JUNKERS JU 52

The 'Junkers Ju 52' (nicknamed ''Tante Ju'' - "Auntie Ju" - and "Iron Annie") was a transport aircraft and bomber manufactured 1932 – 1945 by Junkers. It saw both civilian and military service during the 1930s and 1940s. In a civilian role, it flew with well over a dozen air carriers including Swissair and Lufthansa as an airliner and freight hauler. In a military role, it flew with the Luftwaffe as a troop and cargo transport, with a secondary role as a medium bomber. The Swiss Air Force also flew the Ju 52, with three machines remaining in operation until the early 1980s.

Contents

Design and development

Operational history

Variants

Operators

Military operators

Civilian operators

Specifications (Junkers Ju 52/3m g7e)

References

External links

Related content

Design and development

The Ju 52 was similar to the company's previous Junkers W33, although larger. In 1930, Ernst Zindel and his team designed the Ju 52 at the Junkers works at Dessau. The aircraft's unusual corrugated metal skin strengthened the fuselage and gave it a characteristic boxy appearance.

Operational history

In its original configuration, designated the 'Ju 52/1m', the Ju 52 was a single-engined aircraft, powered by either a BMW or Junkers liquid-cooled engines. in 1936, James A. Richardson's Canadian Airways received (Werknummer 4006) ''CF-ARM'' , the sixth ever-built Ju 52. The aircraft, nicknamed the "Flying Boxcar" in Canada, could lift approximately three tons and had a maximum weight of eight tons. It was used to supply mining and other operations in remote areas with equipment too big and heavy for other aircraft then in use. The Ju 52/1m was able to fly on wheels, skis or floats.[1]
However, the single-engine model was underpowered, and after seven prototypes had been completed, all subsequent Ju 52s were built with three engines as the 'Ju 52/3m' (German ''drei 'm'otoren'', meaning "three engines"). Originally powered by three Pratt & Whitney Hornet radial engines, later production models mainly received BMW 132 engines, a refinement of the Pratt & Whitney design. Export models were also built with Pratt & Whitney Wasp and Bristol Pegasus engines. The upgrade improved performance and load carrying abilities. As a Lufthansa airliner, the Ju 52 could seat 17, and could fly from Berlin to Rome in eight hours.
The Ju 52 first saw military service in the Spanish Civil War, as both a bomber and transport aircraft. In the former role it participated in the bombing of Guernica. It was again used as a bomber during the bombing of Warsaw^[1] during the Invasion of Poland of September 1939. The Luftwaffe then relied on the Ju 52 for transport roles during World War II, including paratroop drops, most notably in the Battle of Crete in May 1941. Lightly armed, and with a top speed of only 165 mph — half that of a contemporary Spitfire — the Ju 52 was very vulnerable to fighter attack and an escort was always necessary when flying in a combat zone. Many Ju 52s were shot down by anti-aircraft guns and fighters while transporting supplies, most notably during the desperate attempt to resupply the trapped German Sixth Army during the final stages of the Battle of Stalingrad in 1943.

Variants

In addition to the standard, fixed undercarriage version, there was a floatplane version, equipped with two large floats. This model served during the Norwegian campaign in 1940, and later in the Mediterranean theatre. Some Ju 52 floatplanes were also used as minesweepers, fitted with a large degaussing ring under the airframe.
Most Ju 52s were destroyed after the war, but a small number were manufactured after 1945. In France the machine was manufactured by Amiot as the 'Amiot AAC 1 Toucan' and in Spain, Construcciones Aeronáuticas SA continued production as the 'CASA 352'. Several Ju 52s are airworthy and in regular use today.

Operators

Military operators

;
; Bulgaria
;
; Croatia
;: (postwar)
;
;: (postwar)
;Germany: Luftwaffe
;Greece
;Hungary
;Italy
;: (captured)
;
;
; Kingdom of Romania
;South Africa
; Slovakia
;: (postwar)
; Spanish State
;
;
;United States: (known as Junkers C-79)

Civilian operators

;:

★ Sabena
;:

★ Lloyd Aereo Boliviano
;:

★ Cruzeiro do Sul

★ Syndicato Condor

★ VASP
;Canada:

★ Canadian Airways Ltd.

★ Canadian Pacific Airlines
;

★ Various
;:

★ ČSA České aerolinie
;:

★ Det Danske Luftfartsselskab
;:

★ AGO
;:

★ Aero Oy

★ DLL
;:

★ Aero Cargo

★ Air France

★ Air Ocean

★ CTA Languedoc Roussillon

★ Société Auxiliare de Navigation Aérienne

★ Socotra
;Germany:

★ Deruluft

★ Lufthansa
;Germany:

★ Lufthansa (one still in used for special flights)
;Greece

★ Elliniki Eteria Enaerion Sinkinonion (3)
;Hungary:

★ Malert Airlines
;Italy:

★ Ala Littoria
;:

★ Det Norske Luftfartselskap
;:

★ LOT Polish Airlines (1 in 1936-1939)
;:

★ Aero Portuguesa

★ DETA
;South Africa:

★ South African Airways
;:

★ Aeroflot
; Spanish State:

★ Iberia Airlines
;:

★ Ju-Air (still used, used only 3 Ju 52)

★ Swissair
;:

★ British Airways Limited

★ British European Airways

★ British Overseas Airways Corporation
;

★ JAT

Specifications (Junkers Ju 52/3m g7e)

References

1. http://www.richmond.edu/~wgreen/ECDwarsaw.html

External links

★ www.ju52-3m.ch

★ www.constable.ca

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