Junkers Ju 390

Last updated
Ju 390
Abandoned JU-390 IWM CH 15687.jpg
Abandoned Junkers Ju 390
RoleLong range transport/maritime reconnaissance/bomber
Manufacturer Junkers
First flight20 October 1943
Introduction1943
Retired1945
Primary user Luftwaffe
Number built2 (V2 never flew)
Developed from Junkers Ju 290

The Junkers Ju 390 was a German long-range derivative of the Junkers Ju 290 aircraft, intended to be used as a heavy transport aircraft, maritime patrol aircraft and long-range bomber. It was one of the aircraft designs submitted for the abortive Amerikabomber project, along with the Messerschmitt Me 264, the Focke-Wulf Ta 400 and the Heinkel He 277. [1] [2]

Contents

Design and development

Two prototypes were created by attaching an extra pair of inner-wing segments to the wings of Ju 290 airframes and adding new sections to lengthen the fuselages. The first prototype, V1 (bearing Stammkennzeichen code of GH+UK), was modified from the Ju 90 V6 airframe (Werknummer J4918, civil registration D-AOKD from July 1940 to April 1941, then to the Luftwaffe as KH+XC from April 1941 to April 1942, then returned to Junkers and used for Ju 390 V1 construction). It made its maiden flight on 20 October 1943 and performed well, resulting in an order in early 1944 for six more prototypes (Ju 390 V2 to V7) and 20 examples of the intended production version. to be named Ju 390 A-1. None of these had been built by the time that the project was cancelled (along with Ju 290 production) in mid-1944. [3]

Operational history

The Ju 390 V1 was constructed and largely assembled at Junkers' plant at Dessau in Germany and the first test flight took place on 20 October 1943. [4] This was done by adding an additional wing section and engines and adding a fuselage section immediately aft of the wings to increase the length to 31 m (102 ft). Its performance was satisfactory enough that the Air Ministry ordered six additional prototypes (Ju 390 V2 to V7) and 20 examples of the intended Ju 390A-1 production version. On 29 June 1944, the Luftwaffe Quartermaster General noted that the RLM paid Junkers to complete the first seven Ju 390 prototypes. [5] [3] The contracts for the Ju 390 V2 to V7 and production aircraft were cancelled on 20 June 1944 and all work ceased in September 1944, and the Ju 390 V2 would never be built. On 26 November 1943, the Ju 390 V1 — with many other new aircraft and prototypes — was shown to Adolf Hitler at Insterburg, East Prussia. [6] According to the logbook of former Junkers test pilot Hans-Joachim Pancherz, the Ju 390 V1 was brought to Prague immediately after it had been displayed at Insterburg and took part in a number of test flights, which continued until March 1944, including tests of aerial refueling. [3] The Ju 390 V1 was returned to Dessau in November 1944, where it was stripped of parts and finally destroyed in late April 1945 as the US Army approached.

The Ju 390A-1 would have had a fuselage 2.5 m (8.2 ft) longer than that of the Ju 390 V1 for a total of length of 33.5 m (110 ft) and it was to be equipped with FuG 200 Hohentwiel ASV (Air to Surface Vessel) radar and defensive armament consisting of five 20 mm MG 151/20 cannon. [7] Green (1970) wrote that the armament was four 20 mm MG 151/20s and three 13 mm (.51 in) MG 131 machine guns. At a hearing before British authorities on 26 September 1945, Professor Heinrich Hertel, chief designer and technical director of Junkers Aircraft & Motor Works, asserted the Ju 390 V2 had never been completed. [8] German author Friedrich Georg claimed in his book that test pilot Oberleutnant Joachim Eisermann flew the Ju 390 V2 on 9 February 1945 at Rechlin air base. The log is said to have recorded a handling flight lasting 50 minutes and composed of circuits around Rechlin, and that a second 20-minute flight was used to ferry the prototype to Lärz. [9] Kay (2004) stated that the second Ju 390 prototype was discarded without being flown because of a July 1944 RLM decree sanctioning an end to all large combat plane programs in Nazi Germany in favor of the Emergency Fighter Program. [10] Pancherz himself stated in 1980 that only the first Ju 390 flew and cast doubt on all claims of the Ju 390 making a test flight to the vicinity of New York City. [11]

