Junkers Ju 86
Ju 86 | |
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Ju 86K-2 of Royal Hungarian Air Force, showing the Junkers doppelflügel wing control surfaces | |
Role | Bomber, airliner, reconnaissance aircraft |
Manufacturer | Junkers |
Designer | Ernst Zindel[1] |
First flight | 4 November 1934 |
Introduction | 1936 |
Retired | 1958 (Swedish Air Force) |
Status | retired |
Primary user | Luftwaffe |
Number built | ~900 |
The Junkers Ju 86 was a German monoplane bomber and civilian airliner designed in the early 1930s, and employed by various air forces on both sides during World War II. The civilian model Ju 86B could carry ten passengers. Two were delivered to Swissair and five to Deutsche Luft Hansa. In addition a single civilian Ju 86Z was delivered to Sweden's AB Aerotransport.[2]
Design and development
In 1934, a specification for a modern twin-engined aircraft, capable of operating both as a high-speed airliner for the German airline Luft Hansa and as a medium bomber for the nascent Luftwaffe, was issued to both Junkers and Heinkel. Five prototypes were ordered from each company; the Junkers Ju 86 and Heinkel He 111.[3]
Junkers' design was a low-winged twin-engined
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/15/Bundesarchiv_Bild_141-2401%2C_Flugzeug_Junkers_Ju_86.jpg/220px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_141-2401%2C_Flugzeug_Junkers_Ju_86.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a3/Junkers_Ju_86%2C_B_3.jpg/220px-Junkers_Ju_86%2C_B_3.jpg)
The design featured the distinctive Junkers doppelflügel control surfaces on the wing, similar to those on the
Jumo 205s were unavailable when the first prototype airframe was completed. Instead, the bomber-configured Ju 86ab1 was fitted with Siemens SAM 22 radial engines and flew for the first time on 4 November 1934.[3] The second prototype, also a bomber, flew in January 1935. The third Ju 86, the first civil prototype, flew on 4 April 1935.[6] Production of pre-series military and civil aircraft started in late 1935,[6] with full production of the Ju 86A-1 bomber commencing in April 1936. Production quickly switched to the improved Ju 86D with a modified tail cone to improve stability.[7]
Early use of the Jumo-powered Ju 86 bomber in the Spanish Civil War showed that it was inferior to the He 111, with the diesel engines being unsuitable for rough treatment during combat;[8] and production plans were cut back. One Ju 86 had already been converted to use radial engines as a testbed for possible export versions, and this showed improved reliability. Production switched to a version powered by the BMW 132 engine, the Ju 86E, with production continuing until 1938.[9]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f8/Ju-86K-2_pecs.jpg/220px-Ju-86K-2_pecs.jpg)
The sudden end to production without advance warning meant that there were still enough component parts to construct a further 1,000 aircraft.
Export variants
Civil variants, introduced in 1936, were designated Ju 86Z in three different models differing in their engines. The Jumo-engined Ju 86Z-1 (corresponding to the former B-0 or C-1) was sold to Swissair (one), Airlines of Australia (one), and
The Ju 86K was an export model, also built under license in Sweden by Saab as the B 3 with (905 hp) Bristol Mercury XIX radial engines. Several aircraft remained in service with the Swedish Air Force until 1958.[13] A few were converted for radio interception activities.[14]
Operational history
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/29/Junkers_Ju_86P_high_altitude_reconnaissance_plane_c1940.jpg/220px-Junkers_Ju_86P_high_altitude_reconnaissance_plane_c1940.jpg)
The bomber was field-tested in the
In January 1940, the Luftwaffe tested the prototype Ju 86P with a longer wingspan, pressurized cabin, Junkers Jumo 207A-1 turbocharged two-stroke, opposed-piston diesel engines and a two-man crew. The Ju 86P could fly higher than 12,000 m (39,000 ft), where it was felt to be safe from enemy fighters. The British Westland Welkin and Soviet Yakovlev Yak-9PD were developed specifically to counter this threat.[18]
The aircraft used on the Allied side in World War II were 17
Hungary used its Ju 86s to bomb Slovakian airfields and defensive positions during the Slovak–Hungarian War in March 1939. From June 1941, Hungary's Ju 86s began to be replaced by Italian Caproni Ca.135 bombers. An independent bomber squadron, equipped with a mix of Ju 86s and Ca 135s was deployed in support of the Hungarian Gyorshadtest (or Fast Corps) during the German-led invasion of the Soviet Union, but the Ju 86 was withdrawn from front line service by Hungary during 1942.[23]
Satisfied with the trials of the new Ju 86P prototype, the Luftwaffe ordered that some 40 older-model bombers be converted to Ju 86P-1 high-altitude bombers and Ju 86P-2 photo-reconnaissance aircraft, with pressurized fuselage, no armament, and a crew of two.[19] Those operated successfully for some years over Britain, the Soviet Union and North Africa. During early 1941 the reconnaissance version flew sorties over Britain, but these stopped when Hitler invaded Russia (Operation Barbarossa). By mid-1942 the pressurized bomber version was available, and flew about a dozen nuisance raids over southern England.[b] After the RAF mounted a special interception squadron using modified Spitfire Mk IXs, and one bomber attempting a raid on Portsmouth was intercepted on 12 September 1942, no further flights over England were attempted.[19]
In August 1942, a modified Supermarine Spitfire Mark V shot one down over Egypt at an altitude of some 14,500 m (49,000 ft); when two more were lost, Ju 86Ps were withdrawn from service in 1943.
