https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junkers_Ju_188
The Junkers Ju 188 was a German Luftwaffe high-performance medium bomber built
during World War II, the planned follow-up to the Ju 88 with better performance
and payload. It was produced only in limited numbers, due both to the presence
of improved versions of the Ju 88, as well as the increasingly effective Allied
strategic bombing campaign against German industry and the resulting focus on
fighter production.
In 1936, Junkers submitted proposals for the Ju 85 and Ju 88 into competition
for the new standardized Luftwaffe high-speed tactical bomber, known as the
Schnellbomber (fast bomber). The two designs were almost identical, differing
only in that the Ju 85 used a twin-rudder and the Ju 88 a single fin. At the
same time, they offered modified versions of each as the Ju 85B and Ju 88B,
again similar to the original designs but using an "egg shaped" stepless cockpit
forward fuselage design that comprised a greenhouse-like, well-framed network of
some three dozen compound-curved window panels in total, another example of the
"bullet-nose" design philosophy that almost all new German bomber designs
exhibited, from the time of the Heinkel He 111P onwards. The new nose design for
the Ju 88B also tightly integrated the forward end of the undernose Bola ventral
gondola defensive gun position into the newer nose design, when compared to the
"added-on" Bola unit pioneered on the Ju 88 V7 prototype. This meant the Ju 88B
offered somewhat lower drag and better visibility. At the time, this was
considered too radical and the Ju 88A with its simpler, separately-glazed dorsal
cockpit "greenhouse" framed canopy, and "beetle's eye" framed, multi-flat panel
nose glazing comprising a "stepped" cockpit design from the separation of the
pair of glazed units by the sheetmetal of the upper fuselage nose winning the
initial Schnellbomber production contract.
Role
Tactical bomber/Reconnaissance aircraft
Manufacturer
Junkers
First flight
1940 (Ju 88B V1)
Introduction
February 1943
Retired
1951 (France)
Primary users
Germany
France and United Kingdom (post-war)
Number built
1,234
Developed from
Junkers Ju 88
Variants
Junkers Ju 388
For all its good points, the Ju 188 was only a small improvement over the Ju 88
it was supposed to replace. The bombload and bomb bay was no larger than the
earlier plane, so although it could handle a larger load by mounting externally,
doing so hurt performance. Even then the performance was rather poor considering
all the effort - only 523 km/h (325 mph) or less. The dorsal turret had only one
gun in it, yet the type retained the single-gun flexible position only a few
centimeters away from it. In the meantime, the various projects to finally
provide the plane with real tail armament were all abandoned.
Delivery problems of the Jumo 213 were never entirely sorted out, and the only
model to be built in large numbers were the E series with the BMW 801. Even then
so few were available that they were generally given out to Ju 88 units, who
flew them on "special" missions where the longer range or better performance
would be helpful.
Some 500 Ju 188A and E variants were built up until the summer of 1944, when
production ceased.
Specifications (Ju 188E)
General characteristics
Crew: 5
Length: 15 m (49 ft 1 in)
Wingspan: 22 m (72 ft 2 in)
Height: 4.4 m (14 ft 7 in)
Empty weight: 9,900 kg (21,825 lb)
Loaded weight: 14,500 kg (31,967 lb)
Performance
Maximum speed: 499 km/h (310 mph)
Range: 2,190 km (1,360 mi combat)
Service ceiling: 9,500 m (31,170 ft)
Power/mass: 0.175 kW/kg (0.106 hp/lb)
Armament
Bombs: 3,000 kg (6,612 lb)
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