Alleged flights

South Africa flight

A speculative article in the British Daily Telegraph newspaper in 1969 titled "Lone Bomber Raid on New York Planned by Hitler", in which Hans Pancherz reportedly claimed to have made a test flight from Germany to Cape Town in early 1944. [12] [13] Author James P. Duffy has carried out extensive research into this claim, which has proved fruitless.

New York flight

A letter published in the 11 November 1955 issue of the British magazine RAF Flying Review (of which aviation writer William Green was an editor) claimed that two Ju 390s had made a flight to America, including a one-hour stay over New York City. The magazine's editors were skeptical of the claim. In March 1956, the Review published a letter from an RAF officer which claimed to clarify the account. According to Green's reporting, in June 1944, Allied Intelligence had learned from prisoner interrogations that a Ju 390 had been delivered in January 1944 to Fernaufklärungsgruppe 5, based at Mont-de-Marsan near Bordeaux and that it had completed a 32-hour reconnaissance flight to within 19 km (12 mi) of the U.S. coast, north of New York City. [1] [14] This was rejected just after the war by British authorities. [15] Aviation historian Dr. Kenneth P. Werrell states that the story of the flight originated in General Report on Aircraft Engines and Aircraft Equipment, two British intelligence reports from August 1944, which were based in part on the interrogation of prisoners. The reports claimed that the Ju 390 had taken photographs of the coast of Long Island but no photos or other evidence for the existence of such photos has been found. [13]

The claimed flight was mentioned in many books following the RAF Flying Review account, including Green's respected Warplanes of the Second World War (1968) and Warplanes of the Third Reich (1970) but without ever citing sources. [1] Further authors then cited Green's books as their source for the claimed flight. Werrell told Duffy that Green had said many years later that he no longer placed "much credence" in the flight. [16] Werrell later examined the data regarding the range of the Ju 390 and concluded that although a great circle round trip from France to St. John's, Newfoundland was possible, adding another 3,830 km (2,380 mi) for a round trip from St. John's to Long Island made the flight "most unlikely". [17]

Karl Kössler and Günter Ott, in their book Die großen Dessauer: Junkers Ju 89, 90, 290, 390. Die Geschichte einer Flugzeugfamilie (The Big Dessauers... History of an Aircraft Family) also examined the claimed flight and debunked the flight north of New York. Assuming there was only one aircraft in existence, Kössler and Ott note it was nowhere near France at the time when the flight was supposed to have taken place. [3] They also assert that the Ju 390 V1was unlikely to have been capable of taking off with the fuel load necessary for such a long flight due to concerns about the strength of its structure; it would have required a takeoff weight of 65 t (72 short tons), while the maximum takeoff weight during its trials had been 34 t (37 short tons) though prototypes are never flown at maximum gross weight until testing can determine the aircraft's handling. According to Kössler and Ott, the Ju 390 V2 could not have made the flight since it was not completed before September/October 1944. [3]

Japan flight

In his book The Bunker , author James P. O'Donnell mentions a flight to Japan. O'Donnell claimed that Albert Speer, in an early 1970s telephone interview, stated that there had been a secret Ju 390 flight to Japan "late in the war". The flight, by a Luftwaffe test pilot, had supposedly been non-stop via the polar route. [18] O'Donnell is the sole source for the story; Speer never mentioned the story in any of his writings or other interviews. Kössler and Ott make no mention of the claim.[ citation needed ]

Variants

Ju 390 V1

First prototype.

Ju 390 V2 to V7

Second to seventh prototypes, none completed.

Ju 390 A-1

Planned production version for long-range heavy bomber, heavy transport, maritime patrol roles.

Operators

Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany

Some sources claim that a Ju 390 was assigned to Fernaufklärungsgruppe 5. Kössler and Ott state that it was not.

