Junkers story
Ju-88A-4, wingspan - 20, 08 m, takeoff weight - 12 tons.
But is such a story worthy of the most sinister front-line bomber?
Maybe you should start like this:
Yes, the plane was formidable. The length and span of its wing can be easily found in reference books. But who will answer: how did Junkers differ from others? And why did our soldiers hate him so?
The main combat quality of the Ju.88 was not speed (the Mosquito flew faster), not bombing accuracy (nothing beats the Stuka), not its combat load (standard for all aircraft of its purpose), not defensive armament (compare with the performance characteristics of the supplied Lend-Lease A-20 "Boston"), not combat survivability (Tu-2 flight from Omsk to Moscow on one engine: the Ju.88 pilots never dreamed of this). And even none of the combinations of the listed parameters.
The main advantage of "Junkers" was a four-meter "hole" in the fuselage. In other words, an unexpectedly large bomb bay for a conventional front-line bomber.
So what's the problem? Didn't the others have it?
The answer is no. The bombhole is not just a hole of any size, covered with sliding doors. This is the place of weakness of the strength set, in the most heavily loaded place of the fuselage. And the larger this "hole", the more chances for the plane to fall apart in the air.
German engineers succeeded in constructing a sufficiently strong structure that allowed such constructive "nuances".
Two bomb bays, which, if desired, turned into one grand pantheon of death.
But that's only half the story. After all, mass and volume are independent parameters.
The mass of the Ju.88's payload was standard for its "weight category" (2 tons with a take-off weight of 12 tons). In such a situation, the size of the Ju.88's bomb bays would not have mattered without one important and little-known detail.
The Junkers were extremely close to the concept of the Luftwaffe. The Germans did not have "hundreds" bombs like the Soviet FAB-100. The thrifty descendants of the Aryans, not without reason, believed that the power of 50-kg bombs was sufficient to defeat most targets in the frontline zone and on the battlefield. Equivalent to a 152-mm howitzer projectile with twice the amount of explosives. The next caliber after the SC.50 was the SC.250 (in the jargon - "Ursel") for more serious tasks.
As a result, the huge bomb bays of the Junkers, according to the standard, were loaded twenty eight 50 kg "goodies" for enemy infantry. The Germans usually hooked a couple more “Urseles” on external holders for more significant purposes.
As a result, the Ju.88 could "Mow" several times more dispersed targets (manpower and equipment) than other front-line bombers of that era.
If necessary, ammunition of a different power was placed in its spacious womb - everything up to the SC.1800 with the characteristic nickname Satan.
Another, less significant, but also unpleasant surprise was the method of bombing. The Germans not only created a roomy plane, but also taught it to dive bombing. It is easy to imagine what loads the remnants of the power set withstood; what is left after the cut-out for the hole a third of the fuselage.
Ju.88 was not an analogue of the legendary "Stuka", it could attack only at limited dive angles (in theory - up to 70 °). By the way, that one did not have a bomb bay at all - only the strongest power set and external bomb racks. That is why Ju.87 dived almost vertically, coming out of the dive with an overload of six or more "same".
In a dive, the 88th also used bombs exclusively from an external sling. The Junkers did not have a mechanism for removing them outside the bomb bay (similar to the Soviet PB-3 bomb rack).
In any case, all this increased the flexibility of use and increased the already high combat capabilities of the Ju.88.
In addition, the semi-diving bomber was equipped with a very advanced automatic system for its time, which allowed the crew to concentrate on aiming at the moment of bombing. “Junkers” automatically entered the dive after releasing the air brakes and also independently exited it after dropping bombs. The automatic machine set the required operating mode of the engines and, controlling the current overload, set the optimal curvature of the trajectory when exiting the attack.
"In!" - complete Germanophiles and all those who are accustomed to praising the fascist scientific genius will raise their thumbs up. Flying Mercedes, automatics. We, Russian Vanks, cannot grow up to that.
And they will be wrong.
But this will be discussed below.
Let us summarize what has been said.
The Junkers-88 front-line bomber became an effective weapon only thanks to the 50-kg bombs chosen as the main caliber of the Luftwaffe. In other conditions, the dimensions of the bomb bays and bomb bays of the Ju.88 would not have had a noticeable value, since, I repeat, the mass of the combat load would still remain at the level of other aircraft. And Junkers had no other advantages.
What is this - a brilliant calculation of the Teutonic engineers? Unlikely. Rather, just a coincidence. It is enough to remember the history of creation and initial destination of this plane.
