aircraft/loudouts Junkers Ju 188

[VexViper_Tiffs 108]

Junkers Ju 188

Successor of the already famous and respected Ju 88

General characteristics of the Ju 188E

(the most common variant)

 

Specifications

Crew: 5
Length: 15 m (49 ft 1 in)
Wingspan: 22 m (72 ft 2 in)
Height: 4.4 m (14 ft 7 in)
Wing area: 56 m² (603 ft²)
Empty weight: 9,900 kg (21,825 lb)
Loaded weight: 14,500 kg (31,967 lb)
Powerplant: 2 × 1 BMW 801 G-2, 1,700 PS (1,250 kW) each

     

Performance
Maximum speed: 499 km/h (310 mph)
Range: 2,190 km (1,360 mi combat)
Service ceiling: 9,500 m (31,170 ft)
Wing loading: 258.9 kg/m² (53.0 lb/ft²)

Power/mass: 0.175 kW/kg (0.106 hp/lb)

 

Armament
Guns: 1 × 20 mm MG 151/20 cannon
3 × 13 mm (.51 in) MG 131 machine gun
Bombs: 3,000 kg (6,612 lb)

Spoiler

Images of the positions of the defensive armament

1 × 20 mm MG 151/20 cannon in the nose

 

2 × 13 mm (.51 in) MG 131 machine gun at the rear

 

1 × 13 mm (.51 in) MG 131 machine gun underneath

(In later E variants 2 × 13 mm (.51 in) MG 131 machine guns could be installed in this location)

 

Inside the Cockpit

Detailed diagram of the Cockpit

Spoiler

  Background

The Junkers Ju 188 was a German Luftwaffe high-performance medium bomber built during World War II, the planned follow-up to the famed Ju 88 with better performance and payload. It was produced only in limited numbers, due both to the presence of improved versions of the Ju 88, as well as the deteriorating war condition and the resulting focus on fighter production.

> Prototypes, Ju 88 B-0

The prototype Ju 88B V1, D-AUVS, flew for the first time with the 801A/B engines in early 1940. The fuselage and tail surfaces were identical to the Ju 88 A-1, which presented a problem: with the extra power, 1,560 PS (1,150 kW, 1,540 hp), the design could now carry considerably more load than the small bomb bay could fit. An additional external shackle was then added to each wing well outside the engines, although using the rack would seriously hamper performance.During the summer, a pre-production run of 10 Ju 88 B-0 based on the pre-production Ju 88 A-4 airframes were delivered. The A-4 used a longer wing of 20.08 m (65 ft 10½ in) span from new rounded wingtips for better altitude performance, when compared to the initial Ju 88A-1's shorter 18.26 meter (59 ft 10.75 in) span, but attention to streamlining and new "pointed" wing tips, somewhat resembling those fitted to the British Spitfire Mks.VII and VIII for their own intended high-altitude flight requirements, kept drag to about what it was earlier. The airframe changes moved the center of gravity slightly, so the glazed "cockpit" area was made slightly longer to re-balance the aircraft, while also offering better visibility for other members of the crew.

Service tests were all successful, and the pilots generally lauded the new cockpit design. However, the RLM still remained unconvinced that the small improvement in performance over the existing A-5's and future A-4's was worth investing time in. Instead, the pre-production models were modified as long-range reconnaissance aircraft by removing the guns, bombsights and external bomb shackles, and fitting fuel tanks into the bomb bay.Several of the airframes were retained by Junkers for further development. One of these was fitted with the slightly updated 801L engines and a small power-operated turret on the extreme top of the cockpit mounting a 13 mm (.51 in) MG 131 machine gun.

 

By 1942, it was becoming clear that the Junkers' firm's competitor in the important Bomber B program, the Ju 288 was not going to be ready soon, and at the same time the Ju 88s were increasingly at the mercy of a rapidly improving RAF and Soviet VVS. The RLM finally decided that even the small gains in performance in the Ju 88B were worth considering, and asked Junkers for a series of upgrades as the Ju 188. The sole Ju 88 E-0 was modified with several additional guns, another 13 mm (.51 in) MG 131 firing rearward just below the turret, one firing forward through the nose, and the twinned 7.92 mm (.312 in) MG 81Z machine guns in the integrated ventral Bola gondola firing rearward. Two other airframes had their engines and outer wings removed to act as testbeds for water ditching, as it was planned to use the Ju 188 in long overwater flights against British shipping.