Specifications (Ju 390 A-1)

Bundesarchiv Bild 141-0072, Flugzeug Junkers Ju 390.jpg

Data from The warplanes of the Third Reich [19]

General characteristics

1,300 kW (1,740 hp) at 1,970 m (6,450 ft)
1,090 kW (1,460 hp) at 6,200 m (20,340 ft)

Performance

Armament

4 × Henschel Hs 294 or
4 × FX 1400 Fritz-X

See also

Related development

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

Related lists

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Junkers Ju 87</span> 1935 dive bomber aircraft family by Junkers

The Junkers Ju 87, popularly known as the "Stuka", is a German dive bomber and ground-attack aircraft. Designed by Hermann Pohlmann, it first flew in 1935. The Ju 87 made its combat debut in 1937 with the Luftwaffe's Condor Legion during the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939 and served the Axis in World War II from beginning to end (1939–1945).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blohm & Voss BV 155</span> German high-altitude prototype interceptor aircraft

The Blohm & Voss BV 155 was a German high-altitude interceptor aircraft intended to be used by the Luftwaffe against raids by USAAF Boeing B-29 Superfortresses. Work started on the design as the Messerschmitt Me 155 in 1942, but the project went through a protracted development period and change of ownership, and prototypes were still under test and development when World War II ended.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Junkers Ju 188</span> Type of aircraft

The Junkers Ju 188 "Rächer" (avenger) was a German Luftwaffe high-performance medium bomber built during World War II, the planned follow-up to the Ju 88 with better performance and payload. It was produced only in limited numbers, due both to the presence of improved versions of the Ju 88, as well as the increasingly effective Allied strategic bombing campaign against German industry and the resulting focus on fighter production.

<i>Amerikabomber</i> Nazi German projects for long-range bomber aircraft

The Amerikabomber project was an initiative of the German Ministry of Aviation (Reichsluftfahrtministerium) to obtain a long-range strategic bomber for the Luftwaffe that would be capable of striking the United States from Germany, a round-trip distance of about 11,600 km (7,200 mi). The concept was raised as early as 1938, but advanced plans for such a long-range strategic bomber design did not begin to appear before Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring until early 1942. Various proposals were put forward, but these plans were all eventually abandoned as they were too expensive, too reliant on rapidly diminishing materiel and production capacity, and/or technically infeasible.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heinkel He 177 Greif</span> German heavy bomber during WW2

The Heinkel He 177 Greif (Griffin) was a long-range heavy bomber flown by the Luftwaffe during World War II. The introduction of the He 177 to combat operations was significantly delayed, by both problems with the development of its engines and frequent changes to its intended role. Nevertheless, it was the only long-range, heavy bomber to become operational with the Luftwaffe during the war. The He 177 had a payload/range capability similar to that of four-engined heavy bombers used by the Allies in the European theatre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heinkel He 274</span> Prototype bomber aircraft by Heinkel

The Heinkel He 274 was a German heavy bomber design developed during World War II, purpose-designed for high-altitude bombing with pressurized crew accommodation. Due to the Allied advance through Northwest Europe, the prototypes were abandoned at the French factory where they were being built. They were completed after the war by the French and used for high-altitude research.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heinkel He 277</span> German strategic bomber design during WW2.

The Heinkel He 277 was a four-engine, long-range heavy bomber design, originating as a derivative of the He 177, intended for production and use by the German Luftwaffe during World War II. The main difference was in its engines. While the He 177 used four engines in two coupled pairs which proved troublesome, the He 277 was intended to use four unitized BMW 801E 14-cylinder radial engines, in single nacelle installations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dornier Do 217</span> 1940 bomber aircraft family by Dornier

The Dornier Do 217 was a bomber used by the German Luftwaffe during World War II as a more powerful development of the Dornier Do 17, known as the Fliegender Bleistift. Designed in 1937 and 1938 as a heavy bomber but not meant to be capable of the longer-range missions envisioned for the larger Heinkel He 177, the Do 217's design was refined during 1939 and production began in late 1940. It entered service in early 1941 and by the beginning of 1942 was available in significant numbers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Junkers Ju 88</span> German twin engine multirole combat aircraft