Junkers developed the Ju 86R for the Luftwaffe, using larger wings and new engines capable of even higher altitudes - up to 16,000 m (52,500 ft) - but production was limited to prototypes.
Surviving aircraft
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3b/Junkers_Ju_86K-4_Flygvapenmuseum.jpg/220px-Junkers_Ju_86K-4_Flygvapenmuseum.jpg)
Only one Junkers Ju 86 is known to exist today. The aircraft was built in Germany and sold to Sweden in 1938. Before it was retired from Swedish service in 1958, the aircraft was used in the 1955 movie
Variants
- Ju 86abl
- First bomber prototype.
- Ju 86bal
- Second transport prototype.
- Ju 86cb
- Third bomber prototype.
- Ju 86V4
- Prototype for the Ju 86B commercial transport aircraft.
- Ju 86V5
- Prototype for the Ju 86A bomber aircraft.
- Ju 86A-0
- 13 pre-production bomber aircraft.
- Ju 86A-1
- Initial bomber version.
- Ju 86B-0
- Seven pre-production transport aircraft.
- Ju 86C-1
- Six transport aircraft for Deutsche Luft Hansa, powered by two Junkers Jumo 205C diesel engines.
- Ju 86D-1
- Bomber version.
- Ju 86E-1
- Bomber version for the Luftwaffe, powered by two BMW 132F radial engines.
- Ju 86E-2
- Powered by two BMW 132N radials.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Bundesarchiv_Bild_141-2402%2C_Flugzeug_Junkers_Ju_86.jpg/220px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_141-2402%2C_Flugzeug_Junkers_Ju_86.jpg)
- Ju 86G-1
- Fitted with a round glass nose.
- Ju 86E-2
- Uprated version of the Ju 86E-1.
- Ju 86K-1
- Export version for South Africa and Sweden.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Rep%C3%BCl%C5%91t%C3%A9r%2C_Junkers_Ju-86_rep%C3%BCl%C5%91g%C3%A9pek._Fortepan_9202.jpg/220px-Rep%C3%BCl%C5%91t%C3%A9r%2C_Junkers_Ju-86_rep%C3%BCl%C5%91g%C3%A9pek._Fortepan_9202.jpg)
- Ju 86K-2
- Export version for Hungary.
- Ju 86K-4
- Export version for Sweden, similar to the Ju 86K-1, but fitted with two Bristol Pegasus III radials.
- Ju 86K-5
- Swedish-built bomber aircraft, powered by two Swedish-built Bristol Pegasus XII radials.
- Ju 86K-6
- Export version for Chile
- Ju 86K-7
- Export version for Austria and Portugal[25][c] with BMW 132 radials.[26]
- Ju 86K-13
- Swedish-built bomber aircraft, fitted with Swedish or Polish-built Pegasus engines.
- Ju 86P-1
- High-altitude bomber version, fitted with two Jumo 207 diesel engines and with turbochargers.
- Ju 86P-2
- High-altitude photo reconnaissance version, still equipped for bombing. Same engines as P-1.
- Ju 86R-1
- High-altitude photo reconnaissance version. Retained Jumo 207 engines.
