# Germans designed their WWII planes to scream? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 12, 2009, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germans-designed-their-wwii-planes-to-scream/492786 "2009-04-12T00:20:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FE3O4ENAIL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ba9def/32.png) [@FE3O4ENAIL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FE3O4ENAIL)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2009, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germans-designed-their-wwii-planes-to-scream/492786/1 "2009-04-12T00:20:20Z")
According to the history channel it was an element of design intent, that their planes would instill fear on the intended targets due to the noise they made while diving. Anyone have any information on this? It would seem to me that there would be inefficiencies associated with the generation of sound waves that would impact some other aspect of performance. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2009, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germans-designed-their-wwii-planes-to-scream/492786/2 "2009-04-12T00:34:24Z")
Try Googling “stuka siren”. The natural scream of the Stuka was probably an accidental result of the design of the plane’s wings. However the Nazis augmented it by attaching sirens that were spun by the airflow past the plane. The additional drag caused by the sirens was minimal. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2009, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germans-designed-their-wwii-planes-to-scream/492786/3 "2009-04-12T00:43:38Z")
It was specifically the [Junkers Ju 87 Stuka](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junkers_Ju_87) that had the sirens attached. The Stuka clearly wasn’t designed with optimal aerodynamics in mind. And it didn’t need them - for its purposes, speed and manoeuvrability weren’t primary concerns. ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2009, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germans-designed-their-wwii-planes-to-scream/492786/4 "2009-04-12T01:09:58Z")
The Stuka was a dive bomber. It would approach the target at high altitude, and once above it move into a nearly vertical dive. This gave more accuracy and less time under attack by air defenses. Now, to keep the plane from diving so fast that it would be unable to come out of the dive, there were actually dives brakes to slow the plane down. Adding a siren does create drag, but like the brakes I believe it was deployable. That plane in particular was designed almost exclusively to be a dive bomber. Other planes, designed for other tasks, could literally break apart if they attempted the same maneuver. It was pretty poor at everything else. I don’t believe that other planes had such a siren. ETA: Here’s an [example](http://agapemodels.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/dive-flaps.jpg) of dive brakes (on a model of a US dive bomber). And here’s the [siren itself](http://image2-2.rcuniverse.com/e1/forum/upfiles/26512/Lj22042.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2009, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germans-designed-their-wwii-planes-to-scream/492786/5 "2009-04-12T01:41:48Z")
Awesome thread. Kids! May I also add that Wagner’s _Ride of The Valkyries_ supposedly was played on the headsets of the Stuka pilots? Am I right or wrong on that one, Brainies? May just be a legend, but damn! Have Y’all **heard** “The Ride…”? Quasi ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2009, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germans-designed-their-wwii-planes-to-scream/492786/6 "2009-04-12T01:56:52Z")
Heh, I thought that was just a Strangelove thing. It’d be awesome if real planes played it! ---
**Author:** ![Telperion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telperion/32/509_2.png) [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2009, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germans-designed-their-wwii-planes-to-scream/492786/7 "2009-04-12T02:00:33Z")
It’s almost certainly a legend, the radio on a Stuka was controlled by the rear gunner and not the pilot. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2009, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germans-designed-their-wwii-planes-to-scream/492786/8 "2009-04-12T02:09:40Z")
> [@Telperion](#): > > It’s almost certainly a legend, the radio on a Stuka was controlled by the rear gunner and not the pilot. Thanks, **Tel**! You may be right. I was born in 1949 (way AFTER the war) so a lot of what I “picked up” from my Dad (82nd Airborne) might have gotten misconstrued. **However** , Y’all… I saw a proram on the History Channel last month about the first German jet which featured a segment saying that the pilots of this jet (Messerschmitt, I think?) had to sign off on a paper promising they would not crash it! Can anyone comment on this one please? Thanks Der Quas’ ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2009, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germans-designed-their-wwii-planes-to-scream/492786/9 "2009-04-12T02:12:54Z")
