Junkers Ju 86

Ju 86
Ju 86K-2 of Royal Hungarian Air Force, showing the Junkers doppelflügel wing control surfaces
General information
Type	Bomber, airliner, reconnaissance aircraft
Manufacturer	Junkers
Designer	Ernst Zindel[1]
Status	retired
Primary user	Luftwaffe
Number built	~900
History
Introduction date	1936
First flight	4 November 1934
Retired	1958 (Swedish Air Force)

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. It also had a smooth metal skin instead of the company's traditional corrugated exterior. On bomber-configured aircraft, bombs were carried vertically in four fuselage cells behind the cockpit; these bomb cells were replaced by seating for up to ten passengers on the civil airliner version of the Ju 86. On 4 November 1934, the first prototype, powered by Siemens SAM 22 radial engines, made its maiden flight; on 4 April 1935, the third prototype, which was the first civil-configured aircraft, flew for the first time.

The civil-oriented Ju 86 models were operated by a range of airlines, including the German flag carrier Deutsche Luft Hansa, Manchukuo National Airways, South African Airways, Iberia Airlines and AB Aerotransport amongst others. Some civilian aircraft would be converted into military aircraft following the outbreak of the Second World War. The type was employed by various air forces on both sides of the conflict, although the first military use of the Ju 86 was during the Spanish Civil War, where it was flown by the Condor Legion with mixed results. The Luftwaffe deployed its Ju 86s during the invasion of Poland, but opted to withdraw its diesel-engined aircraft fairly promptly while the radial-engined Ju 86 models were predominantly assigned to training roles thereafter. During late 1942, Ju 86s, along with all other available transport aircraft, were pulled from training schools to reinforce the Luftwaffe's transport force in its attempt to supply the German 6th Army besieged at Stalingrad, although this attempt was soon ended due to Soviet advances.

The Ju 86P, which emerged in early 1940, possessed considerable high altitude performance as a result of its longer wingspan, pressurized cabin, Junkers Jumo 207A-1 turbocharged diesel engines; used as both a bomber and reconnaissance aircraft, it was used as a nuisance bomber for a time over England until effective interception by modified Supermarine Spitfires led to its withdrawal. At one point, Junkers was developing the Ju 86R, fitted with even larger wings and new engines, to attain even higher altitudes, but this model never progressed beyond the prototype stage. By the twenty-first century, only a single Ju 86 is known to still exist; it is on permanent static display at the Swedish Air Force Museum outside Linköping.