The Junkers Ju 52 was a military transport aircraft used by the German Luftwaffe during World War II. With a total of 4,850 units being produced, this ungainly-looking airplane was one of the most reliable military transports in that armed conflict. It first saw combat action in 1936, in service with the Condor Legion, during the Spanish Civil War. In May 1941, it was employed by the Luftwaffe's Fallschirmjäger (paratroopers) divisions to capture the Greek island of Crete and secure the southern flank of the Third Reich. After WW2, it would also be used by the French Army during the French-Indochina War.
The Junkers Ju 52 formed the backbone of Germany airlift capability throughout World War II, delivering thousands of troops and tons of military supplies to front line German units both in the European and Mediterranean Theater. However, it had originally been designed as a fifteen-seat, civil aviation, passenger aircraft; as such, the prototype (Ju 52ba) first to took to the air on October 13, 1930, entering service with the Lufthansa on March 7, 1932. It was powered by only one piston engine; a BMW VIIau, 12-cylinder, inline piston engine, which could deliver 755 horsepower. Nevertheless, the aircraft was underpowered. Thus, the Ju 52/3mce version would be powered by three BMW Hornet, 9-cylinder, radial engines, each one of them capable of supplying 600 HP.
Technical Characteristics
The Junkers Ju 52 was a three-engine, medium-size monoplane. It was of standard all-metal construction, with corrugated, load-sustaining duralumin skin. It was fitted with straight, low-wing, with dihedral angle. The wing leading and trailing edge tapered towards the tip. It had conventional tail plane, with a large fin rudder. Both the wing and the tail planes were built on a multi-spar metal structure. The Ju 52 in service with the Luftwaffe was fitted with 18 paratrooper seats, plus the pilot and copilot seats. Like most military transport of those days, it had fixed landing gear.
Specifications (Ju 52/3mg7e)
Type: 18-seat military transport.
Length: 18.80 m (62 feet)
Wing Span: 29.25 m (95 feet, 11 inches)
Wing Area: 110.45 m2 (1,189 square feet)
Height: 4.50 m (14 feet, 9 inches)
Power Plant: three 619-HP, BMW 132T-2, 9-cylinder, air-cooled, radial engines.
Maximum Speed : 295 km/h (183 mph)
Rate of Climb: 208 m per minute.
Service Ceiling: 5,500 m (18,050 feet)
Armament: three 7.92-mm MG-15 machine guns, with one set up in dorsal position and two inside the aircraft to fire abeam through side windows.
Below, Junkers Ju 52 in service with the Lufthansa around 1934.
A color photo of a Ju 52/3mce on the Eastern Front in 1943.
Below, the Tante Ju, as it was called by the German pilots, in flight over the Soviet Union.
The transport aircraft on a Luftwaffe airbase in France in the Summer of 1942.
The Ju 52 flying over North Africa in late 1942.
Below, a drawing of the German transport plane. Front view.
