Ju 52 with double side rudder ?

[Benni]

Hello PlaneHeads,

I have been watching old documentary footage of Frankfurt with some shots of 1930s Rhein-Main Flughafen.

I think there was a glimpse of a Ju52 with a double side rudder, a bit like this on the Handley-Page Harrow :



but with the rudders much closer together and joined at the top by a horizontal plane (another height rudder?),

looked weird, almost like a rectangular box without top or bottom.

I hope you can imagine what I mean and can help me identifying this Junkers or contemporary aircraft.

[Eric Mc]

I think you are referring to twin tail fins rather than twin rudders - which is not that unusual an arrangement - especially in the 1930s and 1940s.

I reckon the aircraft you saw was this one, the Junkers G38. It was a large aeroplane for its day (bigger than the Ju52) and was an earlier design. It featured the standard Junkers corrugated aluminium construction method - which was also used on the 52.

[Timfy]

Maybe Junkers G31?

[Benni]

Thanks for the quick replies, but I think what I saw had only 3 engines, and two tail fins (ne expert, me) ,

the G31 seems to have 3 vertical elements (one static in the middle, two movable) and is lots bigger than Ju52.

I am quite used to see a Ju 52 as D-AQUI (the Lufthansa historic plane) is iterally flying over my workplace several times a year,

I run outside when hearing that engine sound.

[Eric Mc]

Later in the 1930s, Junkers produced a more modern airliner called the Junkers Ju90. It later evolved into a military derivative called the Ju290. It had twin fins but it didn't have the corrugated method of construction.

Ju90 Airliner



Ju290

[lazy_b]

Could it have been a Junkers G-31?

[Eric Mc]

Sounds a likely candidate. I wasn't aware of that particular aircraft. Were many built?

[Simpo Two]

The G38 has remarkably swept wings - like a big Komet!

[Tim-D]

Eric Mc said:

Sounds a likely candidate. I wasn't aware of that particular aircraft. Were many built?

13..... Never heard of it before either but a quick wiki check.....

[Yertis]

Eric Mc said:

I wasn't aware of that particular aircraft.

meanwhile, the sun is rising in the west and dogs cascade from the sky

[Benni]

PH delivering again, thanks lazy b !

So my eyes didn´t decieve me, I never heard of this type before (but that don´t mean much), at least it looks a bit 52-ish.

[Eric Mc]

Junkers used a patented corrugated aluminium style of construction which started with their J1 ground attack aircraft from World War 1


They used this technique on a number of transport designs through the 1920s and 30 such as the F13 and Ju52




I think their first production design to abandon it was the Ju86