Junkers Ju EF 126

Junkers Ju EF 126 History

The Emergency Fighter Program (EFP) was established by the Luftwaffe authorities on 3 July 1944 to create an entirely new generation of interceptors in response to the threat of Anglo-American bombing attacks. Raids were frequent in Germany and German-controlled areas, constantly destroying industry, infrastructure, morale and wartime facilities.

The idea is to design, develop and produce aircraft that are enough to stop the tide of air combat, if only for a short period of time.

Commitment to a new interceptor meant that Germany had all but abandoned its pursuit of a propeller multi-engine bomber. Instead, in jet-bomber form, there should be substantial investment in new cheap piston/rocket/jet fighters - aircraft that can use all types of propulsion systems and firepower.

The new fighter program ended up with mixed results, with the most successful entrant being the Heinkel He 162 "Volksjager", a single-seat, single-engine jet fighter (described in detail elsewhere on this site), while many Humans were left on drawing boards, wooden models, wind tunnel molds or incomplete prototypes, all captured at the end of the war.

For Junkers, EF 126 was a forgotten EFP entry. Like other aircraft of its kind, the aircraft is proposed to have a single-engine, single-seat cockpit, using an inexpensive production process.

The design consisted of a cockpit under a bubble canopy above the nose of the aircraft with the engine, a pulse jet above the fuselage dorsal and suspended from two front and rear support structures. The main wing aircraft will be positioned amidships and mounted on either side of the midship. The general shape of these elements is also straight, without adding real sweeping for high-speed flight.

The overall shape of the body will be a smooth teardrop with strong aerodynamic qualities.

The aircraft has an overall length of 27.8 feet, a wingspan of 21.9 feet, and a height of 6.2 feet. The curb weight is listed as 2,425 pounds, while the MTOW is 6,175 pounds. The proposed engine is a single Argus 109-044 pulse jet designed to generate 1,100 pounds of thrust, giving the airframe an estimated top speed of 485 mph and a range of up to 220 miles.

The fast-firing engines can provide about 20 to 45 minutes of flight time before running out of fuel supplies, but also give a compact fighter a rate of climb of nearly 94,000 feet per minute -- and the superb quality of an interceptor.

The suggested weapon is 2 x 20mm MG 151/20 autocannons, which will give the aircraft a good hit against Allied bombers. The role of the secondary bomb was also proposed, with the airframe planned to carry up to 880 pounds of external storage.

EF 126 never became a viable solution for EFP during the war. However, the conquering Soviets seized the work that had been done and pushed the project forward in the postwar period.

As an unpowered aircraft (i.e. without a pulse jet engine), the EF 126 made its "first flight" on May 21, 1946 - while being towed by a captured Junkers Ju 88 medium bomber. However, this sample, named EF 126 V1, crashed during the testing phase.

The EF 126 V2 was intended to be the second prototype, but was never completed. EF 126 V4, V5 and V6 are all finished forms with their pulse jets. The EF 126 was also used in the operational framework of the "EF 127" - a heavily modified rocket-powered version of the original pulse jet fighter.

The construction, which also made little progress at the time, was eventually recorded in aviation history.

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