 

 

A second Ju 188 test airframe was also built up from another Ju 88 A-4, this one including a larger, more trapezoidal vertical tail surface set to provide more directional control at higher altitudes, a feature also used on future Ju 88 models, most importantly on the Ju 88G night fighters. Originally known as Ju 88 V44, this airframe was later designated Ju 188 V1.
In October 1942, the program was given the go-ahead to start planning for production. A second prototype was delivered in January, which moved the outer bomb shackles to a position inboard of the engines. Both started testing the dive bombing system installed in the 88 A-4 in February. The RLM then asked for another change, allowing the aircraft to mount either the BMW 801 or Jumo 213 engines as a complete Kraftei, or "power egg" unitized engine installation, that would simply be bolted on and hooked up. Concerns about the Jumo 213, now years overdue, were offset by this engine's better altitude performance, so it made sense to delay the aircraft slightly if that meant it could switch to the 213 as soon as they became available. The second Ju 188 V1 prototype was flown in at Rechlin between September and November 1943.

 

Ju 188 A & E

 

The Ju 188 was designed to be fitted with either the 1,750 PS (1,290 kW, 1,730 hp) Jumo 213A or 1,700 PS (1,250 kW, 1,680 hp) BMW 801 G-2 engines without any changes to the airframe, with the exclusion of the re-design for Jumo-powered examples, of the annular radiators from their Jumo 211 layout for the A-series to better match the more powerful 213's cooling needs, while still using essentially the same broad-chord three-blade propellers as the A-series did. It was originally intended that both would be known as A models, but the naming was later changed: the Ju 188A model powered by the 213, and the Ju 188E by the 801.
The first three production Ju 188 E-1 machines were delivered with the BMW engines in February 1943, another seven in March, and eight in April. A conversion testing unit was formed up in May, and after testing were attached to an operational unit, with the first mission, an attack by three Ju 188E-1s on a factory in Lincoln, Lincolnshire taking place on 18 August 1943. By the end of the year, 283 Ju 188s had been delivered (including Ju 188Fs), and two new factories were added to the production effort. Most operational machines differed from the prototypes only in having a 20 mm MG 151/20 cannon in the nose and dorsal turrets in place of the 13 mm (.51 in) MG 131. The MG 131 I was intended to be used in the Ju 188 E-1 or the G-2. But the heavy armament in the A and E series was the MG 151/20. The Ju 188 E-2 was built as a torpedo-bomber, but was identical to the Ju 188 A-3.

Although the A and E models were to have been delivered at the same time, the Jumo engine was still having difficulties getting into production. Nevertheless, the first Jumo powered Ju 188 A-1 versions were shipped only shortly after the BMW versions, albeit at a much slower rate. By the time delivery rates were finally picking up in late 1943, the Jumo was available in a new MW 50 methanol-water injection "boosted" version that delivered 1,648 kW (2,241 hp) for takeoff. With this engine, the planes were known as the Ju 188 A-2, and started deliveries in early 1944.

A modified version mounting a small FuG 200 Hohentwiel sea-search radar set under the nose and shackles for a torpedo for naval strike missions was delivered as the Ju 188 E-2, and with the Jumo as the Ju 188 A-3. The only other difference was the removal of the outer pair of wing bomb shackles.

For all its good points, the Ju 188 was only a small improvement over the Ju 88 it was supposed to replace. The bombload and bomb bay was no larger than the earlier plane, so although it could handle a larger load by mounting externally, doing so hurt performance. Even then the performance was rather poor considering all the effort - only 523 km/h (325 mph) or less. The dorsal turret had only one gun in it, yet the type retained the single-gun flexible position only a few centimeters away from it. In the meantime, the various projects to finally provide the plane with real tail armament were all abandoned.
Delivery problems of the Jumo 213 were never entirely sorted out, and the only model to be built in large numbers were the E series with the BMW 801. Even then so few were available that they were generally given out to Ju 88 units, who flew them on "special" missions where the longer range or better performance would be helpful. Some 500 Ju 188A and E variants were built up until the summer of 1944, when production ceased.

