Junkers JI

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Junkers JI
Junkers JI
Type: Ground attack aircraft
Design country:

German EmpireThe German Imperium German Empire

Manufacturer:

Junkers & Co.

First flight:

January 28, 1917

Commissioning:

October 1917

Number of pieces:

227

The Junkers JI (factory designation J.4) was a two-seater ground attack aircraft used by the German air force during the First World War . The machine was the world's first series-produced all-metal aircraft .

Armored attack aircraft Junkers J.1

development

The Junkers JI was created in response to a tender by the Air Force Inspection ( IdFlieg ) from November 1916 for a type “J” infantry aircraft, which was to be designed as a biplane. The tender called for 5 mm thick chrome-nickel steel armor to protect the pilot and gunner, the entire fuel system including the tanks and the engine. Performance data regarding flight altitudes and speeds were not part of the specification. A movable machine-gun for the observer or gunner and a rigid machine-gun for the pilot were required as armament. In a later specification, the rigid machine gun was not installed, as this could only be used for descents at low altitude. Primarily, the aircraft should be used for reconnaissance and communication functions and not as a "CL" attack aircraft. For this purpose, the specification required the installation of a camera and a radio system.

On November 3, 1916, the Air Force Inspectorate placed an order for three experimental infantry aircraft in metal construction with Junkers & Co. in Dessau. Similar orders in timber construction were given to AEG and Albatros. The Junkers development under the name Junkers J4 took place under the direction of chief engineer Otto Mader , as well as chief engineer Steudel and Franz Brandenburg . The test pilot Arved von Schmidt carried out the first test runs on January 17, 1917 in Adlershof . The first flight took place on January 28, 1917 on the IdFlieg test site in Döberitz . The metal armor was dispensed with for the first flight. Nevertheless, the start from the snow-covered runway required almost 200 meters. Schmidt reached a height of 250 meters and a speed of 145 km / h. Schmidt ended the test flight after just 4 minutes. In his report, Schmidt described the aircraft as heavily tail-heavy (note: due to the lack of armor), but otherwise stable to fly. The elevator was described as too elastic. On the basis of the satisfactory results, on February 19, 1917, the Air Force Inspection awarded Junkers the contract to build 100 series aircraft in accordance with the IdFlieg specification "JI". The Junkers J4 thus became the world's first series-produced all-metal aircraft in 1917. In total, more than 200 Junkers JI aircraft were built by the end of the war.

The aircraft was subjected to intensive testing at DVL in Adlershof in the spring of 1917 and compared with the two comparative designs AEG JI and Albatros L40 . Compared to the conventional wooden constructions from AEG and Albatros, the J4 had a 200-300 kg heavier set-up mass, which led to a slightly reduced payload. Otherwise the aircraft proved to be largely identical in their flown characteristics. The type test was completed in Adlershof on May 7, 1917. The Junkers J4 was given the military designation Junk JI .

construction

In deviation from the requirements of IDFLIEG, the J4 was designed as a one and a half decker with a shorter lower wing. In addition to the unfinished Junkers J 3 , the J4 was the first Junkers aircraft to use the lighter duralumin. In order to compensate for the lower strength of duralumin compared to steel and iron, Junkers used corrugated iron for the first time in the J4.

The fuselage consisted in the front area up to the rear of the observer's seat from a tubular frame covered with duralumin sheet metal. The rear part of the fuselage was covered with fabric. The tail unit was made of metal and planked with corrugated iron. The two wings each consisted of a wing center piece and removable outer wings. The large upper wing, placed over struts on the fuselage and lower wing, and the smaller lower wing inserted into the fuselage, consisted of an all-metal construction covered with duralumin corrugated sheet metal. The upper wing was fitted with an aileron. The great weight of the machines required an extraordinarily large span. According to the IDFLIEG requirement, a 5 mm thick armored hull made of sheet steel was used around the pilot and observer seat, which was supposed to protect against fire. A 200 hp Benz Bz IV engine was used as the drive.

Modifications

Towards the end of the war, a few JI appeared with full metal planking over the entire hull, including a. the test aircraft 749/18. The Junkers teaching collection in Dessau also contained a conventional, fabric-covered JI and a JI with complete hull paneling. Behind the observer's seat, the sheet metal planking turned into corrugated metal planking.

