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Ju 52
Ju-Air Junkers Ju-52 in flight over Austria.jpg
JU Air Junkers Ju 52/3m HB/HOS in flight over Austria (July 2013)
Role Transport aircraft, medium bomber, airliner
Manufacturer Junkers
Designer Ernst Zindel
First flight 13 October 1930 (Ju 52/1m); 7 March 1932 (Ju 52/3m)
Status In limited use
Primary users Luftwaffe
Luft Hansa
Spanish Air Force
Produced 1931–1945 (Germany)
1945–1947 (France)
1945–1952 (Spain)
Number built 4,845

The Junkers Ju 52/3m (nicknamed Tante Ju ("Aunt Ju") and Iron Annie) is a German transport aircraft manufactured from 1931 to 1952, initially designed with a single engine but subsequently produced as a trimotor. It had both civilian and military service during the 1930s and 1940s.

In a civilian role, it flew with over 12 air carriers including Swissair and Deutsche Luft Hansa as an airliner and freight hauler. In a military role, it flew with the Luftwaffe as a troop and cargo transport and briefly as a medium bomber. The Ju 52 continued in postwar service with military and civilian air fleets well into the 1980s. The aircraft has continued to be used well beyond that date for purposes such as sightseeing.

The Junkers Ju 52 is a 3 engine aircraft built with metal. It can carry between 15 and 20 passengers. The first flight was in 1931 and introduction in 1932. Lufhtansa was its main airline. More than 4800 were built.

Most Ju 52s were destroyed after the war, but 585 were built after 1945. In France, the machine had been manufactured during the war by the Junkers-controlled Avions Amiot company, and production continued afterwards as the Amiot AAC 1 Toucan. In Spain, Construcciones Aeronáuticas SA continued production as the CASA 352 and 352L. Four CASA 352s are airworthy and in regular use today.

A CASA-built Ju52/3m appears in the opening sequence and finale of the 1968 Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood film Where Eagles Dare.

Operational history

Civil use

JU52
Junkers Ju 52 in flight

In 1932, James A. Richardson's Canadian Airways received (Werknummer 4006) CF-ARM, the sixth-built Ju 52/1m and nicknamed the "Flying Boxcar" in Canada. IT could lift about 3 tons and had a maximum weight of 7 tonnes (8 tons). It was used to supply mining and other operations in remote areas with equipment too big and heavy for other aircraft then in use. The Ju 52/1m was able to land on wheels, skis, or floats (as were all Ju 52 variants).

Before the Nazi government seized control of Junkers in 1935, the Ju 52/3m was produced principally as a 17-seat airliner. It was used mainly by Luft Hansa and could fly from Berlin to Rome in 8 hours. The Luft Hansa fleet eventually numbered 80 and flew from Germany on routes in Europe, Asia, and South America.

Military use 1932–1945

The Colombian Air Force used three Ju 52/3mde bombers equipped as floatplanes during the Colombia-Peru War in 1932–1933. After the war, the air force acquired three other Ju 52mge as transports; the type remained in service until after World War II.

Bolivia acquired four Ju 52s in the course of the Chaco War (1932–1935), mainly for medical evacuation and air supply. During the conflict, the Ju 52s alone transported more than 4,400 tons of cargo to the front.

In 1934, Junkers received orders to produce a bomber version of the Ju 52/3m to serve as interim equipment for the bomber units of the still-secret Luftwaffe. Two bomb bays were fitted, capable of holding up to 1,500 kg (3,300 lb) of bombs, while defensive armament consisted of two 7.92 mm MG 15 machine guns.

Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-670-7410-10, Fallschirmjägerabsprung aus Junkers Ju 52
Luftwaffe Ju 52s dropping paratroops

The bomber could be easily converted to serve in the transport role. The Junkers ended up being acquired in much larger numbers than at first expected, with the type being the Luftwaffe's main bomber until more modern aircraft entered into service.