Born as part of the competition to create a high-speed bomber (“schnel-bomber”), the Ju-88 failed the expectations of the Luftwafle command. Junkers never had any outstanding speed qualities and did not meet the customer's requirements.
During the first tests of the prototype, it was possible to reach a speed of 580 km / h. But, as soon as it came to the series, the speed suddenly dropped by 100 km / h.
As a result, the Germans did not succeed in any “schnell-bomber”. "Junkers" could not act in a combat situation, relying only on their speed qualities. Like other bombers, they needed defensive weapons and, without fail, fighter cover.
Finally, the "schnel-bomber" could not be a normal dive bomber. This is out of the question. High-speed aircraft are characterized by a streamlined appearance. A dive bomber requires poor aerodynamics and maximum air resistance. Otherwise, it will accelerate too quickly in a dive, so fast that the pilot will not have time to aim. It is no coincidence that the Ju.87 (“bast shoe”, “thing”) had such a monstrous appearance with bulky landing gear fairings. Do you think the Germans could not create a landing gear retraction mechanism? They did it on purpose.
The only ones who managed to build a real "schnel-bomber" were the British with their amazing "Mosquito".
Less than 200 shot down aircraft of this type (out of 7, 8 thousand issued units). 97% of sorties are without loss. Pretty good for a wooden plane devoid of any defensive weapons. High-speed reconnaissance bombers bombed and photographed the cities of Vaterland, in principle not paying attention to the aces of the Luftwaffe. Without any cover, they conducted reconnaissance over the industrial areas of the Ruhr, the Tirpitz parking lot, carried out courier shipments in the sky of Berlin (the Moscow-London air bridge).
The very idea of a "schnel-bomber" originated in connection with the weakness of piston (and first jet) engines, in which fighters did not have a noticeable advantage over a well-built bomber. The best thrust-to-weight ratio of the fighter was offset by air resistance.
A bomber flying in a straight line could have a higher wing loading (relatively small wing compared to the size of the aircraft).
The fighter concept demanded the opposite. Fighters must maneuver and be able to fight each other. The fewer kilograms per square meter. meter of the wing, the easier it is for the wing to "turn" the aircraft. Smaller bend radius. More agility.
"How are the wing and bends connected?" - will ask the youngest of the readers.
Aircraft change the direction of flight due to the creation of a roll in one direction or another (by the operation of the ailerons). As a result, the lift decreases on the “lower” wing, and increases on the raised wing. This creates a moment of force, which turns the plane.
However, we got very carried away with aerodynamics. In practice, everything looked obvious. The creators of the Mosquito managed to build a bomber that flew faster than fighters. But the creators of "Junkers" - no.
Here it is - the level. Gloomy Teutonic genius. Unrivaled German technology.
Lack of speed is not the last problem with the Ju.88.
On the posters, Junkers bristled menacingly with trunks in all directions. What's in reality? The number of machine guns was twice the number of crew members.
The art of reading subtle hints is not available to everyone. If there are more machine guns than shooters, then only some of them can shoot at the same time.
As soon as the enemy fighter left the firing zone, the Junkers' gunner had to roll over to the other side, make the next machine gun to fire and again catch the enemy in sight. The task is still the same, given the tightness of the cockpit and the cumbersomeness of the flight uniform.
It is clear that the Ju.88 is not an American "Superfortress" with automatic remote turrets. But even with conventional turrets, the German geniuses did not go well.
Just as the absence of the designers Shpitalny and Komaritsky, who designed the fastest-firing rifle-caliber aircraft machine gun, had an effect. In terms of fire density, the German MG-15 and MG-81 are never a Soviet ShKAS.
Another characteristic flaw is the layout of the Ju.88. In an effort to save space, the Germans placed the entire crew in a single, too compact cabin, on top of each other. Motivating the opportunity to replace the wounded crew member.
In practice, an anti-aircraft shell that exploded near killed the entire crew on the spot. And because of a similar layout, the arrows had problems with the control of the rear hemisphere. The Junkers did not have a tail firing point.
Life for the Ju.88 shooters was like a mockery. The one who was supposed to watch the lower hemisphere writhed on the bench during the entire flight, under the pilot's feet. He crawled to his machine gun only when the enemy appeared.
Despite the protection of the fuel tanks and the duplication of all oil and gas systems, the combat survivability of the Ju.88 looked questionable. An average combatant pilot had almost no chance to bring the damaged plane on one engine. “Junkers” stubbornly turned around and pulled to the ground. At the same time, the motors themselves did not have any protection.