> [@FE3O4ENAIL](#): > > According to the history channel it was an element of design intent, that their planes would instill fear on the intended targets due to the noise they made while diving. > Anyone have any information on this? It would seem to me that there would be inefficiencies associated with the generation of sound waves that would impact some other aspect of performance. They sure did. You never watched a typical WW2 war movie ? There’s almost always _one_ German air raid at some point, and there’s always that dopplering, screaming wayeeeeEEEEEEEN sound to accompany it (not to mistake for the ground air raid siren though, that’s a different sound). If all else fails, you can hear an actual Stuka diving siren at the end of Pink Floyd’s “In The Flesh” song (first track on The Wall) ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2009, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germans-designed-their-wwii-planes-to-scream/492786/10 "2009-04-12T02:27:10Z")
I don’t know if anyone caught it or not, but that document about signing off on the Messerschmitt jet was really ludicrous, don’t ya’ll think? I mean, I don’t _doubt_ that at that late stage of the game (Germans losing the war) they might have had their pilots sign this stupid thing, but didn’t they realize that if the jet crashed it wouldn’t mean a hill of beans who signed what??? Still, it was an experimental airplane, right? And they had that idiot in the bunker still thinking he could win the friggin’ war, didn’t they? :rolleyes: Q ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2009, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germans-designed-their-wwii-planes-to-scream/492786/11 "2009-04-12T02:32:41Z")
Side question, related… do bombs released from bombers really whistle as they’re often depicted, and if so, were they designed that way? What would have been the purpose? ---
**Author:** ![mrpayday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@mrpayday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrpayday)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2009, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germans-designed-their-wwii-planes-to-scream/492786/12 "2009-04-12T02:37:40Z")
They did deliberately crash planes into bombers near the end of the war. I don’t know if they were me262s though. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2009, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germans-designed-their-wwii-planes-to-scream/492786/13 "2009-04-12T02:53:31Z")
Watching the tread. I am Sooooo interested in my heritage! (I was born to a German munitions worker - Mom and and an American Dad) Thanks Q ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2009, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germans-designed-their-wwii-planes-to-scream/492786/14 "2009-04-12T03:20:05Z")
And if a crew member bails out, he had to use the Wilhelm scream. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2009, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germans-designed-their-wwii-planes-to-scream/492786/15 "2009-04-12T03:38:49Z")
Don’t tell me: “Ach du Lieber!” 🙂 Q ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2009, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germans-designed-their-wwii-planes-to-scream/492786/16 "2009-04-12T04:03:56Z")
> [@Quasimodem](#): > > “Ach du Lieber!” 🙂 Augustine? 😉 Actually, [Wilhelm Scream](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_scream) (with audio link). ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2009, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germans-designed-their-wwii-planes-to-scream/492786/17 "2009-04-12T04:43:44Z")
> [@Quasimodem](#): > > Awesome thread. Kids! > > May I also add that Wagner’s _Ride of The Valkyries_ supposedly was played on the headsets of the Stuka pilots? > > Am I right or wrong on that one, Brainies? > > May just be a legend, but damn! Have Y’all **heard** “The Ride…”? > > Quasi If they didn’t, they [should have](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sx7XNb3Q9Ek). ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2009, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germans-designed-their-wwii-planes-to-scream/492786/18 "2009-04-12T06:29:01Z")
From a Vet: Thank you, and Og love the Hueys! Thanks! Bill ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2009, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germans-designed-their-wwii-planes-to-scream/492786/19 "2009-04-12T07:12:22Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > And if a crew member bails out, he had to use the Wilhelm scream. More like sheisse, verdammit 🙂 Declan ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2009, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germans-designed-their-wwii-planes-to-scream/492786/20 "2009-04-12T09:13:34Z")
Quasi- are you talking of the ME 262 or the Komet? Not that I think anyone had to sign a release note. They were dangerous enough to fly anyway. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germans-designed-their-wwii-planes-to-scream/492786.md?page=2)