Junkers Ju 88

Juncker Family History Ju 88

The Junkers Ju 88 formed a third of the Luftwaffe's medium bomber triad during World War II (1939-1945) and was used on countless battlefields along with its sister aircraft, the Dornier Do 17 and Heinkel He 111 The characters go far beyond their original "fast bomber" category. The roles eventually include specialized night fighters, torpedo bombers, and special mission aircraft. The Ju 88 was the most produced of the three bombers, with 15,183 completed by the end of the war in 1945.

She saw her final days in the French Air Force and retired in 1951.

The design of the Ju 88 fell to W. H. Evers and Alfred Gassner, and its prototype was a bomber that could fly fast enough to evade enemy interceptors and ground fire. Junkers engineers were interested in their Ju 85 prototype, a traditional twin-engine form with a twin vertical tail arrangement from the German aviation ministry. This developed into a new requirement of the Ministry in August 1935 for a three-man Schnellomber with a 2,200-pound payload, and in June 1936 Junkers was awarded a prototype contract for the work.

Five prototypes - V1 to V5 - followed, with the main difference being the proposed weapon configuration, while the V6 was followed by a revised chassis design. An official first flight followed on December 21, 1936, a V1 prototype with civilian markings to hide the aircraft's true military bombing role.

Development continued and the design evolved into a heavier form with reinforced wings, a crew of four and a lengthened fuselage. The aircraft was now proving better suited to the rigors of bombing, with an additional crew assisting with general operations and defense of the aircraft. The type demonstrated a range of 620 miles and could reach speeds of 320 mph under a 4,400-pound war load pressure.

Although the Luftwaffe authorities pursued the design with some vigoureven while pursuing the competing designs of Dornier and Heinkeldevelopment problems delayed the completion of the product, which was due to enter service in 1938. The genre was officially adopted in 1939 and was on call in limited numbers during the German invasion of Poland beginning WWII (September 1).

The Ju 88 had a rather ugly appearance, but was in line with the design trends of German bombers at the time. The heavily framed cockpit has a layered layout overlooking a short, glass-enclosed nose section. The fuselage is expected to be tubular, terminating in a single circular vertical tail at the rear. The main wing of the aircraft is mounted low in the front of the aircraft, and the engine nacelles are mounted on the leading edge of each wing.

The engine has a large spinner and drives a three-bladed propeller unit. Most Ju 88 versions included a ventral nacelle for defending the machine gun position. The landing gear arrangement is a typical trailing configuration with two main legs.

The main bomber model, collectively referred to as "Ju 88A", was powered by 2 Junkers Jumo 211 series engines, including 6 sub-models. The Ju 88A-0 was a pre-production aircraft that later produced the A-1 variant and its Junkers Jumo 211B-1 series of engines, each producing 1,200 hp. The A-2 model was followed by the Jumo 211G-1 engine, while the A-3 was used as a dual-control trainer platform. The Ju 88A-4 was an improved A-model that introduced rounded wingtips and extended wings at the end of the main aircraft.

The A-5 model is an earlier A-model brand that does not meet the A-4 model standard, including its modifications.

The A-4 model had a crew of four, including a pilot, a bombardier who also served as an archer, a radio operator who also served as a rear gunner, and a navigator who also served as a belly gunner. Dimensions include a length of 15.3 meters, a wingspan of 20 meters and a height of 5 meters. Maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) is approaching 30,870 pounds, while power is provided by two Junkers Jumo 211J series liquid-cooled inverted V12 engines, each rated at 1,400 horsepower. Top speed reaches 317 mph, range is up to 1,430 miles, service is capped at 29,500 feet, and climb rate reaches 770 feet per minute.

The armament is centered on six 7.92mm MG81 machine guns - one in the nose, one on the cockpit windshield, two in the rear of the cockpit flight deck, and one in the belly nacelle facing aft. Bomb carrying capacity through the internal bomb bay reaches 3,100 lbs, although bombs up to 6,600 lbs can be deployed at external hardpoints at the cost of increased drag and weight.

The Ju 88B is a modified form that replaces the original stepped cockpit with an all-glass nose section. Ten pre-production models appeared, affecting the related Junkers Ju 188 aircraft - another medium-range aircraft used for tactical bomber and reconnaissance missions - with 1,234 produced for this particular brand.

The heavy fighter model was born through the Ju 88C initiative and is largely based on the original A model line. The Ju 88C-1 is a 20-unit modification of the A-1 model, and the C-2 aircraft are drawn from the inventory of A-5 aircraft. The C-3s were fitted with BMW engines rather than Junkers Jumos for the heavy fighter role, but their mass production was not imminent. The C-4 is another heavy fighter that doubles its reconnaissance role, and 60 of this type are made up of the existing A-5 variant.