Yes, this is not a Tu-2, which flew on one engine as if in a normal mode (a record flight from Omsk to Moscow).
The most massive bomber in the Luftwaffe was mediocre in everything. The only thing he knew better than others was to scatter small-caliber bombs. Better than he could only the devil himself.
And, if necessary, he could hit both the 1000-kg "Gerda" and the almost two-ton "Satan".
In the end The widest range of bomb weapons and the flexibility of the Ju.88's combat use turned out to be the most valuable quality in frontal conditions.
Vanka
As of 1941, the Soviet Union had a front-line bomber, on which (attention) was also installed an automatic aerobatic system that controlled the aircraft at the time of the attack.
Mysterious and legendary Ar-2.
Soviet designers followed their own path. Instead of many small "land mines" - the accuracy of the strike. As a result, despite its smaller size, the Ar-2 could drop twice its combat load in a divethan the Ju.88. All this thanks to the PB-3 bomb rack, which took the bombs out of the bomb bay when diving at the target.
Ease of Piloting - Easy to learn for wartime sergeants. And these were not simple words. In the regiments that flew on the Pe-2, 30% of the aircraft were permanently unusable due to the broken landing gear struts.
The design is unified with the SB bomber. The nose of the fuselage and the propeller group underwent a rearrangement.
Inevitable disadvantages, like any other technique. A matter of time and continuous improvement of the design. The path that all famous planes have traveled.
Ar-2, a masterpiece plane. The team of the Arkhangelsky Design Bureau is the undisputed owner of the Designers' Cup on the eve of the war.
As of June 1, 1941, the Red Army Air Force already had 164 combat-ready bombers of this type. Why was the serial production of the AR-2 curtailed in favor of the more complex and less efficient Pe-2? There is no clear answer to this day. Historians agree that the Ar-2 interrupted its flight due to the lack of a clear concept for the use of the spacecraft air force.
But most importantly, they could. The aircraft was structurally superior to its "classmate", the German front-line bomber Ju.88.
Conceptual successor to Junkers
Seven decades later, another plane is following the path beaten by the Ju-88. F-35 Lightning.
The analogy is obvious. See:
Like the failed fascist "schnell-bomber", the modern "Lightning" relies on one, promising, in theory, direction. Only this time, instead of speed, stealth.
And once again the concept fails. The chosen quality is not enough for independent actions in a combat situation.
Like the Junkers-88, the new combat aircraft is the object of the most severe criticism. Experts describe many of the shortcomings and question the F-35's performance, rating them as “moderate” at best.
Among the positive qualities - aerobatic and sighting complex of a new generation, full automation of aircraft. The pilot was able to focus on aiming and targeting in battle. All other parameters and systems of the F-35 are under the control of 8 million lines of code.
After all, it is also a reference to the ideas embodied in the design of the Ju.88. The pilot released the air brakes, then the Junkers understood everything without words. The algorithm of actions for the attack mode was launched. The crew could only fly to the ground, remembering all the saints, keeping the crosshair on the selected target.
But this is too little for successful actions in a combat situation.
The creators of the F-35 might not have known about the German Junkers at all. In technical terms, there is no connection between them (and cannot be). But the ideas that the Americans are using are confirmed by the combat experience of the Luftwaffe.
A combat aircraft is a structural element of the armed forces and the military-industrial complex as a whole. It cannot be considered without taking into account the characteristics of its weapons.
Like the Ju.88, the new Lightning surpasses all existing multipurpose fighters in the number and variety of weapon combinations (and in their use - due to the developed aiming means). The F-35 project integrates almost all NATO aircraft ammunition to engage air, land and sea targets.
Finally, the quantity. The Germans, realizing the combat value of the Ju-88, built 15 thousand bombers of this type during the war years. The "workhorse" of the Luftwaffe. The most massive bomber in history.
The Americans are solving the Lightning's problems with rare persistence and are moving towards the stated goal of equipping the Air Force with a single (main) type of multipurpose aircraft. As a result, the F-35 is now the most massive 5th generation fighter.
In this sense, it is much easier for them. All new solutions are first studied in the form of computer models. The Germans did not have computers, and as a result, all the first 10 pre-production Ju.88s were destroyed in plane crashes.
As you may have guessed, this article is not a story about any particular type of aircraft. This is just an attempt to rethink some well-known facts in the field of military aviation and understand why the simple often seems complicated, and the complex, on the contrary, is simple.
