|
Putnam Aeronautical Books |
|
Junkers Aircraft & Engines 1913 - 1945 by Antony Kay |
|
Reviewed By Art Silen, #1708 |
|
|
|
MSRP: $65.00 USD Hardbound, 286 pages Junkers Aircraft & Engines 1913 – 1945, Antony Kay has given us a survey of the extraordinary output of the aviation design and manufacturing concern founded by Professor Hugo Junkers before World War I. In an era we generally remember as characterized by wire-rigged, bi-winged aircraft constructed of birch and spruce frames covered with doped fabric, the fact that the Junkers firm designed and built an extensive series of all-metal, cantilever monoplanes from before the end of World War I is absolutely astonishing. Likewise, aircraft engines produced by Junkers until 1945 were among the best performing made by any company during that era. Finally, it was Junkers that developed and placed into combat operation the first successful jet engines, and that the company accomplished it all while under overwhelming assault by the Western Allies’ military power, resources, and technology until Germany’s final defeat is deserving of the highest respect. Briefly, Junkers aircraft designs were numbered in consecutive order, from J1 through J52, after which the designations changed. These inter-war and pre-war aircraft comprise approximately one-third of the book, and in all cover the fifty-two aircraft designs mentioned. Regrettably, few English-language aviation histories survey these aircraft in any detail, and in many respects, this neglected history is well worth the price of the book itself. Along with its military aircraft designs, the Junkers design office also fielded a wide range of passenger and general aviation types, each one of which made substantial contributions and improvements to the state of the art. By the early 1930s, Junkers was manufacturing the G-38, a large, four-engine passenger aircraft, with an enormous wing, and soon its successor, famously known as, “Tante Ju,” the ubiquitous Ju 52/3m, appearing in 1932. (The original Ju 52 was a large, single-engine aircraft of similar corrugated-metal design. It is entirely fair to say that the Ju 52 was not surpassed in performance until the appearance of the Douglas DC-2, and soon thereafter, the DC-3, the latter of which did not make its commercial debut until 1935. The design histories of Junkers’ wartime aircraft are well known, to which Kay makes useful contributions. The design histories of the Ju 87 and Ju 88 are well detailed, including their varied uses over many fronts. Next following are design histories of the Ju 89 bomber and Ju 90 passenger aircraft, the Ju 290, with its integral cargo ramp, and A-7, 8, and 9, maritime reconnaissance bomber; and finally, the largest Junkers of all, the Ju 390, with its 165-foot wingspan housing six BMW 801D engines, and of which only two prototypes were constructed. Then there are the late war aircraft beginning with the Ju 188, of which some 1,600 examples were manufactured before production terminated in early 1944. Next following, if not sequentially, was the Ju 388 and 488, which reflected Junkers’ efforts to develop the basic design to its ultimate potential. The Ju 388, a high altitude reconnaissance, bomber, and night fighter characterized by its graceful, elongated cockpit enclosure, extended wings, and enlarged engine nacelles, were perhaps the most aesthetically pleasing of the entire series. The Ju 488, on the other hand, was a lash-up of Ju 388 nose, engine, and wing components, mated with an extended fuselage and twin vertical tail. Neither achieved operational status, although the Ju 388 was reported to have been used on reconnaissance flights over England during the last months of the war. Other designs, such as the experimental Ju 287, and the unsuccessful Ju 288, the Ju 248 (the rocket propelled Me 263 was reassigned to Junkers for further development); the Ju 252 (a further development of the Ju 52/3m design); the Junkers 322 ‘Mammut’ transport glider, and various other projects are discussed, some in considerable detail Lastly, the author has included a section giving Junkers piston and gas turbine aero-engines their historical backgrounds. This section appears to have been something of an afterthought, and does not appear in another edition of the book, but it is indeed valuable and informative. This sections’ brevity is the only critical comment I would make of this otherwise excellent book, and I would hope that future editions would include additional details as to engine design and performance, and include detailed line drawings to a constant scale. The 10.75 x 8-inch format of the book allows an enormous amount of data to be crammed into it. The photographs are generally of good quality, and Paul Couper’s line drawings are good, albeit heavier in outline, and less finely-detailed than in the next book discussed. Much of this material has been published previously (Cf., William Green, Warplanes of the Third Reich (Doubleday, 1972)); but as many of these works are long out of print, this work fills a substantial gap in the currently available literature. Collectors, aviation historians, and modelers will want this book close at hand for years to come. To conclude, this book is recommended and without exception; is worth owning, even at today’s high prices. This is an essential reference tool, engaging and informative; modelers, historians, and enthusiasts alike will want them as ready references, and although there is less to guide modelers in recreating described aircraft’s physical detail, they provide even experienced modelers essential context and transition between aircraft of succeeding eras. Serious modelers cannot hope to understand the aircraft they are depicting fully unless they also bring the history and technologies associated with them to their craft so that the final result becomes an historical era realized in miniature. |
|
Information, images, and all
other items placed electronically on this site |
