Junkers Ju 288

Junkers Ju 288
Junkers Ju 288 V1
Type:	bomber
Design country:	German Empire
Manufacturer:	Junkers
First flight:	November 29, 1940
Number of pieces:	22nd

The Junkers Ju 288 was the new development of a fighter aircraft for the German Air Force during World War II .

history

The machine was newly developed as part of the "Bomber B" program and was originally intended to replace aircraft such as the Ju 88 , Do 17 and He 111 as a standard bomber . The "Bomber B" should be able to transport a bomb load of 4000 kg at 600 km / h over 1500 to 2000 km. There was no series production, only 23 of this type were made. However, part of the development work could still be used on the Ju 388 .

construction

Ju 288 with Jumo 222 engines

The Junkers Ju 288 was designed as a twin-engine shoulder- wing aircraft with retractable landing gear and initially three, later four men crew.

Two water-cooled 24-cylinder Junkers Jumo 222 engines were provided for the drive . Other motors were used due to problems with the development of the Jumo 222.

The first flight took place at the end of 1940 with BMW 801 engines. There is no source evidence for the first flight date of the Ju 288 V1 (November 29, 1940) mentioned in the literature. It can be proven that the aircraft flew on January 17, 1941 and burned on March 2, 1941.

The development of the Ju 288 as part of the Bomber B program was probably the Air Force's most expensive development project. From mid-1939 to mid-1944 Junkers spent 84 million Reichsmarks on development costs and for the construction of the test models. A total of 22 test models were built (V1 – V14, V101 – V108), 19 of which were delivered to the RLM by August 1943. Two stragglers (probably V103 and V105) were only reported in March 1944, the V1 was destroyed at Junkers. The Ju 88 V1 (rain sight tests), V2 and V5 (cockpit tests), V8 (aileron tests) as well as the Ju 86 V31 and the Ju 86 G W.-Nr. 294 was used to test the Hirth on-board unit.

For the only still starting series C-1, the models V103 to V105 were planned in June 1943. The first production aircraft, the 310151, was delivered in December 1943. Four other aircraft that were under construction (W.-Nr. 310153-310156) were scrapped after the program was canceled. The fate of the W.-Nr. 310152 is unknown, it may have been destroyed in a bomb attack.

The final end for the Ju 288 came on March 23, 1944. At that time, the RLM decided to end the program and scrap all test aircraft except for the V9, which was used at Jumo to test the Jumo 222. The reason may have been that the development of the aircraft had dragged on for almost five years without a large-scale production of the Ju 288 being able to commence in the foreseeable future, as a result of which the aircraft had lost its value for warfare.

Versions

Ju 288 A

Parts of the Ju 88 were used for the fuselage and the wings . The front part of the fuselage has been completely redesigned. A so-called combat head was created in which all three crew members were brought together in the immediate vicinity of the front fuselage area in a pressurized cabin.

Since the planned Jumo 222 engines did not work satisfactorily, large parts of the tests were carried out with the much weaker BMW 801s.

Ju 288 B

Ju 288 V13, a prototype of the Ju 288 B

Due to the combat experience gathered by the Air Force, the requirements for the Ju 288 were increased and, among other things, a 4-man crew was required, so that the existing design of the Ju 288 turned out to be too small. Therefore a completely new design was carried out, which led to the Ju 288 B. A defensive armament with a remotely controllable tail stand was provided.

When it became clear that the Jumo 222 would not go into series production because its production required too many metals that were important for the war effort and it was not possible to replace them with less valuable materials, development was discontinued.

Ju 288 C

Eventually, DB-610 engines were used which finally gave more useful results. There were problems similar to those of the Heinkel He 177 , which was equipped with the same engine. Despite everything, these engines were ready for series production in 1943. Series production was planned for the summer of 1944 at the Letov company in Prague . However, due to the development of the war and the resulting emergency hunter program , it did not come to that. Only one Ju 288 C-1 was completed.

Ju 288 D

Like the Ju 288 C, but with modified rear armament. Only a dummy was built.

Ju 288 G

Project only; with a recoilless 35.5 cm anti-ship cannon.

Technical specifications

Parameter	Data of the Ju 288 C
length	18.15 m
span	22.66 m
Wing area	65 m²
Max. Takeoff mass	21,800 kg
projected maximum speed	655 km / h
Service ceiling	10,390 m (34,100 feet)
Range	2,600 km
Engines	two 24-cylinder V-engines DB 610 with a maximum of 2,950 hp each
Armament	eight 13 mm MG 131 or 15 mm MG 151 in twin turrets on the bow / hull and stern
Bomb load	up to 3,000 kg internally and around 2,000 kg externally

See also

• List of aircraft types

literature

• Wolfgang Wagner: Hugo Junkers aviation pioneer - his aircraft. From the series: German aviation. Volume 24, Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Bonn 1996, ISBN 3-7637-6112-8 .

Web links

Commons : Junkers Ju 288  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Luftarchiv.de: Ju 288
2. ^ Karl Kössler : Poetry and Truth - in the case of the Ju 288. In: Luftfahrt International 3/81, pp. 109–113.
3. ^ Lutz Budraß : Aircraft Industry and Air Armament 1918–1945. Düsseldorf 1998, p. 627.
4. ↑ Junkers monthly reports. Reel T377, National Archives, Washington
5. ↑ Karlheinz Kens, Heinz J. Nowarra: The German aircraft, 1933-1945. Germany's aviation developments up to the end of the Second World War. Volume 1, JF Lehmann, 1964, p. 384, DNB 36637687X
6. ↑ The DB-610 engine consisted of two coupled 12-cylinder V-engines DB605A