Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Junkers
Ju 52
17 Pages in detail
70 Origin
and history
72 Men behind
the Junkers
78 Ju 52 in profile
80 In combat Junkers at war
86 From the
archive
Main picture
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Junkers
Ju 52
Ju 52
Scrutinizes the history of...
The Junkers
Above
Pictured at Ivato in
Madagascar, Ju 52
F-BALO served with
Air France for ten
years from 1945.
BOTH KEY
he venerable Junkers Ju 52
was the most significant
German transport aircraft
of World War Two. An
aircraft as famous for its unusual
appearance as for its remarkably
long service life, the Tante Ju
(Auntie Junkers) as it was sometimes
known, proved itself a rugged,
dependable and versatile machine.
With angular sides that resembled
corrugated fencing, and a distinctive
tri-motor configuration, the Ju 52
(also nicknamed Iron Annie) was
and still is an unmistakeable aircraft.
Designed by Ernst Zindel and
his team at Junkers headquarters
in Dessau, Germany, it was loosely
based on the W 33 that was produced
between 1927 and 1934, when just
under 200 were built. Like the W 33,
the Ju 52 was originally envisaged as
being powered by just one engine.
Seven prototypes were completed,
but all were far too ponderous and
slow. The first of these flew on
October 13, 1930. All subsequent
models were built with three engines,
and while the resulting aircraft was
still not among the fastest in the
skies, it was clearly fit for its intended
purpose as a transport for national
airline Luft Hansa.
Early days
Wartime role
Left
Junkers Ju 52 D-TABX
was one of many civilian
aircraft pressed into
Luftwaffe service. It wore
the red cross symbol to
indicate it was a noncombatant aircraft.
Junkers Ju 52/3m
200
400
600
800
800
Construction:
50
100
150
First Flight:
Powerplant:
138
Dimension:
Weight:
Performance:
5,000
10,000
15,000
Armament:
20,000
19,360
Crew:
A total of 4,845 were made in Germany, plus around 600 in Spain, France and
Hungary.
The single-engined prototype first flew on October 13, 1930, with the threeengined version flying on March 7, 1932.
Three 725hp (540kW) BMW123A-3 nine-cylinder radials; later 830hp BMW123Ts,
driving two-bladed propellers.
Span 95ft 11in (29.5m). Length 62ft 0in. Height 18ft 2in. Wing area 1,190 sq ft
(110.5 sq m).
Empty 12,610lb (5,720kg). Loaded 23,150lb.
Max speed 171mph (275km/h). Service ceiling 19,360ft (5,900m). Typical cruise
speed 138mph. Range 800 miles (1,287km).
Typically one 7.92mm machine gun in dorsal and ventral positions plus 500kg
bomb load. Some armed variants had a 13mm dorsal gun and additional
7.92mm beam guns.
Usually three two pilots and radio operator.
415
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Junkers
Ju 52
Masterpi
F
Metal man
piece
Men Behind
the Ju 52
Corrugations
500
Top right
Junkers workers at
Dessau using pneumatic
hand tools to assemble
the all-metal fuselage of
a Ju 52/3m in the late
1930s.
Above
Left
One motor
Men Behind
the Ju 52
South West African combatants
The first Junkers Ju 52 export was to
Canadian Airways in 1931. Powered by a
single Armstrong Siddeley Leopard radial,
CF-ARM was reassembled in Montreal and
made several flights over eastern Canada
and the northeastern US states. The Leopard
Junkers Ju 52/1m CF-ARM of Canadian Pacific on skis.
struggled with the harsh climate of North
America and it was replaced by a BMW VIIa.
Known as the White Elephant and the
Flying Boxcar it was the largest aircraft
in Canada at the time. Undertaking supply
flights to remote trapper stations along the
Hudson Bay, it carried dynamite, ore buckets,
lumber, furs and fish. From 1941 CF-ARM
served with Canadian Pacific, operating on
wheels, floats and skis with few difficulties.
Later fitted with an 825hp Rolls-Royce
Buzzard in-line, CF-ARM was eventually
scrapped in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 1947.
A replica Ju52/1m was recreated in Winnipeg,
In 1979 a former Spanish Air Force CASACanada by a team of British Aerospace engineers.
built Ju 52 was acquired by the Wings and
The aircraft was rolled out in April 1985. KEY
Wheels Museum at Orlando, Florida. The
CASA 352L was donated to the Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada at Winnipeg and
ferried there on May 11, 1982. Its three radials were removed and the airframe was converted
to Ju 52/1 configuration by a team from Bristol Aerospace. The aircraft was rolled out in
Canadian Airways colours in April 1985 and has been on display ever since.
585
Tri-motor
First war
Moving an army
Top left
German and
Spanish Nationalist
personnel gather
around a Ju 52/3m
of the Legion
Condor.
Above
The rugged
construction of the
Ju 52s airframe
is apparent in this
view of preserved
D-AQUI undergoing
overhaul by
Lufthansa, prior to
its return to flight.
KEY
Bottom right
A formation of three
Spanish-flown Ju
52/3ms of the 3
Escuadrilla Tres
Marias, Grupo
de Bombardeo
Nocturno, on a
combat mission with
both dorsal and
ventral gunners at
their positions.
