Vom Original zum Modell: Junkers Ju 288/388/488

by Karl-Heinz Regnat

The JU288 was a medium bomber which first flew in June 1941. It came out of the Luftwaffe's biggest development program of the war. This was known as Bomber B and was set up to produce a new strategic bomber. Several variants of the JU288 offering different speeds, ranges and bomb loads were envisaged, but only 22 aircraft were produced. The development project which resulted in the JU388 began in September 1943. This was to be a multi-purpose type which could be used as a bomber, a night fighter or a reconnaissance aircraft. The night fighter variant had distinctive radar antennae on the nose. The final type examined in the book, the JU488, was first proposed in early 1944. This was for a four-engined heavy bomber. In order to accelerate the development program, parts from the JU88, 188 and 288 were used in its construction. Two prototypes were assembled in France but were destroyed by the French resistance before they could be shipped to Germany for evaluation leading to the abandonment of the program in November 1944.

96 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2002

Reviews

[Emmanuel Gustin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mixed experience. Very good to have if the topic interests you, because it is an informative resource. But it still leaves one wishing for something better. (Dan Sharp's new book on German bomber development is now expected in early 2026, to the best of my knowledge.)

The seemingly obscure subject matter is of some historical importance as the German failure to develop better medium bombers was far more important than their low investment in heavy bombers. (The latter they didn't really need, the former were critically important.) But this is a very descriptive book, that does not explain the how and why. It is richly illustrated, appears to quote a lot of unpublished material from original sources, and has lots of technical detail. What is lacking is a coherent narrative to connect it all together.

Part of the problem may be that this is a translation from the German (originally published by Bernard & Graefe Verlag, a good publisher), and that the translation is often stilted and in places becomes almost incomprehensible. Technical German can be hard to understand and translate... The problem here may be a too literal approach, resulting in sentences such as "Ailerons and elevator control takes place over the movable column with traversable arm for the control lever located at the centre of the fuselage." Which I think describes the control column; but presumably made far more sense in German.