Junkers Ju 88

Junkers Ju 88A-5

Role: see below
Conception: Junkers Flugzeug und Motorenwerke AG
Production: 14 factories all over Germany (Junkers, ATG, Opel, Volkswagen) plus a few factories in France.
14,980 planes produced.
First flight of prototype: Ju 88V: December 21st, 1936

The Ju 88 is the most important German bomber of World War 2. In fact it was much more than just a bomber; this family of planes has seen more different duties than any other (but maybe the English Mosquito): first designed as a Schnellbomber (fast bomber), it was developped into a conventional level-bomber, dive-bomber, torpedo bomber, heavy fighter, nightfighter, close support plane, recon plane, and even, in its Mistel form, as an air-to-ground flying bomb !

Development

Here are the main versions of the Ju 88 family; I will essentially focus on the bombers.

The "A"-series : the bombers.

The Luftwaffe received the first Ju 88A-0 pre-production planes and Ju 88A-1 production bombers in 1939. The Ju 88A-1 was at the time the best Luftwaffe bomber; it was more modern and had better performance than the Dornier Do 17 or Heinkel He 111 already in service.
The Ju 88A-1 was powered by a pair of 1,200 hp Jumo 211B-1 engines, and could reach 450 km/h (280 mph). It had a crew of four: pilot, bombardier, top gunner/radio-operator and bottom gunner/flight-engineer. Defensive armament was usually one flexible 7.92 mm nose gun, another at the back at the cockpit, and one below the plane at the back of the gondola containing the Lotfe bomb sight. This bomb sight allowed the Ju 88 to do level-bombing, but it also had dive-brakes for dive-bombing. For a short-range attack, its maximum bomb load was 2,400 kg (5,290 lb), but the internal bomb bays were usually filled with additional fuel tanks.
The Ju 88A-2 had 1,200 hp Jumo 211G-1 engines. It also was the first Ju 88 to be able to use Walter rocket assist takeoff pods; these pods offered 30 seconds of thrust, and were released after takeoff under recovery parachutes.
The Ju 88A-4 was designed to use the more powerful Ju 211J engine, and longer wings. However these new engines were not yet ready for delivery, so the interim Ju 88A-5 entered service instead, in Summer of 1940. It still had 1,200 hp engines, but received the longer wings (and longer ailerons) of the forecoming Ju 88A-4; the resulting improved controls were much appreciated by Luftwaffe pilots.
As on some late-production A-1s, the dorsal armament was now usually two 7.92 mm guns.
The Ju 88s involved in the Battle of Britain were a mix of Ju 88A-1s and some Ju 88A-5s. By mid-1941, the Ju 88A-5 equipped nearly all Ju 88 squadrons; several A-1s were converted to A-5 standard.
The Ju 88A-4 was finally delivered early in 1941, with the 1,400 hp Jumo 211F-1 or 211J engines. The A-4 had more armor, and its defensive armament was improved with faster-firing MG81 guns. The defensive armament varied from plane to plane: some had a 13 mm gun, some had a fixed forward-firing gun operated by the pilot.
By mid-1942, the Ju 88A-4 equipped nearly half of German bomber squads.

Junkers Ju 88-A4
Engines	2x Junkers 211J liquid-cooled inverted V12	Max: 2x 1,400 hp
Weight	empty: 9,860 kg (21,737 lbs) - with full load: 14,000 kg (30,865 lbs)
Armament	One 7.9 mm gun (pilot); 3x 7.9 mm and a 13 mm gun (gunners)
Ordnance	4 bombs, up to 450 kg (1,000 lb) each.
Performance	Max speed: 475 km/h (295 mph)	Ceiling: 8,200 m (26,900 ft)

The Ju 88A-4/Torp could carry a pair of 765 kg (1,686 lb) torpedoes; this subversion had no dive-brakes or external bomb racks.