- Ju 86R-2
- High-altitude bomber version.
- Ju 86R-3
- Powered by two Jumo 208 engines.
- Ju 86Z series
- Civil export models
- Ju 186
- Proposed four-engined high-altitude bomber aircraft. Not built.
- Ju 286
- Proposed six-engined high-altitude bomber aircraft. Not built.
- K 85
- Proposed torpedo bomber version for the Swedish Air Force.
Operators
Military operators
- Austria
- Bolivia
- Chile
- Germany
- Hungary
- Royal Hungarian Air Force
- Portugal
- Romania
- South Africa
- South African Air Force The SAAF operated 18 aircraft namely 17 Ju 86Z and one Ju 86K (from South African Airways). These aircraft were operated by 12 and 16 Squadron.[27][28]
- Spain
- Spanish Air Force
- Sweden
Civil operators
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2f/Ju86_Manchukuo_Airways_M-223.jpg/220px-Ju86_Manchukuo_Airways_M-223.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5d/Junkers_Ju-86_B-1%2C_HB-IXE_on_the_ground_in_D%C3%BCbendorf_%28LBS_SR01-01137%29.jpg/220px-Junkers_Ju-86_B-1%2C_HB-IXE_on_the_ground_in_D%C3%BCbendorf_%28LBS_SR01-01137%29.jpg)
- Australia
- Southern Airlines and Freighters of Australia[30]
- Bolivia
- Chile
- LAN Chile[30]
- Germany
- Manchukuo (Manchuria)
- Manchukuo National Airways[32]
- South Africa
- Spanish State
- Iberia Airlines
- Sweden
- Switzerland
Specifications (Ju 86R-1)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f8/Junkers_Ju-86_K.svg/220px-Junkers_Ju-86_K.svg.png)
Data from The warplanes of the Third Reich,[34] Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War II[35] and Warbirds Resource Group[36]
General characteristics
- Crew: 2 (pilot and radio operator)
- Length: 16.46 m (54 ft 0 in)
- Wingspan: 32 m (105 ft 0 in)
- Height: 4.08 m (13 ft 5 in)
- Wing area: 97.06 m2 (1,044.7 sq ft)
- Empty weight: 6,780 kg (14,947 lb)
- Max takeoff weight: 11,530 kg (25,419 lb)
- Fuel capacity: 1,937 L (512 US gal; 426 imp gal)
- Powerplant: 2 × Junkers Jumo 207B-36-cylinder liquid-cooled 2-stroke opposed-piston diesel engines, 750 kW (1,000 hp) each for take-off
- 560 kW (750 hp) at 12,000 m (40,000 ft) with Nitrous Oxideinjection
- 560 kW (750 hp) at 12,000 m (40,000 ft) with
- Propellers: 4-bladed constant-speed propellers
Performance
- Maximum speed: 420 km/h (260 mph, 230 kn) at 9,000 m (30,000 ft)
- 370 km/h (230 mph; 200 kn) at 9,000 m (30,000 ft)
- Cruise speed: 250 km/h (160 mph, 130 kn) at 13,700 m (44,900 ft)
- Range: 1,750 km (1,090 mi, 940 nmi)
- Endurance: 7 hours 10 minutes
- Service ceiling: 14,400 m (47,200 ft)
See also
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
- Heinkel He 111
- Dornier Do 17
- Fokker T.V
- Savoia-Marchetti SM.79
Related lists
Notes
- ^ 18 units had been delivered to the airline during the interwar years [20]
- ^ Each bomber carried a single 250kg bomb, so most drops caused little damage. However, a hit in the middle of Bristol during rush hour killed 48 and caused major damage.
- ^ According to a source, the ten aircraft received by Portugal were the K-7 version
- ^ Zoeller, Horst. "Junkers - Who is Who?". The Hugo Junkers Homepage. Archived from the original on October 27, 2009. Retrieved 2016-06-22.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "Tp 9 - Junkers Ju 86Z-7 (1940–1958)." Archived 2007-12-05 at the Wayback Machine Avrosys.nu. Retrieved: 23 July 2009.
- ^ a b c Green and Swanborough 1982, p. 15.
- ^ Smith and Kay 1972, pp. 370–371.
- ^ Green and Swanborough 1982, p. 18.
- ^ a b c Green and Swanborough 1982, p. 17.
