Junkers Ju 288

The Junkers Ju 288 was a German bomber aircraft project designed during World War II, but which only ever flew in prototype form. The first of 22 development aircraft flew on November 29, 1940.

Development

Prior to the opening of World War II, the "Luftwaffe" bomber force was primarily aircraft of limited performance, some originally developed with civilian uses in mind as well. The only truly modern design in the inventory was the Junkers Ju 88, and although it outperformed the other designs it had numerous problems of its own. Perhaps most notable among these was its very small internal bomb bay that forced it to carry some of its load externally, slowing performance.

Junkers had been experimenting with a variety of improved models of the Ju 88 since 1937, powered by the Jumo 222 or 223 engines of greatly increased power. No serious work was undertaken on these versions, but after Heinrich Hertel left Heinkel and joined Junkers in 1939, the EF.74 design was submitted to the RLM in May 1939. The EF.74 entry was essentially a scaled-up Ju 88, sharing its general layout and most of its fuselage and wings with extensions in various places. The nose was completely redesigned, however, and featured a pressurised cockpit. All of the defensive armament was remotely controlled, allowing it to be located in useful positions as well as eliminating "breaks" in the fuselage pressurization. The fuselage was also "deepened" along its length to allow for a much larger bomb bay that would allow for an 8,000 lb (3630 kg) payload to be carried internally, eliminating the need to carry ordinance on outside hardpoints. Performance would be greatly improved over the Ju 88, both due to the all-internal bombload and the greatly improved power.

Accordingly the RLM sent out the specifications for Bomber B in July 1939, the Ju 88 retroactively becoming Bomber A. The Bomber B program aimed at replacing all of the medium bombers in the "Luftwaffe" inventory with a new design based on the EF.74 or something with equal performance. Bomber B was intended to have even better speed than the Ju 88, high altitude cruising with a pressurised cockpit, heavier defensive armament, range allowing it to cover any point in the British Isles, and a massive 4,000 kg warload, double that of the earlier generation bombers. A number of companies returned proposals, but these were to some extent a formality, the EF.74 had already been selected as the winner, and of the rest of the designs submitted, only the Focke-Wulf Fw 191 and Dornier Do 317 progressed even as far as prototypes.

Work began on building prototypes soon after, and the first example was completed by mid-1940. Power was supposed to be supplied by two 24-cylinder Jumo 222 radials but problems with 222 development meant the first prototypes flew with BMW 801 engines, instead. The first flight-quality 222s did not arrive until October 1941, and even at this point it was clear they were nowhere ready for full-scale production. When it became apparent the 222 was not likely to become a viable powerplant, in May 1942 Junkers proposed replacing them with the much heavier Daimler Benz DB 606s instead.

As these technical difficulties were being addressed, the lack of a strategic bombing doctrine within the "Luftwaffe" meant the mission and purpose of the Ju 288 remained nebulous throughout its development. As an interim measure, RLM ordered the Junkers Ju 188, which was a fairly minor upgrade of the original Ju 88 incorporating the basic cockpit design of the 288. Work continued on the 288 throughout, but in 1944 the project was finally abandoned as "Luftwaffe" priorities became more intensely focused on homeland defense.

Variants

* Ju 288A - first seven prototypes with BMW engines
* Ju 288B - seven prototypes with slightly enlarged airframes and better defensive armament
* Ju 288C - final eight prototypes (of which only four were completed) with Daimler-Benz engines. This version was selected for serial production in 1944, but the programme was abandoned before that could take place.
* Ju 288D - mock-up of a Ju-288C with improved tail armament
* Ju 288G - design for an anti-ship version armed with a 355 mm recoilless cannon

pecifications (Ju 288B)

aircraft specifications
plane or copter?= plane
jet or prop?= prop
ref=
crew=4
length main=58 ft
length alt=17.8 m
span main=74 ft 4 in
span alt=22.7 m
height main=14 ft 9 in
height alt=4.50 m
area main=696 ft²
area alt=64.6 m²
loaded weight main=46,186 lb
loaded weight alt=20,950 kg
max takeoff weight main=46,300 lb
max takeoff weight alt=21,000 kg
engine (prop)=Daimler-Benz DB606
type of prop= V12 inverted engines
number of props=2
power main=2,700 PS
power alt= 2,663 hp, 1,985 kW
max speed main=388 mph
max speed alt=620 km/h
range main=1,678 miles
range alt=2,700 km
ceiling main=30,500 ft
ceiling alt=9,300 m
climb rate main= 1,420 ft/min
climb rate alt= 435 m/s
power/mass main=
power/mass alt=
armament=
* 4 × 13 mm MG 131 machine guns
* 1 × 15(20) mm MG 151 cannon
* 3,000 kg (6,610 lb) of bombs

ee also

aircontent
related=
*Ju 88
*Ju 188
*Ju 388
*Ju 488
similar aircraft=

lists=
*List of World War II military aircraft of Germany
*List of military aircraft of Germany
*List of bomber aircraft
*List of WW2 Luftwaffe aircraft prototype projects
see also=

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Hitchcock, Thomas H. "Junkers 288 (Monogram Close-Up 2)". Acton, MA: Monogram Aviation Publications, 1974. ISBN 0-914144-02-2.

External links