The Luftwaffe's Junkers Ju 88 was a twin-engine, multi-role aircraft. Among the most versatile planes of the war, it was used as a bomber, close-support aircraft, nightfighter, torpedo bomber and reconnaissance aircraft. A solid aircraft with great performance, it went on to be one of the Luftwaffe's most versatile aircraft. It carried out almost every kind of mission ever imagined, even as a giant flying bomb. It was used in every theater, with many nations, including nations allied against Germany.

The aircraft's first flight was made by Prototype Ju 88V-1, which bore the civil registration D-AQEN, on December 21st, 1936. When it first flew, it managed about 580 km/h (360 mph) and Hermann Goring was ecstatic. Finally it was something that could positively fulfill the promise of the Schnellbomber, a bomber so fast fighters could not catch it.

Unfortunately, by the time everyone had had their wish list added (including dive-bombing), the speed had dropped to around 450 km/h (280 mph). The draggy fuselage was modeled after its predecessor, the Dornier Do 17, but with fewer defensive guns because the belief still held that it could out-run fighters. It was also very, very late. Planned for 1938, it finally entered service the day the Germans invaded Poland, and then with only 12 aircraft. Production was painfully slow, and problems with such an advanced machine kept cropping up. The Ju 88C series of heavy fighter was also created very early in 1940, but kept secret from Goring because he only wanted bombers.

The Ju 88A-1 series first flew anti-shipping sorties close to Norway. Ju 88 bombers based at Westerland on the island of Sylt in northern Germany carried out the first Luftwaffe raids against Britain. An attack on Rosyth on 16 October 1939, succeeding in damaging three ships, but was then engaged in dogfights by Spitfires of 602 and 603 Squadrons of the RAF and two Ju 88s were shot down in the Firth of Forth. A raid on Scapa Flow the next day saw the loss of one Ju 88 to anti-aircraft fire. All combat-ready Ju 88s (some 133), were pressed into the Blitzkrieg, but very high combat losses and accidents forced a quick withdrawal from action to re-train crews to fly this very high performance beast. By this time it was seen that the A-1 had major performance problems, and an all-out effort was put into a major rework. The outcome was a longer wingspan that was deemed needed for all A-1s, thus the A-5 was born. Surviving A-1s were rewinged to A-5 specifications as quickly as possible.

Pictured here is a 1:72 scale replica of a German Junkers Ju 88A-5 medium-bomber that was attached to 1./Kustenfliegergruppe 806, then deployed to Nantes, France, during August 1940. Sold Out!

Dimensions:
Wingspan: 11-inches
Length: 7-3/4-inches

Release Date: December 2015

Historical Account: "Work Horse of the Luftwaffe" - The Junkers Ju 88 was probably the most versatile Luftwaffe aircraft of the Second World War. The basic airframe was solid and reliable and proved to be an excellent platform for almost constant upgrade and development - as a consequence, the Ju 88 saw service throughout the war. Although the early Ju 88 showed great promise, it needed both more power and more defensive armament. For these reasons, the aircraft could find itself in severe trouble, when faced with a determined enemy fighter attack. During the Battle of Britain, the RAF cruelly exposed these deficiencies and many a Ju 88 was to fall to the guns of RAF Spitfires and Hurricanes. This particular aircraft was badly shot up by RAF Fighters over Southern England, during the Battle of Britain.

Having entered production in the spring of 1940, the Junkers Ju 88 served with the Luftwaffe throughout the Second World War, proving itself to be a capable and versatile aircraft, used in all manner of roles from bomber to night fighter. Powered by a pair of 1,200hp Jumo 211 engines, it had an extra ETC 250 bomb rack outboard of the engines, each capable of carrying a 550lb bomb. The Ju 88 went on to prove itself to be extremely effective as an anti-shipping aircraft both in the North Sea and the Mediterranean. The Battle of Britain however proved to be very costly. The Ju 88's faster speed and the fact it was deployed in smaller numbers than its stable mates did not prevent its losses exceeding those of the Dornier Do 17 and Heinkel He111. By October 1940, 313 of the aircraft had been lost over Britain.