- ^ Green and Swanborough 1982, p. 19.
- ^ Dressel and Griel 1994, p.22.
- ^ Green and Swanborough 1982, pp. 27–28.
- ^ a b Suchenwirth 1959, p. 26.
- ^ Suchenwirth 1959, pp. 21–22.
- ^ Suchenwirth 1959, pp. 25, 33.
- ^ a b "B 3 - Junkers Ju 86K (1936–1958)." Archived 2007-12-13 at the Wayback Machine Avrosys.nu. Retrieved: 23 July 2009.
- ISBN 978-91-7243-015-0.
- ^ Green and Swanborough 1982, pp. 20–21.
- ^ a b c Green and Swanborough 1982, p. 28.
- ^ Hooton 2016, pp. 141–142, 145–146.
- ^ James 1982, p. 115.
- ^ a b c "Germany's U-2: WWII's Highest Air Combat". youtube. Mark Felton Productions. 23 January 2020. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
- ^ "How We Began".
- ^ Green 1968, p. 41.
- ^ Green 1968, p. 42.
- ^ Green and Swanborough 1982, pp. 26–27.
- ^ Sundgren 2011, p. 23.
- ^ "Altimagem: Junkers Ju-86". 2012.
- ^ Haubner, F. Die Flugzeuge der Österreichischen Luftstreitkräfte vor 1938. Graz, Germany: H Weishaupt Verlag, 1982.
- ^ "The Air Force: Aircraft Ju 86 K-3 / Z." saairforce.co. Retrieved: 18 August 2010.
- ^ "Emergency bomber". www.ww2incolor.com. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
- ^ "T 3 - Junkers Ju 86K." Avrosys.nu. Retrieved: 23 July 2009.
- ^ a b c d Stroud 1966, p. 337.
- ^ a b Stroud 1966, p. 336.
- ^ Stroud 1966, pp. 337–338.
- ^ Stroud 1966, pp. 336–337.
- ISBN 0385057822.
- ^ Bridgeman 1946, p. 171.
- ^ "Junkers Ju 86." Warbirds Resource Group. Retrieved: 23 July 2009.
Bibliography
- Bridgeman, Leonard. "The Junkers Ju 86P and Ju 86R." Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War II. London: Studio, 1946. ISBN 1-85170-493-0.
- Dressel, Joachim and Manfred Griehl. Bombers of the Luftwaffe. London: Arms and Armour Press, 1994, ISBN 1-85409-140-9.
- Goss, Chris (May 2019). "Zigzag dans le ciel de l'Angleterre: des Ju 86 bombardent à haute altitude en 1942" [Zigzag in British Skies: The Ju 86 High-altitude Bombardment in 1942]. Le Fana de l'Aviation (in French) (594): 68–75. ISSN 0757-4169.
- Green, William. War Planes of the Second World War: Volume Ten Bombers and Reconnaissance Aircraft. London: Macdonald, 1968.
- Green, William and Gordon Swanborough. "Junkers Ju 86 ... The Dimorphus Dessauer". Air Enthusiast, Number Twenty, December 1982-March 1983, pp. 15–30. Bromley, UK: Pilot Press.
- Hooton, E. R. War Over the Steppes: The Air Campaigns on the Eastern Front 1941–45. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2016. ISBN 978-1-4728-1562-0.
- James, Derek N. Westland: A History. Gloucestershire, UK: Tempus Publishing Ltd., 2002. ISBN 0-7524-2772-5.
- Lawrence, Joseph (1945). The Observer's Book Of Airplanes. London and New York: Frederick Warne & Co.
- Smith, J.R. and Antony L. Kay. German Aircraft of the Second World War, London: Putnam, 1972. ISBN 0-85177-836-4.
- Stroud, John. European Transport Aircraft since 1910. London: Putnam, 1966.
- Suchenwirth, Richard (1959). Kennedy, Edward P. (ed.). Historical Turning Points in the German Air Force War Effort (PDF). USAF Historical Studies No. 189. USAF Historical Division, Air University.
- Sundgren, Anita. Flygvapenmuseum: The Swedish Air Force Museum. Linköping, Sweden: Edita Västra Aros AB, 2011. ISBN 978-91-633-8910-8.
Further reading
- Zuerl, Walter (1941). Deutsche Flugzeug Konstrukteure. München, Germany: Curt Pechstein Verlag.
External links
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