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Aviation History
1929
1929 - 0258.PDF
FEBRUARY 7, 1929 A NEW JUNKERS COMMERCIAL MONOPLANE The 4-Engined Type J.38 RECENTLY, rumour has been busy with reports of " giant " Junkers machines in which, it was alleged, the old 1910 ideal of Prof. Junkers—the " flying wing "—was said to'have been realised. Like the death of Mark Twain, this i£ " grossly exaggerated." The Junkers firm of Dessau has kindly sent us a brief statement and the accompanying photographs, The power plant will consist of four Junkers engines, type L.55, mounted on the leading edge of the wing, and it is stated that the engineer will be able to crawl through the wing to any engine in order to effect adjustments and minor repairs. Thus it is expected that the reliability (i.e., freedom from forced landings) will be very good. THE NEW JUNKERS MONOPLANE : This photograph shows two scale models, the J.38 on the right and the W.33 on the left for purposes of comparison. of which one shows two scale models, the larger of which represents the new machine. The other photograph shows a wing for the new machine in the works at Dessau, and the man standing by gives a good idea of the size of this wing. The J.38, as the new machine will be called, does not realise the ideal of the " flying wing," although it goes some way towards it, part of the space inside the wing forming The new machine departs from normal Junkers practice in that it is not a low-wing monoplane but has its wing arranged in a position which the Germans now term " shoulder decker," i.e., just below the top longerons. The photograph shows but little of the undercarriage, but it would appear that this will be of the four-wheeled type, with the two pairs of wheels arranged in tandem, under ffl S m s Si Taking Shape : The wing for the J.38 being assembled at the Junkers Dessau works. m s s a portion of the passenger accommodation. But there is adistinct fuselage, as the photograph of the scale model shows. At the moment but few particulars of the new machine are available, but we are informed that the wing span will be no less than 45 m. (147-5 ft.). The construction appears to be the usual Junkers, with multi spars of Duralumin tubing^and corrugated Duralumin sheet covering. mudguards. The Bristol Aeroplane Co. produced an under- carriage of this type some years ago, but, as far as we are aware, no other British firm has tried it. One would imagine that when the machine is swung around sharply on the ground there would be a risk of ripping the tyres off, unless special precaution is taken. It is expected that the J.38 will be finished in the early summer of this year. 100
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