Four examples of C-4 aircraft make up the C-5 with BMW 801 series engines. The C-6 is a heavy twin/night fighter variant derived from the A-4 bomber, powered by a 1,420 hp Junkers Jumo 211J engine. About 900 of this standard were built.

The Ju 88D model was the photo reconnaissance brand, the D-1 and D-2 became the long-range models, and the D-3, D-4 and D-5 became the "tropical" models for desert service.

The Ju 88G was a dedicated night fighter based on the A model, but without the drag-inducing ventral nacelles. Instead, 4 x 20mm guns were mounted along the belly and the fuselage was slightly lengthened. The fuselage used the empennage of the aforementioned Ju 188 branch.

The G-1 includes the BMW 801 1,700 hp radial piston engine and the FuG 200 "Lichtenstein" radar. The G-6 uses a 1,750 hp Junkers Jumo 213A engine and a FuG 218 "Neptun" - or FuG 200 series radar.

Antennas played an important role in this design, and some were equipped with angled-firing (tilted up) artillery weapons. The G-7 was primarily based on the G-6, but was equipped with a Jumo 213E engine for improved high-altitude performance.

The Ju-88H is used for long-range photographic reconnaissance missions, relying on the G-type fuselage. The H-1 is a water patrol model and the H-2 is a dedicated heavy fighter brand. The H-3 is a long-range water patrol platform and the H-4 is another heavy fighter variant.

The Ju 88P line requires heavy fighters to fulfill the role of tank destroyer and bomber destroyer. The P-1 was fitted with a 75mm BK cannon in the abdomen and the P-2 was fitted with 2 x 37mm BK 37 guns in the same belly position. The P-3 followed the design line of the P-2, but added more armor to improve survivability for the dangerous low-altitude missions expected from an attack-oriented design. The P-4 is armed with a 50mm BK 5 series gun as its main weapon.

The P-5 surpassed them by installing an 88mm anti-tank/anti-aircraft field gun.

The night fighter was also born through the Ju 88R brand, which used a C-frame with BMW 801 series engines.

The penultimate variant of the variant line was the Ju 88S, which was developed on the high-speed bomber model and was differentiated from the A-4 model. Likewise, for better aerodynamic efficiency, the ventral nacelle was cut away and a new glass nose section was installed.

Its BMW engine is further supercharged for improved performance and high-altitude speed. The S-0 leads the way with the BMW 801G2 engine and is equipped with bombs up to 14 x 145 lbs. The S-1 is similar, but can carry 2 x 2,000 lb bombs.

The S-2 has turbocharged engines, and the S-3 is powered by Jumo 213A engines, each with 2,240 horsepower and nitrous oxide boost.

The final form of the Ju 88 became the Ju 88T, a photo reconnaissance platform based on the Ju 88S with a crew of only three. The T-1 and T-3 spawned two sub-variants, the former derived from the S-1 model with additional fuel storage for longer range, and the latter from the earlier S-3 production model.

Operators other than the Luftwaffe became allies of Bulgaria, Finland, Hungary, Italy and Romania during the war. Spain manages a small number of purchased aircraft and a dozen airframes adopted during the war. French service is through examples captured during the war and some from the post-war inventory.

During the war, the British actively operated at least five Ju 88s through the RAF 1426th Squadron.

When the Servicer started in September 1939, there were about a dozen Ju 88s available to attack Poland, but the line did not function as an anti-ship bomber until the subsequent invasion of Norway. Also during the invasion of France, the Ju 88 was available in abundance and could strike both land and sea targets as needed, although combat service here forced some modifications to the wing design due to stability issues due to increased casualties. At the time, the Ju 88 was in service with the Do 17 and He 111 in the Battle of Britain (1940), where medium bombers and fighters suffered heavy losses in the German offensive. When the Germans invaded the Eastern Front during their invasion of the Soviet Union (June 1941), the Ju 88 was forced to serve further in various roles. Some of the planes were delivered to Germany's ally Finland as they advanced on Soviet lines in the "continued war" from June 1941 to September 1944.

Further action saw the French type during the Allied advance from the Normandy bridgehead to Italy. and across the Balkans.

Like other German aircraft of the pre-war period, the Ju 88 fought almost everywhere in German operations. By the end of the war, some Ju 88 airframes had been stripped of their bomber parts and arranged as flying bombs from fighter jets (as part of the "Mistle" program).

Specification

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