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Ju 88
The Ju 88 certainly was the most versatile aircraft of the Luftwaffe. Apart from the British Mosquito, no other airplane in history has been subject to so many versions and purposes. Though it made its maiden flight in 1936, it entered service in 1939, and it wasn’t shipped to the front lines before 1941. A total of 14,780 units were produced.
Designed as a high-speed horizontal and diving bomber, it also served as a long-ragne reconaissance aircraft, and some units were equipped for close air support with one 75-mm cannon, two 37-mm cannons or a… flame-thrower! At the end of the war, some Ju 88 were even transformed in radio-controlled flying bombs.
Around the end of the war, it became mainly a night-fighter, with an on-board radar, capable of reaching 674 km/h.
Derived from the Ju 88, the Ju 188 was produced to the tune of 1076 units, and entered service in May 1943. The Ju 188 E2 was the most common, and was used as an anti-vessel aircraft armed with two 1500-lb torpedos and a surveillance radar.
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Type:
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High-speed
bomber, night fighter, ground attack aircraft
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Crew:
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3
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Engine:
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Two
liquid cooled, 12 cylinder inverted-Vee, Junkers Jumo 211J-1 (or J-2) of 1,340 hp each.
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Max speed:
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303
mph (488 kph) at 19,685 ft (6,000 m)
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Ceiling:
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29,000 ft (8,840 m)
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Range:
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1
000km (620 miles)
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Weight (empty):
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20,020
lb (9,081 kg);
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Weight (loaded):
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32,385
lb (14,690 kg)
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Wingspan:
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65
ft 7.5 in (20.0 m)
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Length:
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47
ft 8.5 in (14.54 m)
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Height:
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15
ft 11 in (4.85 m)
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Armament:
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Three
fixed forward-firing 20mm MG FF/M cannon and three fixed forward-firing 7.9mm
MG 17 machine guns in lower nose section, one flexible 13 mm MG 131
machine-gun at rear of cockpit. Optional 'Schräge Musik' installation in upper fuselage with two 20 mm MG
151 cannon firing obliquely forward and 3000 kg (6,600 lb) of bombs.
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A Ju 88 equipped with radar for night interception.
Ju-88 cockpit
The Ju 88 was only one of the famous German World War 2 planes
Click to see more WW2 German aircrafts.
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