A single test aircraft with an upper wing extended to 18 meters was being tested by the DVL towards the end of the war.

In the summer of 1918 test flights were carried out with a 260 hp Benz IVa engine.

With the end of the war, however, these modifications were no longer used on the series machines.

production

Series production of the first 50 Junkers JI (100-149.17) started in the summer of 1917 at Junkers & Co. in Dessau.

Since the scientifically and technically savvy Hugo Junkers had no experience with series production, he was instructed to share production with the economically and efficiently working practitioner Anton Fokker , which led to a number of technical and organizational difficulties. In October 1917, the newly founded Junkers-Fokker-AG took over the serial production of the Junkers JI

Junkers JI orders from IDFLIEG:

  • 425-427.17 - 3 prototypes in November 1916, delivery in spring 1917
  • 100-149.17 - 50 series aircraft in March 1917, first delivery from August 1917
  • 800-899.17 - 100 series aircraft, 98 of which were delivered by November 1918, two more presumably. test machines remaining at Junkers
  • 576-615.18 - 40 series aircraft, 23 of which were delivered by November 1918, another 17 by March 1919
  • 716-805.18 - 90 production aircraft, 7 of which were delivered by November 1918, another 27 by March 1919

A total of 227 Junkers JI were built, 183 of them by the end of the fighting, and a further 44 by the cancellation of construction contracts in March 1919.

After the armistice, Anthony Fokker left Germany and left his shares in Junkers-Fokker AG to Hugo Junkers on December 3, 1918. In June 1919 Junkers-Fokker AG was renamed Junkers Flugzeug-Werke AG.

commitment

JI in Bickendorf in December 1918

At the end of 1917 / beginning of 1918 the first Junkers JI reached the front and were skeptically christened "Corrugated Coffee" by the front-line pilots because of their size, their bulky appearance and their rather slow, clumsy flight characteristics.

The JI arrived in time for the great German spring offensive of 1918 . Here the JI proved for the first time the full combat capability of the all-metal aircraft. Their combat value in ground combat operations was significantly higher than that of the Albatros JI and AEG JI infantry aircraft. Well armored, so robust and bulletproof, the better-protected crew was able to fly daring low-level missions to provide close air support for the infantry, monitor the advance of assault troops, and hold down enemy machine-gun positions , Seal off counterattacks from reserves or provide cut-off raiders with provisions and ammunition.

In contrast to the other canvas-covered or wood-clad aircraft, the JI could be parked in the open without any further protection, which saved forces and time during the rapid relocations in the course of the attack operations and also simplified maintenance, since the aircraft did not need the usual maintenance-intensive bracing. However, the heavy machines were dependent on field airfields with long runways and were not easy to land.

The first aircraft were also armed with two downward-facing machine guns, later FT devices were installed instead in order to maintain a connection to command posts or battery positions of the artillery, or aerial cameras were attached for battlefield reconnaissance.

Technical specifications

Parameter Data
crew 2
length 9.10 m
span 16.00 m
height 3.40 m
Wing area 49.4 m²
Empty mass 1766 kg
Takeoff mass 2176 kg
Top speed 155 km / h
Climbing time to 2000 m 33 min
Service ceiling 3000 m
Range 310 km
Engine a water-cooled 6 cylinder in- line engine Benz Bz IV with 200 PS (147 kW)
Armament 2-3 MG, 50 kg bombs

Whereabouts

Only a few Junkers JI were lost during the fighting. It was only after the armistice that the Allies fell into the hands of a number of junkers who had stopped at Villers la Chevres airfield. The unusual construction of the JI was analyzed by the American US Air Service first in Romorantin near Paris, and later intensively in Dayton. The Canadians, English, Italians and Australians also received copies of the JI from the captured stocks. Most of these loot machines were used up during the investigation or later scrapped.

The remaining aircraft in France and Belgium, as well as the aircraft returned to Germany, were scrapped in 1919/20 in accordance with the provisions of the Versailles Treaty. Only a few Junkers J4s, which were used as test machines at Junkers or the DVL in Adlershof, escaped direct destruction after the First World War. They were later exhibited in the Junkers teaching show and in the first German aviation collections. All of the Junkers JI still preserved in Germany after the First World War were lost along with their exhibitions during the Second World War.

