Junkers G 31

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Junkers G 31
Junkers G 31 Amsterdam (3) .jpg
G 31 fo (D-1770 "Prussia")
Type: Airliner
Design country:

German EmpireGerman Empire German Empire

Manufacturer:

Junkers Flugzeugwerk AG

First flight:

1926

Number of pieces:

13

The Junkers G 31 was a three-engine, low- wing commercial and cargo aircraft made by the German manufacturer Junkers in the late 1920s. It was an enlarged version of the Junkers G 24 and could carry up to 16 passengers.

history

The first flight took place at the beginning of September 1926 with the first prototype , the G 31 ba, which had the registration D-1073 and the serial number 3000. The Junkers L 5 engines used initially proved to be too weak, so the mid-engine was replaced by a BMW VI . The crew was still in an open cockpit. Like the last three production models, the aircraft later went to New Guinea, where it was initially operated by Bulolo Gold Dredging & Co, then by Guinea Airways as VH-URQ.

At the II International Flight Meeting in Dübendorf (Switzerland) in 1927, the Junkers pilot Waldemar Röder managed to win the Alpine flight competition with a G 31. He covered 632 kilometers and crossed the Alps at an altitude of 4000 meters.

In total, only 13 aircraft of this type were made. The German air Hansa put their machines on the routes Berlin - London , Hamburg - London, Berlin - Königsberg , Berlin - Malmö , Berlin - Paris - Berlin and Vienna one. An ÖLAG G 31 flew the route from Vienna to Berlin.

A momentous accident occurred with the D-1473 (serial number 3005). The "Rheinland" burned on December 11, 1928 during an emergency landing in Letzlingen near Stendal . The only passenger was able to save himself slightly injured, pilot Gustav Dörr , his on-board mechanic Müller and his radio operator Organ died in the flames.

construction

Junkers G 31, cabin with beds

Like its predecessor, the G 24, the G 31 was a three-engine, all - metal aircraft with corrugated iron planking.

As a commercial aircraft , the machine was able to carry a total of 16 passengers , the crew consisted of three people. The passenger area was divided into three compartments with a central corridor. There was a laundry room and a kitchenette on board. As was often the case at the time, the compartment windows could be rolled down. The benches can be converted into ten beds arranged one above the other. In 1928, a steward was deployed for the first time at Lufthansa , who gave this type the name “flying dining car ”. There were also two pilots, a radio operator and a machinist.

The cargo version with a side hatch could carry loads of up to 3200 kilograms. As an ambulance aircraft, it offered space for an orderly and up to 17 wounded.

Versions

G 31 go is loaded with a car
  • G 31 ce: Wnr. 3001, D-1137, fitted with different motors one after the other.
  • G 31 de: Wnr. 3002, D-1310 "Hermann Köhl", later D-ADIN and 3003, as A 46 "Austria", later OE-LAG, at the Austrian Air Transport Company. In addition to the closed pilot's cabin, this version featured three Gnôme-Rhône Jupiter VI radial engines , each with 375 kW / 510 PS. The Wnr. 3004, D-1427 "Germany" of the DLH, belonged to this group of aircraft.
  • G 31 fi: Wnr. 3005, D-1473 "Rhineland". Instead of the Gnôme-Rhône drives, the Jupiter version manufactured by Siemens under license with 375 kW / 510 PS was installed, with the machine's dimensions changed at the same time. The span was 30.30 m, the wing area 102 m² and the length 17.30 m.
  • G 31 fo: Wnr. 3006, D-1523 "Nordmark", later D-ADAR and Wnr. 3007, D-1770 "Prussia", later D-ABAR, Wnr. 3008, D-1722 "Brandenburg", later D-ABIL and Wnr. 3009, D-1786 "Westmark", later D-ADUR. BMW Hornets , each with 404 kW / 550 PS and equipped with metal propellers , were now chosen as the engines.
  • G 31 go: This version corresponded to the G 31 fo, but again had an open cockpit and, as a cargo plane, a large cargo hatch in the back of the fuselage. Three of them, the Wnr. 3010, 3011 and 3012, went to Bulolo Gold Dredging & Co. in New Guinea as VH-UOW, UOU and UOV in 1930/31.

Technical specifications

Three-sided view
Parameter Data (G 31 de) Data (G 31 fo)
crew 3 4th
Passengers 15th 16
length 16.50 m 17.30 m
span 30.30 m
height 6.00 m
Wing area 94.60 m²
Empty mass 4970 kg
Payload 2730 kg
Takeoff mass 7700 kg
Wing loading 81.50 kg / m²
Engines three air-cooled nine-cylinder four-stroke radial engines
Type Gnôme-Rhône Jupiter VI BMW Hornet A
power 375 kW (510 PS) each 404 kW each (approx. 550 PS)
Top speed 200 km / h 211 km / h
Cruising speed 170 km / h 180 km / h
Climb performance 3.0 m / s
Take-off run 320 m
Landing runway 380 m
Summit height 4400 m
Range 850 km 1050 km

See also

literature

  • The Junkers large commercial aircraft G31. In: Journal of the Association of German Engineers , Volume 71, No. 19 (May 7, 1927), pp. 648–650.
  • Günter Schmitt: Junkers and his planes . Transpress, Berlin 1986, ISBN 3-344-00192-2 .

Web links

Commons : Junkers G.31  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Günter Schmitt: Junkers. Pictorial atlas of all aircraft types . Motorbuch, Stuttgart 1990, ISBN 3-613-01339-8 , p. 206/207 .