German Air Force

Junkers Ju-86 in flight.

Bundesarchiv.

Junkers Ju-86 in flight, possibly 1936-'37. The Ju-86 was Junkers' response to an Air Ministry prospectus for an aircraft that could function as a fast airliner for Lufthansa and, covertly, as a fast medium bomber for a future German air force, 1934. The aircraft first flew in 1936. From the beginning, its perceived rival was the Heinkel He-111, Heinkel's response to the same prospectus. Also from the beginning, the Ju-86 posed ongoing difficulties regarding its engines. A small number were "trialled" in the Spanish Civil War, but it was found that the engines fitted - Junkers Jumo 205 diesels - while fuel-economical, added too much weight for the aircraft to bear, and performed poorly at high speed. After the loss of two bombers to Republican fighters, the remainder (three, I think) were sold to the Nationalist air force. Overall performance was considerably improved by replacing the Jumo 205 in favour of BMW 132 radial engines, but overall performance was still perceived as inferior to the evolving He-111. (The aircraft in this photo appears to be BMW-132-powered.) Overall, several engine types were trialled on the Ju-86, both civil and military versions, with mixed success. On the civil side, the Ju-86 was developed as a reasonably successful commercial airliner. One result of this was that civilian versions sold to South Africa were, when war commenced, converted to military use, and used successfully as maritime reconnaissance and patrol bombers. The Ju-86 thus managed to fight (albeit to a limited extent) on both sides. As for the Germans - they employed the limited balance of Ju-86 aircraft in the early campaigns of WW2, taking advantage of its one outstanding advantage - good high altitude performance. However, Allied fighter designers quickly responded to this threat. As a result, the Ju-86 was withdrawn from front line service in 1943. In spite of the many prototype versions of this aircraft produced in efforts to make good its deficiencies, the Ju-86 never really got much beyond pre-production runs, having effectively lost out to the He-111 as early as 1938. Best regards, JR.