Junkers Ju388

The Ju388 was originally the Ju188S and T, these two variants being extremely important aircraft beginning as the "Hubertus Project" in September 1943. The only type to reach the Luftwaffe in a respectable quantity was the L-1, built by ATG at Merseburg and Weser at Bremen. The L-1 was a pressurized three-seater, and like other versions it had the extremely highly rated turbocharged engines giving almost full power at 35,000 feet. None of the numerous K-series got into service. The J-1 was so good as a night fighter and all-weather fighter, that it was continued after the cancellation of all except "Emergency Fighter" programmes in July 1944. Typical armament included two 30mm and two MG 151 firing ahead and two MG 151 in a Schrage Musik oblique installation, in the rear part of the fuselage. Nose radar included the FuG 218 Neptun and Morgenstern (Morning Star) Aerial array mostly enclosed in a nosecone that was made of plywood. 120 of the Ju388 were built.

Other aircraft of the Ju88 heritage were the Ju288, which was much larger and markedly different from its nominal parent, the Ju188. Another was the Ju 488, a much larger four engined version of the Ju388, which was built at Toulouse. And there were also many stillborn projects, which showed the desperation of the Luftwaffe to wring out all the usefulness out of the aircraft with which it had started the war.

But the Ju88 remained useful to the end. It never had critical performance problems, like the Me109G, and was not accident-prone. All in all, it was the best German bomber made during the war, being far better than any of the later Luftwaffe bombers, including the Heinkel He177 Greif (Griffin), which I will be writing about next time.

Technical Data for Ju388: (Data for Ju388 J)
Origin: Junkers Flugzeug und Motorenwerke AG.
Type: Recce, nightfighter and bomber
Engines: (most) two 1,890hp BMW 801TJ 18-cylinder two-row radials. (Some) two 1,750hp Junkers Jumo 213E inverted vee-12 liquid-cooled engine.
Dimensions: Span 72ft 2in (22.00m); length 49ft 10.5in (15.20m); height 14ft 3in (4.35m)
Weights: Empty 22,928lb (10,400kg); loaded 32,350lb (14,675kg).
Performance: Maximum speed at altitude (L-1) 407mph (655km/h); (J-1) 362mpg (582km/h); service ceilling 44,000ft (13,500m); range (L-1 internal fuel only) 1,838 miles (2950km).