Ju-287

Graeme · Dec 10, 2019

Vahe Demirjian said:
The Antonov An-225 Mriya and Boeing B-47 Stratojet are two other "triple-jet per wing" planes.

It was a while ago, but I believe we were discussing this arrangement...which doesn't include the Mriya or Stratojet.

Vahe Demirjian · Dec 10, 2019

Graeme said:
It was a while ago, but I believe we were discussing this arrangement...which doesn't include the Mriya or Stratojet.

View attachment 563587

The 3-view drawing contained in this post is from the 1990-1991 issue of the German magazine Aviatik by Uwe W. Jack that is titled Junkers Ju 287 und EF 131.

nuuumannn · Dec 10, 2019

A few additions. The Ju 287 V2 was begun in Germany under the guidance of Hans Wocke, which thought up the forward swept configuration for these aircraft and was to have the three engine cluster under each wing, but was not completed before war's end. It was this that became the basis of the EF 131. This aircraft was begun by Junkers at Dessau in 1945 - 46 under Soviet supervision as OKB.1 led by Dr Brunolf Baade and was completed there under strict order from the Soviet Union, Directive No.864-266 dated 17 April 1946. Contrary to what has been stated, the EF 131 did actually fly, firstly in Germany, then in the Soviet Union. After this short test period, the aircraft was dismantled and relocated to State Experimental Plant No.1 at Doobna, near Moscow. It was to have taken part in the Aviation Day Flypast at Tushino, but a report by the test agency TsAGI found it was structurally weak and it underwent modification. It's first flight following that was 23 May 1947. In all, the EF 131 performed 15 flights, logging a total of 11 flight hours.

This and lots more information can be found in the excellent book German Aircraft in the Soviet Union and Russia by Yefim Gordon and Sergei Kommissarov (Midland, 2008)

Vahe Demirjian · Dec 11, 2019

I forgot to mention that Ju 287 V1 and V2 were given the cover designations "Ju 288 V201" and "Ju 288 V202" by the Nazis to deceive foreign intelligence into thinking that these aircraft were merely jet-powered versions of the Ju 288. Also, three additional Ju 287 prototypes were planned, the Ju 287 V4 (same layout as Ju 287 V3) and the Ju 287 V5 & V6 (armed prototypes). The Ju 287 V3 was 80-90 percent complete when WW2 was over, and the Ju 287 V4 was 60 percent complete at war's end.

This additional info is also from Horst Lommel's book Junkers Ju 287: The World's First Swept Wing Jet Aircraft (Schiffer Publishing, 2004).

Vahe Demirjian · Dec 16, 2019

I've attached project documents for the Junkers Ju 287B-1 below:

Vahe Demirjian · Feb 2, 2020

Drawings of the EF 131's components (from project documents) are available at these links:

Junkers EF 131
Junkers Ju 287, development, projects and prototypes

You'll note that unlike the production Ju 287 and third prototype Ju 287, the EF 131 had six Junkers Jumo 004Bs (of which captured engines were built under license in USSR as the RD-10).

tyrodtom · Feb 3, 2020

Vahe Demirjian said:
Drawings of the EF 131's components (from project documents) are available at these links:

Junkers EF 131
Junkers Ju 287, development, projects and prototypes

You'll note that unlike the production Ju 287 and third prototype Ju 287, the EF 131 had six Junkers Jumo 004Bs (of which captured engines were built under license in USSR as the RD-10).

The Soviets continued building the Jumo 004B as the RD-10, but it wasn't under a license from Junkers.
It was taken as war booty, they paid Junkers no royalties .

Vahe Demirjian · Feb 4, 2020

tyrodtom said:
The Soviets continued building the Jumo 004B as the RD-10, but it wasn't under a license from Junkers.
It was taken as war booty, they paid Junkers no royalties .

I meant to say that when the Red Army entered Germany and captured several BMW 003s and Jumo 004s, they reverse-engineered those captured engines at Stalin's will and designated them RD-10 and RD-20. It's quite similar to me recently learning that blueprints for the Nazi-era Jumo 022 turboprop were used by the Soviets to build the NK-12 turboprop for the well-known Tu-95 "Bear" bomber.

Vahe Demirjian · Feb 9, 2020

nuuumannn said:
The Ju 287 V2 was begun in Germany under the guidance of Hans Wocke, which thought up the forward swept configuration for these aircraft and was to have the three engine cluster under each wing, but was not completed before war's end. It was this that became the basis of the EF 131.

When you say that the Ju 287 V2 formed the basis of the EF 131, you meant to say that shortly after the nearly complete Ju 287 V2 (code RS+RB) was blown up by the Nazis at Brandis along with the Ju 287 V1 to prevent capture by the approaching Allies, the Americans, upon overrunning Brandis, salvaged the remnants of the second Ju 287 prototype, including the wings, and later handed them over to the Red Army, who used the Ju 287 V2 remnants in construction of the EF 131, given that the original engine arrangement for the Ju 287 V2 (four underwing BMW 003s and two fuselage-mounted Jumo 004s) was changed by Junkers to two three-engine clusters under each wing to save time for test flights. The Ju 287 V3 too had the three engine cluster under each wing, but was to be of all new construction, as was the production Ju 287. As most Ju 287 documentation was destroyed in Allied air raids, Bruno Baade and his ilk had to create a new Ju 287 design from scratch under the EF 131 designation, and consequently, they used the wings of the Ju 287 V2 for building the only EF 131 prototype in tandem with new components (Ju 188/288/388-like fuselage).

nuuumannn · Feb 9, 2020

In a manner of speaking. The Ju 287 was still the basis of the EF 131 regardless of its fate.

Vahe Demirjian · Feb 9, 2020

On page 67 of Horst Lommel's book Junkers Ju 287 there is a photo of US Army First Sergeant Gorman D. Gillian of the 3rd Armored Field Artillery Battalion posing in front of the tail empennage of the Junkers Ju 287 V1 at Brandis after US troops overran the German air base there.

Snautzer01 · May 4, 2023

Tiberium said:
A while ago I found this hitherto-overlooked photograph on the Getty Images website of the first Junkers Ju 287 prototype in derelict condition at Brandis after the US Army overran the Luftwaffe base at Brandis and retreating German personnel blew up the forward fuselage of the aircraft to prevent its capture by Allied forces.
View attachment 719006

Yup spitting image of Vahe Demirjian and reviving old threads as well.

Ju-287

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