Junkers Ju 287

Ju 287 was the creation of German Designer Hans Wocke in a firm known as Junkers “Flugzeug und Motorenwerks AG”. It was primarily intended to equip the German Luftwaffe with a Jet-powered bomber aircraft that could remain aloof to the enemy interception. It had a unique swept-forward wing design which was the brain child of the project’s head designer, Dr Hans Wocke. He wanted to provide it with extra lift at low airspeeds. Earlier turbojets were vulnerable at the times of take-off and landing because of their poor responsiveness. There were 3 prototypes which were produced and later the Russian Army confiscated the plant before the end of the Second World War. Later till 1946, the Soviets continued with its further development. August 16, 1944 was the date when its first flight took place.

4 Heinkel HeS 011 engines were about to be placed in Ju 287 but their motor later ran into some trouble which led the BMW 003 engines to replace the earlier proposed ones. Later prototypes were to have six of these engines. The second prototype had a cluster of three under each wing whereas the third prototype had two under each wing and one on each side of the fuselage just like the first prototype.

The Ju 287 was made from off the shelf products and pieces of a variety of other aircraft. The main nose wheel was of captured Consolidated B-24 Liberators. The main landing gear wheels were lifted off a Junkers Ju 352. The tail section was made from The Junkers 388 whereas the fuselage was comprised mainly from a Heinkel He 177.

Specifications