Junkers Ju 390

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Ju 390
Type	heavy bomber/transport
Manufacturer	Junkers
Maiden flight	October 20 1943
Retired	1944
Primary user	Luftwaffe
Number built	2
Variants	Junkers Ju 290

The Junkers Ju 390 was a long-range derivative of the Junkers Ju 290 and was intended to be used as a heavy transport, maritime patrol aircraft, and bomber. It was a design selected for the abortive Amerika Bomber project.

Two prototypes were created by inserting an extra pair of inner wing segments into the wings of basic Ju 290 airframes and adding new sections to "stretch" the fuselages. The resulting giant first flew on October 20, 1943 and performed well, resulting in an order for 26 such aircraft, to be designated Ju 390 A-1. None of these were actually built by the time that the project was cancelled (along with Ju 290 production) in mid-1944. The maritime patrol version and bomber were to be designated Ju 390 B and Ju 390 C respectively. It was suggested that the bomber could have carried the Messerschmitt Me 328 parasite fighter for self-defence. Some test flights are believed to have been performed by Ju 390 aircraft with the anti-shipping Fritz X guided smart-bomb.

Contents 1 Disputed New York flight in 1944 2 Specifications (Ju 390 V1) 3 External links 4 Related content

[edit] Disputed New York flight in 1944

There is a heavily disputed claim that in January 1944, a Ju-390 prototype made a trans-Atlantic flight from Mont-de-Marsan (near Bordeaux) to some 20 km (12 miles) off the coast of the United States and back. Critics claim FAGr 5 (Fernaufklärungsgruppe 5) never flew such a flight. Supporters say the only link between FAGr 5 and the New York flight is the common use of an airfield at Mont-de-Marsan and the veracity of the New York flight is neither proved nor disproved by a lack of unit records for such a flight. Indeed the flight may have had nothing whatsoever to do with FAGr 5 operations.

Whilst the Ju 390's 32-hour endurance would have certainly made such a crossing theoretically possible, there is a lack of evidence to support the claim. Aviation historian Horst Zoeller claims the flight was recorded in Junkers company records.

Critics have also pointed to the vagueness of the aircraft's alleged position and even the date of what would have been a milestone flight. The best known (and maybe earliest publication) of the claim in English was in William Green's Warplanes of the Third Reich in 1970, where he wrote that the Ju 390 flew to "a point some 12 miles from the US coast, north of New York". Critics say the vagueness of detail and lack of corroborating evidence are hallmarks of an urban legend.

Critics believe that the aircraft would have had to overfly parts of the Massachusetts coast in order to fix their location, and point out the likelihood of the aircraft being spotted by observers and/or radar, which it was not. If New York state were meant, this would have put the aircraft closer to Boston. Critics ask why this city wasn't referred to for fixing the position of the claim. Finally, it is questioned how the aircrew would have been able to fix their position so accurately anyway.

Supporters argue that a Ju 390 crew could have obtained a highly accurate fix from public broadcast radio stations. Also that a Ju 390 would not have needed to overfly Massachusetts at all. They say there was no reason why New York City could not have been approached purely from the sea.

Supporters also note that the mission was designed to deliver a single bomb to New York and that such a bomb could only have been the atomic weapon under development. Japan and Germany at the time were using the "Harteck Process" of gaseous uranium centrifuges. Germany in 1944 was shipping both uranium ores and centrifuges to Japan by U-boat.

Supporters of the New York flight say of course the mission was kept secret so as not to tip off the US Government to provide better air defences. It was an ultra top secret test flight for the delivery of an atomic bomb.

Corroboration is gleaned from the so-called Silbervogel sub-orbital bomber designed to attack New York from space with only a single bomb. Only one type of bomb was worth all the time and expense involved. Supporters say a mission so secret would never have found its way into FAGr.5 logbooks.

Supporters note the top secret unit, II/KG200 also flew the Ju 390 as did Junkers company test pilots in Czechoslovakia.

War time secrecy or not, supporters are not absolved of the need to support their claims with actual historical evidence. The burden of proof still exists.

Following the war, Hitler's armaments minister Albert Speer also recounted to author James P O'Donnell that a Ju 390 aircraft flown by Junkers test pilots flew a polar route to Japan in 1944.

[edit] Specifications (Ju 390 V1)

General characteristics

• Crew: 10
• Length: 34.20 m (112 ft 2 in)
• Wingspan: 50.30 m (165 ft 1 in)
• Height: 6.89 m (22 ft 7 in)
• Wing area: 254 m² (2,730 ft²)
• Empty weight: 39,500 kg (87,100 lb)
• Loaded weight: 53,112 kg (117,092 lb)
• Max takeoff weight: 75,500 kg (166,400 lb)
• Powerplant: 6× BMW 801D radial engines , 7,500 kW (10,200 hp) each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 505 km/h (314 mph)
• Range: 9,700 km (6,030 mi)
• Service ceiling: 6,000 m (19,700 ft)
• Wing loading: 209 kg/m² (42.8 lb/ft²)
• Power/mass: 0.17 kW/kg (0.10 hp/lb)

Armament

• 2 x 20 mm MG 151/20 cannons in dorsal turrets
• 1 x 20 mm MG 151/20 in tail
• 2 x 13 mm MG 131 machine guns at waist
• 2 x 13 mm MG 131 in gondola

[edit] External links

• Das Flugzeugarchiv (German)

[edit] Related content

Related development

Ju 89 - Ju 90 - Ju 290

Comparable aircraft

B-29 Superfortress

Designation sequence

Me 362 - Me 364 - Ju 388 - Ju 390 - Fw 391 - Ar 396 - Ta 400

Related lists

List of military aircraft of Germany - List of World War II military aircraft of Germany - List of bomber aircraft