Received aircraft

Today there are still two original copies of the Junkers JI that were taken abroad as booty machines in 1919:

Junkers JI at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum
  • The fuselage of a Junkers JI (805/17) is in the Museo Storico dell Aeronautica Militare Italiana in Vigna di Valle. This aircraft was repaired in the Technikmuseum in Berlin between 2005 and 2010 and was previously owned by the Leonardo da Vinci Museum in Milan.
  • In Hungary z. Currently two airworthy replicas of the Junkers JI

For the history of the last remaining JI copies, see

Comparable types

See also

literature

  • Enzo Angelucci, Paolo Matricardi: Airplanes. From the beginnings to the 1st World War (= Falken-Handbuch in color. Vol. 391). Falken-Verlag Sicker, Wiesbaden 1976, ISBN 3-8068-0391-9 .
  • Karlheinz Kens, Hanns Müller: The aircraft of the First World War, 1914–1918. A collection of aircraft types. With 120 type descriptions. 6th edition. Heyne, Munich 1980, ISBN 3-453-00404-3 .
  • Günter Kroschel, Helmut Stützer: The German military aircraft 1910–1918. In 127 four-sided tears on a scale of 1: 144. Lohse-Eissing, Wilhelmshaven 1977, ISBN 3-920602-18-8 .
  • Kenneth Munson: Warplanes. Fighter and training aircraft 1914–1919. 2nd, revised edition. Orell Füssli, Zurich 1976, ISBN 3-280-00824-7 , p. 24 and p. 121–122.
  • Heinz Nowarra: The Development of Airplanes 1914–1918. Lehmanns, Munich 1959.
  • Karl R. Pawlas: German Aircraft 1914-1918. A documentation (= aviation documents . Vol. 20). Publizistisches Archiv Pawlas, Nuremberg 1976, ISBN 3-88088-209-6 , pp. 63–65.
  • Jane's All the World's Aircraft. 1919, ZDB ID 958040-2 , pp. 320a-321a.
  • Wolfgang Wagner: Hugo Junkers, Pioneer of Aviation (= Die deutsche Luftfahrt , Vol. 14), 1996, ISBN 3-7637-6112-8 .
  • PM Grosz: Junkers JI (= Windsock Datafile Vol. 39), 1993, Albatros Productions Ltd., ISBN 0-948414-49-9

Web links

Commons : Junkers JI  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ↑ Not to be confused with the Junkers J.1 , the world's first all-metal aircraft, built in 1915
  2. ↑ The frequently mentioned duralumin was just a special aluminum alloy that was patented for Dürener Metallwerke. Duralumin was generally used in aircraft construction
  3. ↑ Information in the sources z. Partly contradicting
  4. ↑ Caliber 7.92 × 57 mm, 1–2 MG LMG 08/15, 1 MG 14 Parabellum

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ for production and use figures cf. theaerodrome.com
  2. ↑ correspondence Idflieg / Junkers & Co., 1916-17
  3. ↑ 1918 | 1355 | Flight Archive. Retrieved May 20, 2017 .
  4. ^ McCook Field Report: Investigation of Junker Biplane Wings , Serial No. 1412, May 20, 1921
  5. ↑ P. Grosz: Junkers JI , Windsock Datafiles No. 39
  6. ^ JFM: The Junkers Lehrschau , 1934
  7. ↑ Wolfgang Wagner, "Hugo Junkers - Aviation Pioneer", ISBN 3-7637-6112-8
  8. ^ Wolfgang Mühlbauer: Infantry aircraft Junkers JI . In: Flugzeug Classic . tape 10 , no. 11 , 2009, ISSN  1617-0725 , p. 52-57 .
  9. ↑ Radio telegraphs for tactile radio connections
  10. ^ Canada Aviation and Space Museum. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on October 16, 2013 ; accessed on October 2, 2019 .
  11. ^ Ministero della Difesa. Retrieved May 21, 2017 .
  12. ^ Paul Zöller: "The last Junkers aircraft I", ISBN 978-3-7448-0050-1