The Junkers Ju 88 is a German World War II Luftwaffe twin-engined multirole combat aircraft. Junkers Aircraft and Motor Works (JFM) designed the plane in the mid-1930s as a so-called Schnellbomber that would be too fast for fighters of its era to intercept. It suffered from technical problems during its development and early operational periods but became one of the most versatile combat aircraft of the war. Like a number of other Luftwaffe bombers, it served as a bomber, dive bomber, night fighter, torpedo bomber, reconnaissance aircraft, heavy fighter and at the end of the war, as a flying bomb.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messerschmitt Me 264</span> German strategic bomber prototype

The Messerschmitt Me 264 was a long-range strategic bomber developed during World War II for the German Luftwaffe as its main strategic bomber. The design was later selected as Messerschmitt's competitor in the Reichsluftfahrtministerium's Amerikabomber programme, for a strategic bomber capable of attacking New York City from bases in France or the Azores.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Junkers Ju 287</span> Prototype German jet bomber

The Junkers Ju 287 was a multi-engine tactical jet bomber built in Nazi Germany in 1944. It featured a novel forward-swept wing, and the first two prototypes were among the very few jet propelled aircraft ever built with fixed landing gear.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Junkers EF 61</span> Type of aircraft

The Junkers EF 61 was a German prototype twin-engined high-altitude bomber aircraft of the 1930s. Only two examples were built, but it provided valuable information on pressure cabins which aided the design of later pressurised aircraft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Junkers Ju 89</span> 1930s German prototype heavy bomber

The Junkers Ju 89 was a heavy bomber designed for the Luftwaffe prior to World War II. Two prototypes were constructed, but the project was abandoned without the aircraft entering production. Elements of its design were incorporated into later Junkers aircraft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Junkers Ju 90</span> Type of aircraft

The Junkers Ju 90 was a 40-seat, four-engine airliner developed for and used by Deutsche Luft Hansa shortly before World War II. It was based on the rejected Ju 89 bomber. During the war, the Luftwaffe pressed them into service as military transports.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Junkers Ju 290</span> 1942 multi-role military aircraft family by Junkers

The Junkers Ju 290 was a large German, four-engine long-range transport, heavy bomber and maritime patrol aircraft used by the Luftwaffe late in World War II. It was developed from an airliner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hamburger Flugzeugbau Ha 137</span> Type of aircraft

The Hamburger Flugzeugbau Ha 137 was a German ground-attack aircraft of the 1930s. It was Blohm & Voss' entry into the contest to equip the re-forming Luftwaffe with its first purpose-built dive bomber. Although the contest would eventually be won by the Junkers Ju 87, the Ha 137 demonstrated that B&V's Hamburger Flugzeugbau, not even two years old at this point, had a truly capable design team of its own. One Ha 137 single-seat prototype competed against the Henschel Hs 123 at Rechlin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messerschmitt Me 261</span> German reconnaissance aircraft prototype

The Messerschmitt Me 261 was a long-range reconnaissance aircraft designed in the late 1930s. It looked like an enlarged version of the Messerschmitt Bf 110. It was not put into production; just three Me 261s were built and used primarily for testing and development purposes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henschel Hs 130</span> German military aircraft

The Henschel Hs 130 was a German high-altitude reconnaissance and bomber aircraft developed in World War II. It suffered from various mechanical faults and was never used operationally, only existing as prototype airframes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dornier Do 317</span> Type of aircraft

The Dornier Do 317 was a prototype German medium bomber of World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Junkers Ju 322</span> Type of aircraft

The Junkers Ju 322 Mammut was a heavy transport military glider, resembling a giant flying wing, proposed for use by the Luftwaffe in World War II; only two prototypes were completed, a further 98 were scrapped before completion.

