Warplanes of Germany: Luftwaffe Junkers Ju 290

Junkers Ju 290 transport

(SDASM Archives Photo)

Junkers Ju 290A-5.

(Luftwaffe Photo)

The Junkers Ju 290 was a large German, four-engine long-range transport, heavy bomber and maritime patrol aircraft used by the Luftwaffe late in the Second World War. It was developed from an airliner. The Junkers 290 was developed directly from the Ju 90 airliner, versions of which had been evaluated for military purposes, and was intended to replace the relatively slow Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor, which by 1942 was proving increasingly vulnerable when confronted with Royal Air Force aircraft. The Fw 200's airframe lacked sufficient strength for the role in any case. The Ju 290 was also intended to meet the need for large transport aircraft. A bomber version, the A-8, was planned, but never built. (Wikipedia)

(USAAF Photo)

Junkers Ju 290, Salzburg, Austria.

(IWM Photo, MH 7503)

Junkers Ju 290 A-3 (Wk. Nr. 10160), coded SB+QJ, maritime reconnaissance aircraft used by FAGr 5 (later coded 9V+BH, 9V+AK). This aircraft was in service from July 1943 to April 1945.

(Bundesarchiv, Bild 146-1989-039-19A / CC-BY-SA 3.0)

Junkers Ju 290.

(Luftwaffe Photo)

Junkers Ju 290 rear view with extended Trapoklappe ramp.

(SDASM Archives Photo)

Junkers Ju 290A-5, Farnborough, UK, 1946.

(Deutsches Bundesarchiv (German Federal Archive), Bild 141-2472)

Junkers Ju 290 A-4, s/n 0165, PI+PS, was the prototype for the, renumbered "A3+HB", of KG 200. It had been equipped with attachments for FX 1400, Hs 293, and Hs 294 missiles, and fitted with FuG 203e radar, and was surrendered to the USA. Renamed "Alles Kaputt", and numbered "FE 3400", it was flown to the USA by USAAF Colonel Harold E. Watson from Orly, Paris to Wright Field, Ohio (USA), on 28 July 1945, via the Azores. The captured aircraft, with its German insignia repainted, was a frequent performer at air shows at Freeman Field and Wright Field. When the aircraft was scrapped at Wright Field in 1946, an plastic explosive device of German manufacture was discovered in the wing near to a fuel tank.

 (USAAF Photos)

Junkers Ju 290A-4, (Wk. Nr. 110196), originally coded A3+HB of Kampfgeschwader 200 (KG 200), captured at Munich-Riem on 6 May 1945.  Designated RAF USA 022, this aircraft was amed "Alles Kaput", and re-numbered USA FE-3400.  It was flown across the Atlantic to Wright Field, Ohio, where it was scrapped in Dec 1946.

(USAAF Photo)

(Bill Larkins Photo)

Junkers Ju-290A-5 "Alles Kaput" on display in the USA after the war.