Junkers Ju 49
| Ju 49 | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Ju 49 with the L88a engine, the latter recognisable by its exhaust stack | |
| Role | High-altitude research |
| National origin | Germany |
| Manufacturer | Junkers |
| First flight | 2 October 1931 |
| Introduction | 1931 |
| Retired | 1937 |
| Primary user | Junkers |
| Number built | 1 |
The Junkers Ju 49 was a German aircraft designed to investigate high-altitude flight and the techniques of cabin pressurization. It was the world's second working pressurized aircraft, following the Engineering Division USD-9A which first flew in the United States in 1921. By 1935, it was flying regularly to around 12,500 m (41,000 ft).
The Junkers Ju 49 was developed entirely to investigate techniques for flight at high altitude. To this end, it had a specially developed engine and the first pressurized cabin in a German aircraft. The engine was the Junkers L88a, which combined two six-cylinder inline L8 motors into an upright V-12 and had a two-stage supercharger plus intercooler to sustain power at high altitudes. It produced 522 kW (700 hp) at about 5,800 m (19,000 ft). This engine drove a large four-blade propeller. The pressure cabin held the two crew. The original intention was for operation at about 6,000 m (20,000 ft).
The Ju 49 was built in typical Junkers fashion as a cantilever-wing monoplane of all-metal construction with stressed duralumin skin throughout, corrugated on the flying surfaces. The wing trailing edge featured the standard Junkers "double wing", combining adjustable flap and aileron surfaces outboard, together with plain flaps inboard. The aircraft had a fixed, split-axle main undercarriage which was noticeably tall, to accommodate the large-diameter propeller, plus a tailskid.
A retractable rectangular radiator descended between and just in front of the undercarriage legs. The pressurized cabin had five small portholes for the pilot, two forward, two sideways and one overhead, and there were two more, one on each side for the second crew member. The forward view was so poor that a periscope was fitted with a downward view for landing.
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