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Green 1970, p. 519.
  2. Griehl and Dressel 1998, pp. 197–199.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Kössler and Ott 1993
  4. Duffy 2004, p. 54.
  5. Griehl 2006 [ page needed ]
  6. Sweeting 2001, p. 220.
  7. Griehl and Dressel 1998, p. 191.
  8. Georg 2000
  9. Georg 2003, p. 14.
  10. Kay, Anthony L. (2004). Junkers aircraft and engines, 1913-1945 (1st ed.). London: Putnam Aeronautical Books. p. 202-203. ISBN   0851779859.
  11. Gunston, Bill, 1991. Giants of the Sky: The Largest Aeroplanes of All Time. Sparkford, UK: Patrick Stephens Limited.
  12. Daily Telegraph , 2 September 1969.
  13. 1 2 Duffy 2004, p. 115.
  14. Staerck et al. 2002, pp. 202–203.
  15. Bukowski and Müller 1995 [ page needed ]
  16. Duffy 2004, p. 114.
  17. Werrell, Kenneth P. "World War II German Long Distance Flights: Fraud or Record?" Aerospace Historian, Volume 35, Issue 2, Summer/June 1988.
  18. O'Donnell 2001, pp. 308–309.
  19. Green, William (1972). The warplanes of the Third Reich (1st ed.). London: Doubleday. pp. 519–520. ISBN   0385057822.

Bibliography

  • Bukowski, Helmut and Fritz Müller. Junkers Ju 90: Ein Dessauer Riese – Erprobung und Einsatz der Junkers Ju 90 bis Ju 290 (in German). Berlin : Brandenburgisches Verl.-Haus, 1995. ISBN   3-89488-083-X.
  • Duffy, James P. Target America: Hitler's Plan to Attack the United States. Santa Barbara, California: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2004. ISBN   0-275-96684-4.
  • Georg, Friedrich. Hitlers Siegeswaffen Band 1 Luftwaffe und Marine, Berlin: Jung Verlag & Amun Verlag Schleusingen, 2000. ASIN: B005RIIA6G
  • Georg, Friedrich. Hitler's Miracle Weapons. Solihull, UK: Helion, 2003. ISBN   978-1-8746-2291-8.
  • Green, William. Warplanes of the Third Reich. London: Macdonald and Jane's Publishers Ltd., 1970. ISBN   0-356-02382-6.
  • Griehl, Manfred. Luftwaffe over America: The Secret Plans to Bomb the United States in World War II. London: Greenhill Books, 2006. ISBN   978-0-7607-8697-0.
  • Griehl, Manfred and Joachim Dressel. Heinkel: He 177, 277, 274. London: Stackpole Books, 1998. ISBN   1-85310-364-0.
  • Horn, Steve. The Second Attack on Pearl Harbor: Operation K And Other Japanese Attempts. Annapolis, Maryland: US Naval Institute Press, 2005. ISBN   978-1-59114-388-8.
  • Kössler, Karl and Günther Ott. Die großen Dessauer: Junkers Ju 89, Ju 90, Ju 290, Ju 390 – Die Geschichte einer Flugzeugfamilie (in German). Berlin: Aviatik-Verlag, 1993. ISBN   3-925505-25-3.
  • Nowarra, Heinz J. Junkers Ju 290, Ju 390 etc.. Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Publishing, 1997. ISBN   0-7643-0297-3.
  • O'Donnell, James P. The Bunker. New York: da Capo Press, 2001. ISBN   978-0-306-80958-3.
  • Speer, Albert. Inside the Third Reich. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997. ISBN   978-0-684-82949-4.
  • Staerck, Christopher, Paul Sinnott and Anton Gill. Luftwaffe: The Allied Intelligence Files. London: Brassey's, 2002. ISBN   1-57488-387-9.
  • Sweeting, C.G. Hitler's Personal Pilot: The Life and Times of Hans Baur. London: Brassey's, 2001. ISBN   1-57488-402-6.
  • Wagner, Ray and Heinz Nowarra. German Combat Planes: A Comprehensive Survey and History of the Development of German Military Aircraft from 1914 to 1945. Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1971.