Junkers Ju 46

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Ju 46
D-OBRA Ju46hi W34 'Bremen' in Pörtschach summer 1939c
Type: Catapult plane
Design country:

German EmpireGerman Empire German Empire

Manufacturer:

Junkers & Co.

First flight:

1932

Production time:

1932-1934

Number of pieces:

5

Catapult launch of the Junkers Ju 46 Europa (D-2244) from Europa in 1932

The Junkers Ju 46 was a single-engine, low- wing seaplane designed for catapult launches from the German manufacturer Junkers . It served to speed up mail transport between Germany and the USA . Four of the five aircraft built were launched from passenger ships with the help of catapults . The shipping time of the post could be shortened by up to two days.

history

The Ju 46 was developed as a catapult launch variant of the W 34 following a suggestion by Deutsche Luft Hansa AG (DLH) . The first series samples were delivered in 1932 and replaced the Heinkel HE 12 and Heinkel HE 58 that had been used up until then .

The primary purpose of this type was to speed up the postal service across the Atlantic Ocean . For this purpose, Norddeutsche Lloyd had installed compressed air catapults on its express steamers Bremen and Europa , which the Ju 46 could accelerate to around 110 km / h at a take-off weight of 3200 kg in 20 m. The take-off of these aircraft was a special experience for the passengers of the steamers.

construction

The Ju 46 was an all-metal aircraft with a closed two-seat cockpit. Compared to the W 34, the tail unit has been enlarged in order to improve the controllability during slow flight directly after the catapult launch. The striking red signal color of the aircraft made rescue easier if the aircraft ever had to make an emergency landing . The first two machines were using a 9-cylinder Pratt & Whitney Hornet T2D1 - radial engine equipped with 600 horsepower (441 kW) and were designated as Ju 46fi. The three later received BMW - 132-Hornet-C with 635 PS (478 kW) and the abbreviation Ju 46hi.

Calls

On May 9, 1932, the Europa used a Ju 46 for a mail pre-excursion for the first time. With the crew of Joachim Blankenburg / Karl Kirchhoff , the D-2244 Europe carried out 18 advance flights during the season. In 1933, 18 more followed with a new crew.

The Bremen , which had taken over the Heinkel HE 58 as a replacement for the crashed Heinkel HE 12 in 1932, received the Junkers Ju 46 D-2271 Bremen in 1933 and used it 16 times.

In 1934 both express steamers received new Junkers Ju 46s with German license engines. D-3411 / D-UBUS Europe carried out 18 and 16 flights respectively in the 1934 and 1935 seasons. The D-UHYL Bremen under Siegfried Graf Schack von Wittenau and Paul Dierberg completed 18 flights each in the 1934 and 1935 seasons. This machine also started on October 9, 1935 for the last (201st) pre-flight post 1028 km from Southampton.

Of the two planes that were withdrawn from the catapult mail service in 1934, the D-2244 Europa was used as a land plane D-OKUV Mars in the Lufthansa mail service, while D-2271 Bremen was used as the PP-CAU Tocantins at the Syndicato Condor in Brazil from January 1934 , but was lost on February 5, 1936. The planes that were retired in 1935 remained with Lufthansa as D-OBRA Bremen and D-OLMP together with the (5th) reserve machine D-UBUS Jupiter - which had only completed four feeder flights from Cologne to Cherbourg in Atlantic service - as float planes. Now they were used with a passenger facility in the postal service in the Baltic States and in the seaside resort flight service. The two aircraft on board were sold to Hansa Flugdienst in 1939 . Shortly after the start of the war, the reserve aircraft came into service with Condor in Brazil as PP-CBK Linguua , where it broke down on June 1, 1945.

The first aircraft was assigned to DLH by the Reich Ministry of Transport as a test aircraft, the remaining four were purchased. As a catapult aircraft, the Ju 46 flew 250,000 km for DLH from 1932 to 1936, and as a land aircraft 850,000 km by 1939.

Planes

  • W. no. 2715, March 1932 as D-2244 to DLH, 1934 land aircraft D-OKUV, 1936 to RLM, 29 September 1941 breakage at FFS A / B 7
  • W. no. 2720, July 1932 as D-2271 to DLH, January 1934 as PP-CAU to Syndicato Condor, February 6, 1936 Crash
  • W. no. 2744, June 1, 1933 as D-2419 to DLH, 1934 D-UGUS, 1936 D-OLMP, November 18, 1939 to Syndicato Condor PP-CBK, June 1, 1945 Bruch
  • W. no. 2745, June 17, 1933 as D-2491 to DLH, 1934 D-UHYL, 1938 D-OBRA, early 1939 to Hansa Flugdienst, at the beginning of the war to the Luftwaffe
  • W. no. 2773, January 1934 as D-3411 to DLH, 1934 D-UBUS, 30 April 1938 to Hansa Flugdienst, at the beginning of the war to the Luftwaffe

Technical specifications

Parameter Data of the Junkers Ju 46
Usage Mail plane
crew 2
Passengers -
length 11.10 m
span 18.00 m
height 4.15 m
Wing area 44.00 m²
Preparation mass 1975 kg (catapult aircraft), 1830 kg (land aircraft)
Flight mass 3200 kg
Top speed 235 km / h
Continuous speed 195 km / h
Landing speed 115 km / h
Climbing time to 1000 m 3.5 min
Climb performance 4.70 m / s
Service ceiling 4200 m
Range 2000 km
Engine 1 × 9-cylinder radial engine - Pratt & Whitney Hornet T2D1 with 600 PS (approx. 440 kW) or
1 × BMW 132 - Pratt & Whitney Hornet E with 650 PS (approx. 480 kW)

See also

literature

  • Siegfried Graf Schack von Wittenau: Pioneering flights by a Lufthansa captain. 1926-1945. Count Schack von Wittenau's adventurous aviation life. Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 1981, ISBN 3-87943-764-5 .
  • H. Dieter Köhler: Ernst Heinkel. Pioneer of high-speed aircraft. a biography (= Deutsche Luftfahrt. Vol. 5). Bernard & Gräfe, Koblenz 1983, ISBN 3-7637-5281-1 .
  • Jörg-M. Hormann : Flight log Atlantic. German catapult flights 1927–1939. Delius Klasing, Bielefeld 2007, ISBN 978-3-7688-1973-2 .
  • Wolfgang Zähle: Postflugzeug Junkers Ju 46. In: Fliegerrevue X No. 79, PPV Medien, Bergkirchen 2019, ISSN 2195-1233, pp. 34–45.

Web links

Commons : Junkers Ju 46  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ D-UBUS
  2. ^ Inventory documents DLH, Lufthansa archive, Cologne
  3. ↑ Manfred Griehl: Junkers. Aircraft since 1915 (=  type compass ). Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 2010, ISBN 978-3-613-03179-1 , p. 46 ff .
  4. ↑ Operating report 1934, Lufthansa archive, Cologne