Junkers Ju 88-A4/Torp
Engines	2x Junkers 211J liquid-cooled inverted V12	Max: 2x 1,400 hp
Armament	One 7.9 mm gun (pilot); 3x 7.9 mm and a 13 mm gun (gunners)
Ordnance	Two 765 kg (1,686 lb) torpedoes
Performance	Max speed: 475 km/h (295 mph)	Ceiling: 8,200 m (26,900 ft)

As British anti-aircraft balloons were a serious threat to German bomber raids, some Ju 88A-5s were converted for the anti-balloon role, with a large cable fender mounted in front of the plane, under the Ju 88A-6 designation.
As the Ju 88A-6s were not very successful, they were upgraded with Jumo 211J engines and fitted with radars for a new maritime reconnaissance and anti-shipping role. They were now called Ju 88A-6/U.
As another attempt to get rid of British barrage balloons, the Ju 88A-8 had full span wing leading edge cutters, which were also fitted on most later versions.
For operation in North Africa, some Ju 88A-1, A-5 and A-4 were tropicalized either in conversion centers (Ju 88A-1/Trop, A-5/Trop and A-4/Trop) or on the production line (Ju 88A-9, A-10 and A-11).
The Ju 88A-13 was a close support plane, without a bomb sight or dive brakes but with additional armor, and able to carry anti-personnel bomblets and underwing gun pods.
Also a close-support version, the Ju 88A-14 had a fixed MG FF 20 mm cannon, more armor, and no dive-brakes.
To lower the performance hit of external ordnance, the Ju 88A-15 had much larger bomb bays. The speed gain was however minimal, and few were built.
The Ju 88A-17, based on Ju 88A-4 and A-14 airframes, was a dedicated torpedo bombing version.
The Ju 88A-3, Ju 88A-7, Ju 88A-12 and Ju 88A-16 were trainers, most of them unarmed.

Other versions of the Ju 88.

The Ju 88B had a bullet shaped "bubble" canopy. Only a handful were made, but one of them, re-motorized by BMW 801C engines and redesignated Ju 88E-0, can be considered as a prototype of the Ju 188.
The "C"-series were heavy fighters, mostly used as night fighters.
The Ju 88D was a long range high speed reconnaissance version. The Ju 88D-0, D-2 and tropicalized D-4 were based on the Ju 88A-5; the Ju 88D-1 and tropicalized D-3 were based on the Ju 88A-4. The final variant, with a different camera installation, was the Ju 88D-5.
The Ju 88H series were ultra-long-range reconnaissance versions; they had a longer fuselage than the Ju 88D.
The "S"-series were high-performance bombers with a more streamlined fuselage, and stripped of all non-critical equipment. Most were powered by BMW 801 engines giving from 1,700 to 1,810 hp, these versions had smaller fuel tanks, therefore a shorter range, and a smaller bombload. As the bombardier gondola was deleted, the crew was now three.
The last version of this family was the Ju 88S-3, powered by Jumo 213 engines that could be boosted up to 2,300 hp.
The Ju 88T was a reconnaissance version of the Ju 88S.

Stof's notes about this plane in iMOL's WarBirds

The opinions expressed below are only my own, and nothing more...

With the "rolling plane set" system now functional since WB 2.01, the Ju 88 is more interesting than ever because whatever day you log on, you can be sure that this old 1939 bomber is available. I'd like to see a Ju 88A-1 modelled though, as the Ju 88A-4 was not available before 1941.

Strong points:

Being able to carry four 450kg (1,000 lb) bombs is a quality unmatched by other WB bombers but the slow and heavy Boeing B-17.
It is also the only torpedo plane able to carry two torpedoes.

Weak points:

The Ju 88's gunner defenses and its resistance to gunfire are lower than for its American counterparts, the B-17 and B-25.

Back to Stof's Plane Info Center

Back to Stof's "Virtual Flying" Page.

Send comments/suggestions to Christophe.Arribat@wanadoo.fr