuka" dive bomber, participated for the first time in the Condor Legion against aircraft supplied by the Soviets. All these planes subsequently played a major role during the first years of the Second World War. The Germans soon realized that the days of the biplane fighters were over, so the Heinkel He 51 fighter was transferred to a ground attack role and, much later, He 51 was relegated to the role of a training aircraft.

 

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