Junkers Ju 52/3m

A Ju 52/3m flight from 1./KGr.zbV. 600 over the Mediterranean Sea, in 1943.

• Role: transport, bomber
• Conception: Junkers Flugzeug und Motorenwerke AG
• Production: More than 4,800 have been built.
• First flight of prototype : early thirties

The Ju 52/3m was a major instrument in the invasion of Norway, in April 1940.

Development

• The original Ju 52 only had one engine; but this underpowered plane was quickly developped into the Ju 52/3m; 3m meaning of course Drei motoren ("three engines").
• The Ju 52/3m was used at first as a bomber, but it proved vulnerable in this role in the Spanish Civil War, where it was replaced by the Heinkel 111.
  As a transport and paratrooper plane, it was never fully replaced until the end of World War 2.

	Junkers Ju 52/3m
	Engines	BMW 132A-3, nine-cylinder radial	(3 x) 730 hp
	Weight	empty: 5,720 kg (12,610 lb) - with full load: 10,500 kg (23,150 lb)
	Armament	Three 7.9 mm machine guns: one on each side and one on top.
	Performance	Max speed: 275 km/h (170 mph)	Ceiling: 5,900 m (19,357 ft)

• There also was a Ju 52/3m See seaplane, two fixed floats replacing the landing gear.

Stof's notes about this plane in iMOL's WarBirds

The opinions expressed below are only my own, and nothing more...

Strong points:

• It's rugged. So rugged that you can land it almost anywhere, and send your paratroopers to attack the enemy field as a commando instead of dropping them ! Much safer for you... Not so much for them.

Weak points:

• It's slow. Very slow. For a successful dropping mission, you'll need either a very strong escort or you'll have to fly very low and pray not to be detected.

End of the trip on a Tunisian beach for this Ju 52/3m from 11./KGr.zbV 1 (1943).