Junkers Ju 89
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The Junkers Ju 89 was a
heavy bomber Heavy bombers are bomber Fixed-wing aircraft, aircraft capable of delivering the largest payload of air-to-ground weaponry (usually Aerial bomb, bombs) and longest range (aeronautics), range (takeoff to landing) of their era. Archetypal heavy ...
designed for the ''
Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...
'' prior to
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. Two
prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototype ...
s were constructed, but the project was abandoned without the aircraft entering production. Elements of its design were incorporated into later Junkers aircraft.


Development

From the very beginnings of the Luftwaffe in 1933,
General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...
Walther Wever, the chief of staff, realised the importance that
strategic bombing Strategic bombing is a systematically organized and executed military attack from the air which can utilize strategic bombers, long- or medium-range missiles, or nuclear-armed fighter-bomber aircraft to attack targets deemed vital to the enemy' ...
would play in any future conflict. A ''Langstrecken-Grossbomber'' ("long-range big bomber") was needed to fulfill this role. Under the Ural bomber programme, he began secret talks with two of
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
's leading
aircraft manufacturer An aerospace manufacturer is a company or individual involved in the various aspects of designing, building, testing, selling, and maintaining aircraft, aircraft parts, missiles, rockets, or spacecraft. Aerospace is a high technology industry. ...
s - Dornier and Junkers - requesting designs for a long-range
bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft that utilizes air-to-ground weaponry to drop bombs, launch aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploy air-launched cruise missiles. There are two major classifications of bomber: strategic and tactical. Strateg ...
. The two companies responded with the Dornier Do 19 and the Junkers Ju 89, respectively, and the '' Reichsluftfahrtministerium'' (RLM) ordered prototypes for both aircraft in 1935. The RLM request asked for two prototypes and a prototype series of nine aircraft. The Ju 89 and its competitor, the Dornier Do 19, proved promising, but fell victim to a change of direction within the Luftwaffe. Wever was killed in a plane crash in 1936. His successors –
Albert Kesselring Albert Kesselring (30 November 1885 – 16 July 1960) was a German military officer and convicted war crime, war criminal who served in the ''Luftwaffe'' during World War II. In a career which spanned both world wars, Kesselring reached the ra ...
, Ernst Udet, and Hans Jeschonnek – favoured smaller, tactical aircraft, since they could be used to support army operations; they also did not require as much material and manpower. They were proponents of the
dive bomber A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy for the bomb it drops. Diving towards the target simplifies the bomb's trajectory and allows the pilot to keep visual contact througho ...
( Ju 87 ''Stuka'') and the doctrine of close support and destruction of the opposing air forces on the battle-ground rather than through attacking enemy industry. They convinced
Hermann Göring Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician, aviator, military leader, and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which gov ...
by emphasising the need for tactical bombers to act in an army support role. Albert Kesselring, Wever's successor, believed that what Germany required were more fighters and tactical bombers. Kesselring and Jeschonnek had suggested to Göring that it would be better to drop heavy bomber projects due to material shortages. Around 2.5 tactical bombers could be built with the same material as one heavy bomber. In May 1937 Göring is reported as saying to Erhard Milch 'The Führer does not ask me how big my bombers are, but how many there are'. While these beliefs seemed validated by Germany's early successes in the ''
Blitzkrieg ''Blitzkrieg'(Lightning/Flash Warfare)'' is a word used to describe a combined arms surprise attack, using a rapid, overwhelming force concentration that may consist of armored and motorized or mechanized infantry formations, together with ...
'', the lack of strategic bombing capability severely hampered the Luftwaffe in the
Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain () was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defended the United Kingdom (UK) against large-scale attacks by Nazi Germany's air force ...
and
Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along ...
.


First prototype

On 11 April 1937, the Ju 89 prototype D-AFIT (V1, c/n 4911) was first flown by Peter Hesselbach. Just 2½ weeks after the first flight, on 29 April 1937, the further development of both the Ju 89 and the Dornier Do 19 was cancelled by the RLM. The reason for this step was the high fuel consumption of heavy bombers, as well as because a large number of bombers could only be manufactured if these bombers were
medium bomber A medium bomber is a military bomber Fixed-wing aircraft, aircraft designed to operate with medium-sized Aerial bomb, bombloads over medium Range (aeronautics), range distances; the name serves to distinguish this type from larger heavy bombe ...
s, like the Ju 88.


Second prototype

Junkers completed the second Ju 89 prototype D-ALAT July 1937. Junkers used both prototypes for extensive flight tests to get experience of the stability and flight controls of large aircraft, but the third prototype V3 was stopped after the programme was cancelled. On 4 June 1938, Junkers achieved a new payload/altitude world record with the second prototype D-ALAT with payload at an altitude of , ( more than a Short Stirling with the same payload). On 8 June 1938, D-ALAT reached an altitude of with . In late 1938, both aircraft were transferred to the Luftwaffe, where they were used as heavy
transport aircraft Transport aircraft is a broad category of aircraft that includes: * Airliners, aircraft, usually large and most often operated by airlines, intended for carrying multiple passengers or cargo in commercial service * Cargo aircraft or freighters, fix ...
. Both Ju 89 prototypes seem to have been scrapped by the end of 1939, although some sources claim that they were still in use the following year in Norway. During testing, Luft Hansa expressed an interest in an
airliner An airliner is a type of airplane for transporting passengers and air cargo. Such aircraft are most often operated by airlines. The modern and most common variant of the airliner is a long, tube shaped, and jet powered aircraft. The largest ...
to be developed from the type, which led Junkers to rebuild the incomplete third prototype as the Ju 90.


Specifications (Ju 89 V2)


See also


References


External links


WW2 in Color
{{Authority control 1930s German bomber aircraft Abandoned military aircraft projects of Germany Ju 089 Four-engined tractor aircraft Low-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1937 Four-engined piston aircraft Twin-tail aircraft Aircraft with retractable conventional landing gear