Junkers G 38

The G 38, which was considered the largest landsbased aeroplane of the 1920s and the 1930s, emerged in 1927 from an idea of Junkers to develop a mailplane for long distances.

Backed by the financial support of the Reichsverkehrsministerium (German Ministry of Transport), Junkers, who relied on designs draften in 1925, started work a landbased passenger aircraft which was characterized by its ability to carry heavy payloads in its wings. This giant aircraft with its large size and its completely new static design to allow for payload compartments in the wings created a sensation - successfully completed its 25 minutes maiden flight on November 6, 1929.

G 38, which is regarded as the first-step toward an all-wing type aircraft, was designed to carry both passengers and payload in its wings. It proved to be very manuverable and quiet in spite of its clumsy appearance. During its flight tests, it established four world records in speed, distance and flight duration while carrying a payload of 5,000 kilograms each time. The aero-engines, which could be maintained during flight, were mounted in the interior of the wings, close to the leading edge.

The cockpit was located in the streamlined bow of the fuselage. Beside the wings, the entire fuselage, which had a gangway under the wings, offered much place for freight and passengers and was easily accessible. After receiving the acclaim of world wide experts, the Deutsche Lufthansa introduced the flight Berlin-London with this aircraft which could accomodate 13 passengers on July 1, 1931. Only three months later, this well-accepted airplane was upgraded to carry to 30 passengers.

In the same year, on June 27, 1932, the Junkers G 38 ce went into service with Lufthansa. The two-storied fuselage of the new all-wing type aircraft seated 34 passengers; 6 of them could enjoy the flight sitting in comfortable, scenic-seats, with floor windows, inside the wings, between the powerplants and the fuselage. Both the manufacturing and the maintencance of this aircraft were costy, however, and so were the numerous advertisement tours.

The expenses for this single G 38 were running as high as 2.2 million Reichsmarks; subsidies of the German State covered most of these costs. Despite the extremely high expenses for maintenance - Lufthansa invested roughly 55,000 in the version G 38 ce in 1933 -, it was worth it, nevertheless, for the aircraft appealed greatly to the passengers. As a result, this gigantic-appearing aircraft was in service on international routes until 1939.

After the outbreak of World War II, the German Airforce (Luftwaffe) used the G38ce as a heavy transport aircraft. The G 38 ce was destroyed in Athens on May 17, 1941, during an air raid by the British Airforce the G 38 ce. Earlier, its precedessor, the G 38, was crashed in May 1936 when flying in low altitude during a wind storm. The experimental aircraft G 38 caught the fancy of designers and aviation experts for a long time. Junkers had orignally dreamt of a flying-wing type aircraft having a capacity for 500 passengers. However, he finally realized that the future was in streamlined aircraft with a wide body and thin wings because with over-sized wings, no significant speeds could be achieved.

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