Airline ambitions
Makeshift bomber
Horror at Guernica
Men Behind
the Ju 52
Above left
Above
Spotlight
Junkers
Ju 52
Lord
of the Ring
Andy Hay artwork of a Ju 52 that was fitted with a mine-sweeping
degaussing ring
Artwork
Junkers Ju
52/3mg7e PD+KH
of MSGr1, based at
Budars, Hungary
in 1944. ANDY HAY2016
he Junkers Ju 52 was
put to many uses during
World War Two, though
it was primarily utilised
as a transport. Its reputation for
being rugged and dependable, and
its ability to operate from rough or
hastily prepared strips meant that it
was in constant demand, despite its
relatively crude, pre-war design, and
outdated corrugated fuselage.
Its most distinctive configuration
was as a minesweeper. A small
number of Ju 52/3ms were adapted
Ju 52
in profile
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Junkers
Ju 52
Tante
enemy air or naval forces in the eastern
Mediterranean. Operation Merkur,
the codename given to the German
airborne and amphibious conquest of
Crete, was fraught with difficulties.
The island would have to be seized
between the conclusion of operations
in Greece and the start of a new
campaign against Russia.
The means to achieve this utilised
the Luftwaffes Fallschirmjger
(paratroop) arm. This new form of
warfare had covered itself in glory
during the Blitzkrieg on Europe the
previous year.
Carrying the paratroopers would
be an unprecedented assembly of
transport aircraft the lumbering,
trusted and capable Junkers Ju 52. As
a mark of respect for these venerable
ladies, the tri-motors had become
universally known as Tante Ju
Auntie Ju a benign, elderly person
who would always look after you.
Operation Merkur
17
e Ju
engaged in carrying supplies during
the campaigns in Yugoslavia and
Greece and were badly in need of
overhaul. Pulled back to Germany,
the repair shops worked around-theclock to restore the transports to full
serviceability.
Upon return to Greece, conditions
at the landing grounds were woefully
inadequate, with little infrastructure.
Fuel for the Ju 52s was shipped
to Greece from Romania via the
Aegean and from Italy via the
Corinth Canal, but three tankers
had been held up at Corinth while
the destroyed bridge there was
repaired.
The tankers finally docked late
on May 17. It was not until the
following day that fuel began to
arrive at the airfields where it took
another two days to replenish the
Junkers tanks.
Despite these adversities, over
Ju 52
in Combat
Armada to Crete
Below
A line-up of Ju 52/3m
bombers of KG 152 in
typical pre-war splinterpattern camouflage
at Greifswald on May
27, 1938.
Operation Merkur
Units
KGrzbV 60, 101, 102, 106
KGrzbV 40, 105, I/LLG 1
KGzbV 1, 172
Greek bases
Topolia, Dadion
Tanagra, Eleusis
Megara, Corinth
Tactical commander
Oberst Rdiger von Heyking
Oberst Ulrich Buchholz
Oberst Gustav Wilke
17
was the typical number of passengers that could be flown in the pre-war airliner
October 2016 FLYPAST 81
Above
A German
Fallschirmjger
jumping from a Ju
52/3m low over
the countryside
during the western
campaign in May
1940.
Right
Paratroopers train
on the practice mat
as a row of Ju 52s
stand behind. KEY
Below
A gunner on board
a Ju 52/3mge
moving his 7.92mm
MG 15 machine gun
in the dorsal gun
mount.
Second wave
Ju 52
in Combat
When the Junkers dropped the
Fallschirmjger of the second wave,
they were vulnerable to enemy
infantry fire. Losses were heavy at 50%
of the force, with many men being
killed as they came down or caught
by enemy fire as they landed. Several
units alighted in the wrong place
because the Ju 52 crews were unable
to identify the correct drop zones and
units became split up.
During approach one paratroop
commander, observing previously
landed men lying in cover on the
ground, requested the pilots of the
Ju 52s carrying his men to go around
two or three times until an area that
appeared to be free of enemy troops
and suitable for a jump could be
found.
As with the first wave, the paratroops
suffered losses in weapons through
their inability to locate their containers
once they were on the ground. Some
containers were hit by ground fire and
exploded in mid-air.
Several Ju 52/3ms were lost and by
the evening of the first day none of
the objectives had been taken. The
Left
Hartvigvannet in Norway,
May 1940. This Ju 52,
supported by oil drums,
unusually features
antennae. This Tante Ju
was bombed by Fleet Air
Arm Fairey Swordfish on
May 24, 1940. KEY
Below
Aircraft of KGzbV 1 in
formation over the
Mediterranean either on
their way to, or returning
from, North Africa.
4,845
Above
The scene at a
rear airfield in
Russia as supplies
are prepared for
loading on Ju 52s.
Right
An ungainly
magnetic
degaussing ring
hanging beneath a
Ju 52.
Uneven struggle
4,400
tons
00
Ju 52
in Combat
Minesweeper
Above
An abandoned Ju 52/3m
on a Russian airfield in
January 1942. The aircraft
is missing its engines, and
an opened cowling lies
underneath the wing. KEY
Below
tons of cargo was transported by Bolivian Ju 52s in the 1932-1935 Chaco War
October 2016 FLYPAST 85
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Ju 52
Photo File
Junkers
Ju 52
Archive
From the
Below
Navigation skills are taught aboard a Ju 52/3m from the flying school at Neuruppin, near Brandenburg, Germany.
A captured Ju 52/3m MS equipped with degaussing ring for minesweeper operations. Some of the aircrafts
German markings are visible beneath the covering paint. ALL KEY