The Ju 188 E-1 started it's operational career in May 1943, when it joined the I./KG 6 (first Gruppe of Kampfgeschwader 6)

http://www.ww2.dk/oob/bestand/kampf/bikg6.html

The unit was located at Tours airfield, France at that time.
http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Gliederungen/Kampfgeschwader/KG6.htm

 

Post war Aviation Navale operated several captured Ju 188s

Captured

The Royal Air Force operated at least two captured machines post war, an A-2 and A-3 (Wrk Nr 190335 of 9./KG 26). The A-3 surrendered to British forces after landing at Fraserburgh on 2 May 1945

Edited November 22, 2018 by VexViper_Tiffs

[leroyonly 4,311]

Open for discussion. 

[VexViper_Tiffs 108]

thank you

[OFW_Schroedinger 804]

this one is neat

[Adlerhunter 8]

It ought to be in game, athe very least for historicity's sake.

[Milocat 4,854]

Awesome plane, I definitely would want to fly it.  +1. 

[VexViper_Tiffs 108]

@OFW_Schroedinger 

@Adlerhunter

@Milocat

thank you for your support! o7

[BrentD15@psn 1,117]

Heck yeah!

+1

[Texas_Toasted 24]

GIB

[VexViper_Tiffs 108]

19 hours ago, *BrentD15 said:

Heck yeah!

+1

 

8 hours ago, Texas_Toasted said:

GIB

Thank you for your support o7

[KnightsCross20@psn 3,636]

Plenty of room for the 188’s. Would love to fly them. Well researched report! Nice job.

 

+1

[VexViper_Tiffs 108]

9 hours ago, *KnightsCross20 said:

Plenty of room for the 188’s. Would love to fly them. Well researched report! Nice job.

 

+1

Thank you for your support! This suggestion is defiantly not as comprehensive as my other suggestion( Hurricane Mk.IIC) due to the fact that I cant speak german, so yeah my research abilities are limited.

[Z3r0_ 4,128]

Looks like it could be a decent addition put in-between the He 111H-16 and the Do 217s (mostly due to its smaller maximum payload, lesser defensive armament, and comparable performance to the latter).

Edited June 27, 2018 by Z3r0_

[VexViper_Tiffs 108]

6 hours ago, Z3r0_ said:

Looks like it could be a decent addition put in-between the He 111H-16 and the Do 217s (mostly due to its smaller maximum payload, lesser defensive armament, and comparable performance to the latter).

Thank you for your support! I had the same idea in mind but I didn't mention it in the post due to suggestion rules. I agree with you and would aslo be keen to see the Ju 388 added maybe later in the tree.

[foqus322 79]

wow +1

cluster bomb

Spoiler

 

[KoocieKoo 908]

Yes, gib 188 and 288! Aaaaaal the versions

[BrentD15@psn 1,117]

7 hours ago, foqus322 said:

wow +1

cluster bomb

  Hide contents

 

Considering the performance of bombs against soft targets in air matches lately, prepare to get only hits.

[VexViper_Tiffs 108]

7 hours ago, foqus322 said:

wow +1

cluster bomb

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

6 hours ago, KoocieKoo said:

Yes, gib 188 and 288! Aaaaaal the versions

Thank you for your support!

2 minutes ago, *BrentD15 said:

Considering the performance of bombs against soft targets in air matches lately, prepare to get only hits.

unfortunately this is true...

[Ein79 5,749]

Yes, it is very much needed...but Ju388 even more!

Edited July 11, 2018 by Einherjer1979

[VexViper_Tiffs 108]

14 hours ago, Einherjer1979 said:

Yes, it is very much needed...but Ju388 even more!

Thank you for your support! o7 I would love to see both Ju188 and Ju 388 in game!

 

[Borotovas 4,500]

I voted yes.

[Tigrillo 1,629]

oh yes baby gimme those 2 torpedoes 

[Guest]

I don't care that bombers are a shadow of what they once were, I support this. Even if it's for more variety for me to shoot at. 

[KnightsCross20@psn 3,636]

2 hours ago, Invader9908 said:

I don't care that bombers are a shadow of what they once were, I support this. Even if it's for more variety for me to shoot at. 

Lower tier bombers still enjoy a strong place in the game despite all the issues. 

[VexViper_Tiffs 108]

15 hours ago, Tigrillo said:

oh yes baby gimme those 2 torpedoes 

Tank you for your support!

15 hours ago, Invader9908 said:

I don't care that bombers are a shadow of what they once were, I support this. Even if it's for more variety for me to shoot at. 

Thank you for your support.