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I haven't been able to find any pictures of this feature aside from models, nor any reference to what it is.

I'm going to make a complete guess and suggest it's a searchlight for night-fighting to illuminate the underside of bombers.

Italeri Ju 87 G-2 Italeri Ju 87 G-2

Hobby Craft Ju 87 G-1 Hobby Craft Ju 87 G-1

Hasegawa Ju 87 G-1 Hasegawa Ju 87 G-1

Vikki
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    Please don't change the existing question. You should ask your second question as a new one. One question per post. – Simon May 22 '17 at 13:54

2 Answers2

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enter image description here
(Source) Ju 88 model.

Not just the 87, some Ju 88 models also had it, with no access to it in-flight. As mentioned, it's an antenna. The antenna is part of the EZ6 direction-finding unit.

The glass is not for viewing. It's the construction method to keep the installation as thin as possible. The sense antenna is painted on the glass.

The PRE/6 ferrite antenna for the EZ/6 was extremely flat so that it could be mounted in a 10 cm deep "tub". The lid of the tub was a plexiglass cover with a star shaped sense antenna sprayed on. The plexiglass cover would sit flush with the aircraft skin so that there would be no air resistance from the antenna (unlike the earlier loops used with the EZ 2). (Source)

enter image description here
(Source)

enter image description here
(Source) The EZ6 unit with its different components put together by a serious hobbyist. In the glass box you can see the rotating antenna, and the thin sense antenna on top.

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    From 'Luftfahrt, Bilder, Texte, Dokumente'. Page 3887. Article 'Junkers Ju87 D-1 // Die Bordfunkalage' http://imgur.com/YbcStAC There is a fixed, auxiliary antenna on the cover, perhaps painted. And the direction finding antenna below that cover... – xxavier May 22 '17 at 17:19
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    Page 3887??? That's a serious tome! – FreeMan May 22 '17 at 18:43
  • @FreeMan It's a series with several volumes, the page numbers being assigned in a correlative way... – xxavier May 22 '17 at 19:41
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    Even so, @xxavier, that's a lot of words! – FreeMan May 22 '17 at 19:50
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    Interestingly, it looks like the Italeri Ju 87 G-2 model in the OP might be inaccurately depicted. I see no sign of the star-shaped sense antenna on it, instead there is a vague grid-like pattern as one might find on the lens of a spotlight. Possibly the model manufacturer's mistake? – Doktor J May 22 '17 at 20:33
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    @FreeMan no - its in German, where super-long-compound-words are more common. It probably has single technical words that are multiple lines long! – Criggie May 23 '17 at 04:45
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    @DoktorJ Here http://imgur.com/YbcStAC that 'grid-like pattern' is identified as an antenna. I gave the reference of the photo in an earlier comment – xxavier May 23 '17 at 06:36
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    @Criggie: While it is true that German words are longer on average, and that exceedingly long words can be artificially constructed, I can assure you that even in technical German you won't find multiple-line words. On average, translating English to German yields a 10 to 35% increase in length. I'd much sooner look at the fact that this is a tome of pictures ("Bilder") and documents ("Dokumente"), which will easily cover half a page (and more) each. – DevSolar May 23 '17 at 09:49
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    @Criggie - I was thinkin' it, glad you said it! :) (DevSolar - we're poking fun & realize that real German words aren't that long, they just look that way to non-German speakers...) – FreeMan May 23 '17 at 11:31
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I think it's a transparent cover for a direction-finding loop antenna. The rear gunner doubled as navigator, and probably needed to check the position of the moveable loop antenna.

Ref.: Luftfahrt Bilder, Texte, Dokumenten Mittler Verlag 1978 Page 3389

xxavier
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