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Midland Publishing |
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Junkers Ju-288/388/488 Black Cross Series Volume 2 by Karl-Heinz Regnat |
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Reviewed By Orlando Reyes, #6399 |
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MSRP: $19.95 USD
This is the second of a series of books that will be produced by this company. This book contains 96 pages in the standard 8.5" x 11" format. The book contains thirteen (13) chapters and walks you from the concept to the final production aircraft. The book contains 167 actual photos of the aircraft, and two (2) sets of color plates; 51 drawings and 18 date tables. The color plates show the colors for a Ju-288 and a JU-488. The other set of color plates show the interior details for a Ju-288 V6 three man crew, while the other shows the four men’s crew. The book begins with a description of the aircraft that were considered and rejected, followed by three (3) chapters devoted to the JU-288; six (6) to the JU-388; two (2) to the JU-488. The final chapter is devoted to the available models of this particular machine. The JU-288 could be considered an interim aircraft. The JU-388 was built in larger quantities and the JU-488 never reached production. The interesting fact about the JU-488 is that it contained components from the JU-88/188 and 288. Only two airframes were built but they were destroyed by the “Maquis” before they could be sent to Germany for evaluation. Production ceased in 1945. There were four (4) companies competing to gain the contract from the German Government. In addition, there were seven (7) requirements that have to be fulfilled. The author goes through each company design describing the good points of the aircraft, changes, if any was required and the rejection of each aircraft. Eg.: Focke Wulf problems that it weighted too much. Chapter Two (2) describes the prototypes of the JU-288. This chapter has pictures of some of the examples. Each version is reviewed and the outcome of each aircraft is given. Also, the addition of modifications and improvements is stated. In Chapter Three (3) we are introduced to the different versions on the JU-288. The chapter is full of profiles and plan views of the different versions. There was a total of eight (8) versions but the last four (4) versions existed only in the drawing boards. In addition the JU-288D was a heavily armed bomber but this designation was never officially designated and thus incorrect. In Chapter Four (4) deals with the Technical Details of this particular aircraft. It starts with the cockpit information and continues with the fuselage, empennage, wings, power plants, fuel systems, undercarriage and weapons. The chapter is full of pictures, as well as profiles of the aircraft. Many of the pictures show a wealth of detail that can be used to build a model. The last chapter-Chapter Five(5)- for these series deals with the production plans for this machine. It has several drawings showing the building sequence, as well as some tables describing the completion schedule and planned monthly production. There was a total of 65 machines built: thirty-two (32) JU-288A1; twenty-three (23) JU-288B1 and ten (10) JU-288 Prototypes. The table shows a monthly production for November/December 1943 with a total of 285 aircraft per month. On the other hand the production figures for 1944 and 1945 years is of 285 aircraft for each year. The production goal was to reach 8,640 machines by the end of 1945. Chapter six (6) through Twelve (12) are devoted to the JU-388. In Chapter Six (6), the author talks about the actual development of the JU-88 through the JU-188 and into the JU-388. This chapter has very good pictures showing the development process. Chapter Seven (7) is devoted to the JU-388 technical information. At the end of the chapter there is a table showing the differences between three (3) versions. The author describes the cockpit area, crew compartment, fuselage, empennage, wings, power plants, fuel and electrical systems, air screws, undercarriage, military equipment, steering controls, and navigation/radio installation. The chapter contains many profiles, plan views and close-ups of the aircraft. In Chapter Eight (8) the different, as well as their different versions/variants are described. There were four (4) versions-J-K-L and — with 18 variants. The “J” variant had ten (10) versions. They were: Night Fighter/Zerstorer (2); Day Fighter/Zerstorer (4); Night Fighter (3) and Zerstorer/ Heavy Night Fighter (1). The “K” variant was a bomber version of which there were three (3). The “L” variant was mainly a High Altitude Long Rang Reconnaissance aircraft. The “M” variant was a Torpedo Bomber of which there was only one version. The following chapter-Chapter Nine (9), talks about the production series of the JU-388. There were only three (3) aircraft series built. A maximum of 75 aircraft was built. In Chapter Ten (10) we are introduced to the JU-388 service trials and the last chapter dealing with this particular aircraft-Chapter Eleven (11) talks about the captured JU-388 aircrafts. How, when, where and what ultimately happened to the captured aircrafts is described. The next to the last chapter, Chapter Twelve (12) is dedicated to the JU-488. This series was supposed to have two (2) versions; Long Range Bomber and Long Range Reconnaissance. The chapter addresses the development, manufacturing and ultimate fate of the JU-488. In addition, it talks about the concept of “rapid manufacturing” and construction description of the different subassemblies. The final chapter, Chapter Thirteen (13) talks about the available kits for the modelers. It gives us the “Pros” and “Cons” of the available kits and provides us with two (2) color plates. One of the plates is for the JU-288C and the other is for the JU-488. The last three (3) pages are full of pictures of the actual built models. It is interesting to note that although there is no available kit of the JU-488 the author provides us with a color plate of this aircraft. Overall I enjoyed the book very much and will recommend it to anyone interested in the History of the Luftwaffe. I would like to thank Midland Publishing for the opportunity of reviewing the book. I hope that they keep coming with similar books in the future. |
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