Junkers G 38
| G.38 | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Role | Transport |
| Manufacturer | Junkers |
| First flight | 6 November 1929 |
| Primary users |
Lufthansa Luftwaffe |
| Number built | 2 |
| Variants | Mitsubishi Ki-20 |
The Junkers G.38 was a large German four-engined transport aircraft which first flew in 1929. Two examples were constructed in Germany. Both aircraft 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.
The G.38 carried a crew of seven. Onboard mechanics were able to service the engines in flight due to the G.38's blended wing design, which provided access to all four power plants.
During the 1920s, Hugo Junkers made several attempts to produce a large scale commercial transport. His initial attempt, the four-engined JG1, was developed during 1921-1922; but Junkers was forced to destroy the incomplete airplane based on post-WWI Allied demands citing the Treaty of Versailles. Later in the decade, in 1925, he published design specifications for a proposed eighty passenger trans-Atlantic aircraft - the J.1000 project. Then again, towards the end of the decade, the G.40 project was started by the Junkers design team as a trans-Atlantic mail plane. From the G.40 design, which was a seaplane configuration, Junkers also developed a land plane design, designated the G.38. Despite interest from the German armed forces in the G.40 variant, Junkers pushed forward with the land plane design which, having received financing from the Reich Air Ministry (Reichsluftfahrtministry), was taken forward to the construction stage.
The first Junkers prototype—3301 and marked as D-2000—first flew on 6 November 1929 with four diesel engines: two Junkers L55 12-cylinder V-motors and two 294 kW L8 6-cylinder inline motors with combined power rating of 1470 kW (1971 hp). The Reich Air Ministry purchased the D-2000 for demonstration flights, and took delivery on 27 March 1930. In flight tests, the G.38 set four world records including speed, distance and duration for airplanes lifting a 5000 kg payload. On 2 May 1930 Lufthansa put the D-2000 into commercial service for both scheduled and chartered flights.
Structurally the G.38 conformed to standard Junkers' practice, with a multi-tubular spar cantilever wing covered, like the rest of the aircraft in stressed, corrugated duraluminium. The biplane tail, found in other large aircraft of the time was intended to reduce rudder forces; initially there were three rudders with only a central fixed fin. The undercarriage was fixed, with double tandem main wheels that were initially enclosed in very large spats. The wing had the usual Junkers "double wing" form, the name referring to the full span movable flaps which served also as ailerons in the outer part.
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