Junkers G.38

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

G.38

Type	Transport
Manufacturer	Junkers
Maiden flight	1929
Primary users	Lufthansa Luftwaffe
Number built	2
Variants	Mitsubishi Ki-20

The Junkers G.38 was a large German four-engined transport airplane which first flew in 1929. Two prototypes were constructed in Germany. Both airplanes flew as a commercial transport within Europe in the years leading up to World War II.

During the 1930s, the design was licensed to Mitsubishi which constructed and flew a total of six aircraft, in a military bomber / transport configuration, designated Ki-20. Of the Junkers models, the first prototype crashed and was destroyed in 1936 in a post-maintenance test flight. The test pilot, Wilhelm Zimmermann, survived this crash. The second model which included numerous upgrades was delivered in 1932. It flew successfully within the Lufthansa fleet for nearly a decade. With the outbreak of World War II, the remaining G.38 was pressed into military service as a transport craft. It met its demise in 1941 when it was destroyed on the ground during a RAF air raid on Athens.

The G.38, during its early life, was the largest landplane in the world. Passenger accommodations were sumptuous by today's standards and were meant to rival those offered by the competing Zeppelin service. It evolved to have four 750 hp (560 kW) Jumo 204 engines and was unique in that some of the passengers were seated in the wings. In fact, the leading edge of each wing was fitted with windows enabling these passengers the forward view, typically reserved only for pilots. In design terms, it foreshadowed the Blended Wing Body design currently being developed by both NASA and Boeing as an alternative to traditional tube and wing aircraft configurations.

The G.38 carried a total of thirty-four passengers, six in two compartments in the leading edge of the wing and the rest, on two levels, in the main fuselage. It also carried a crew of seven. On board mechanics were able to service the engines, in flight, due to the G.38's blended wing design which afforded access to all four power plants.