Junkers Ju 86

what is it?

The Junkers Ju 86 is a monoplane bomber and civilian airliner designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Junkers. It was designed during the mid-1930s in response to a specification for a modern twin-engined aircraft suitable for use as both a high-speed airliner and a bomber. Junkers responded with a low-winged twin-engined all-metal monoplane; unusually, it was intended to be powered by Junkers Jumo 205 diesel engines instead of petrol engines for greater fuel efficiency.

🔎How to recognise it: 2 piston engines with propellers · low wing · retractable tailwheel (taildragger) · 32 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 420 km/htop speed
• range 1,750 kmwithout refuelling
• size 11.5 tmax take-off weight
• built 840made 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 92 years ago, in 1934.
• 🏎️Top speed is 3.2× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 32 m: about 7 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🌍Range of 1,750 km: 10× Amsterdam to Brussels.
• 🏔️Can fly 1.6× 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

1934-11-04

introduced

1936

retired

1958

status

retired

number built

840

role

bomber, airliner, reconnaissance aircraft

origin

Nazi Germany

makers

Junkers, Henschel & Sohn, Junkers Motorenbau und Junkers Flugzeugwerk

engines

2× Junkers Jumo 207B-3 / Jumo 205 / BMW 132 / Bristol Pegasus / Junkers Jumo 207

length

16.5 m

wingspan

32 m

height

4.1 m

max take-off weight

11.5 t

top speed

420 km/h

cruise speed

250 km/h

range

1,750 km

ceiling

14,400 m

wings

low wing

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.