Junkers Ju 188

what is it?

The Junkers Ju 188 "Rächer" ("Avenger") was a German Luftwaffe high-performance medium bomber built during World War II, the planned follow-up to the Ju 88 with better performance and payload. More than 1,000 aircraft were built, although production of the Ju 188 was curtailed early, due to the emergence of improved versions of the Ju 88, as well as the increasingly effective Allied strategic bombing campaign against German industry, leading to an increased focus on fighter production.

🔎How to recognise it: 2 piston engines with propellers · retractable tailwheel (taildragger) · 22 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 499 km/htop speed
• size 15.2 tmax take-off weight
• built 1,076made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 86 years ago, in 1940.
• 🏎️Top speed is 3.8× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 22 m: about 5 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🐘Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 3 African elephants (~6 t each).
• 🏔️Can fly 1.1× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).

piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.

spec sheet

first flight

1940

introduced

1943

retired

1951

status

retired

number built

1,076

role

tactical bomber/reconnaissance aircraft

origin

German Reich

makers

Junkers, SNCASE, Junkers Motorenbau und Junkers Flugzeugwerk

engines

2× BMW 801D-2 / Junkers Jumo 213

crew

4

length

15 m

wingspan

22 m

height

4.5 m

max take-off weight

15.2 t

top speed

499 km/h

cruise speed

375 km/h

range

—

ceiling

9,347 m

landing gear

retractable conventional landing gear

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.