Junkers Ju 52/3m

Nicknamed "Tante Ju" (Auntie Ju) and "Iron Annie" by Axis and Allied servicemen, the Junkers Ju 52 was the most famous German transport. The Ju 52 was built of corrugated metal skin and paid little attention to beauty, typical of a Junkers design. Parts and pieces stuck out of the airframe, and the corrugated skin, though much stronger than fabric and metal tubes, created stronger friction and thus air resistance.           In April 1931 the originally single-engined Ju 52 prototype was fitted with two extra engines. Performance improved tremendously and production of the new model immediately began. The Ju 52 served as an airliner for many nations. Finland, Spain, Sweden and Germany, just to name a few. It served as a mail carrier in China, and, fitted with floats, hauled lumber in remote parts in Canada. Its most commom work, however, was done with the German Lufthansa. Equipped with luxaries like a typewriter and oxygen masks, the Ju 52 could fly from Berlin to Rome in eight hours - over the Alps, an impressive feat for contemporary aircraft, let alone an airliner.           The military potentials of the Ju 52 were not overlooked by the resurgent Luftwaffe. It entered service as a troop transport and bomber. In the Spanish Civil War the Ju 52 ferried some 10,000 Moorish troops from Morocco to mainland Spain. While the militarized cousins bombed Madrid, some Lufthansa Ju 52s were in the airport serving as airliners. Later in World War II the Ju 52 served in every theater in which Germany participated. It dropped paratroopers in the Netherlands, Crete and later the Ardennes. It carried supplies to beleagued troops in North Africa, Stalingrad and the Baltic states. The Ju 52 was slow and very lightly armed against fighters. As a result, it suffered horrible losses in almost all actions, especially over Crete, the Mediterranean and Stalingrad. Many types of replacement were built, but none was as popular or reliable as good old Auntie Ju. Right until the end of the war the Ju 52 was still soldiering on to help stave off defeat. Some Ju 52s are still flying today.

	Technical data and/or diagram of Junkers Ju 52/3.
	A Ju 52/3m belonging to the modern Lufthansa.
	A side-view of an existing Ju 52/3m.
	A Ju 52/3m flying over the sea. Note the lone machine gun near the end of the fuselage.

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