The Ju 52 first was used in military service in the Spanish Civil War against the Spanish Republic. It was one of the first aircraft delivered to the faction of the army in revolt in July 1936, as both a bomber and transport. In the former role, it participated in the bombing of Guernica. No more of the bomber variants were built after this war, though it was again used as a bomber during the bombing of Warsaw during the invasion of Poland in September 1939. The Luftwaffe then relied on the Ju 52 for transport roles during World War II, including paratroop drops.

Hitler's personal transport

Hitler used a Deutsche Luft Hansa Ju 52 for campaigning in the 1932 German election, preferring flying to train travel. After he became Chancellor of Germany in 1933, Hans Baur became his personal pilot, and Hitler was provided with a personal Ju 52. Named Immelmann II after the World War I ace Max Immelmann, it carried the registration D-2600. As his power and importance grew, Hitler's personal air force grew to nearly 50 aircraft, based at Berlin Tempelhof Airport and made up mainly of Ju 52s, which also flew other members of his cabinet and war staff.

Images for kids

  • Junkers Ju 52-3mg2

    Lufthansa's 21st-century airworthy heritage Ju 52/3mg2e (Wk-Nr 5489) in flight, showing the Doppelflügel, "double wing" trailing-edge control surfaces

  • Junkers Ju-52 single-engine

    Ju 52/1m replica (converted from 52/3m) of "CF-ARM" at the Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

  • Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-166-0512-39, Kreta, Abgestürzte Ju 52

    Ju 52s damaged in Crete, 1941

  • Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-026-0122-32A, Griechenland, Kreta, Ju 52

    A Luftwaffe Ju 52 being serviced in Crete in 1943: Note the narrow-chord Townend ring on the central engine and the deeper-chord NACA cowlings on the wing engines.

  • MG-15 ammo Ju-52

    Internal view of Ju 52 showing a defensive MG 15 beam machine gun and storage mounts for spare saddle-drum magazines

  • Junkers Ju 52 cockpit

    Junkers Ju 52 cockpit layout

  • Ju 52 approaching Stalingrad late 1942

    Ju 52 approaching Stalingrad, 1942

  • JU 52 Minensuchgruppe Mausi

    A minesweeper Ju 52/3m MS (Minensuch) equipped with degaussing ring

  • Ju52 airliner Eurasia

    Ju 52 of Eurasia, 1930s in China

  • Ju 52 HB-HOS at airshow (2016)

    Ju 52 HB-HOS on sightseeing tour at Degerfeld airfield (2016)

  • Skoki padalcev na slivniškem letališču 1960 (2)

    Skydivers Letalski center Maribor Maribor Airport 1960

  • Junkers Ju52.3m G-AHOF BEA Ringway 25.09.47 edited-2

    Ju 52/3m of British European Airways in 1947

  • AAC.1 F-BBYB STA Ringway 1948 edited-2

    French-built AAC.1 of STA at Manchester Airport in 1948: This aircraft is preserved in Belgrade.

  • German Junkers Ju 52 in USAAF service 1942

    Junkers C-79, s/n 42-52883, at Howard Field, Panama Canal Zone, late 1942 with the USAAF 20th Transportation Squadron, Sixth Air Force.

  • Ju52DuxfordJM

    Preserved AAC 1 showing corrugated skin, at Duxford, 2001

  • Casa352

    CASA 352 (license-built Junkers Ju 52/3m) in Ju-Air markings at Zürich airport

  • CASA 352 N352JU In Flight over the Military Aviation Museum, VA

    CASA 352L in flight over the Military Aviation Museum

  • Junkers Ju 523m D AZAW at the Deutsches Technikmuseum Berlin

    Ju 52/3m on display at the Deutsches Technikmuseum in Berlin

  • D-Anoy JU-52 Junkers 52 Rudolf von Thuena, Parque de visitantes, Aeropuerto de Múnich, Alemania, 2012-05-27, DD 01

    CASA 352L on display at Munich Airport

  • CASA 352 (AKA Junkers Ju 52-3m) at RAF Museum Cosford

    CASA 352L on display at RAF Museum Cosford

  • 352-L Silh

    CASA 352-L 3-view drawing

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Junkers Ju 52 para niños

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