To the three most infamous dictators of the 20th century, the
airplane was much more than a way to get from Stalag A to Gulag
B. - By Von Hardesty - Air & Space magazine, May 2005 BY THE
SUMMER OF 1941, OPERATON BARBAROSSA, Hitler’s bold plan for the
invasion of Soviet Russia, was in full swing. With the Soviet
armies in retreat, Hitler invited his Italian ally, Benito
Mussolini, to fly with him to the war zone in his Fw 200 Condor,
the Immelmann III. The journey would allow Hitler to savor his
triumphs in the east and to view the conquered Ukraine, where
his Army Group South had destroyed 20 enemy divisions and taken
over 200,000 prisoners. Hitler firmly believed that Joseph
Stalin and his Bolshevik regime now faced extinction. The trip
to the Ukraine called for a flight of over 600 miles to an
airstrip at Uman´, in an active sector of the front 150 miles
south of Kiev. The weather proved ideal—little turbulence and a
nearly cloudless sky. Joining Hitler and Mussolini for the
flight were Nazi Foreign Ministe