The new www.skovheim.org with more information and new wrecks all around the globe.
 

Man kunne nok bruke ganske mange ord for å fortelle om Luftwaffe`s arbeidshest Junker 52 som tjenestegjorde under alle fronter under den andre verdenskrig. Blant de mer kjente operasjoner JU 52 deltok i er vel muligens Genral Students angrep på Kreta i 1941 og Herman Gøring`s hjelp i form av transport av forsyninger til den innelåste 6. Arme i Stalingrad i 1942-1943. Også under invasjonen av Norge deltok relativt mange JU 52, blant noen av de mer kjente oppdragene i Norge er nok angrepene på Fornebu og Sola flyplass, og ved kampene rundt Narvik. Det finnes fortsatt mange gjenværende fly av denne typen rundt om i verden, og på bunnen i Hartvigvannet ca. 35 kilometer utenfor Narvik by, ligger vraket av en JU 52 som landet der under slaget i Narvik i 1940. Totalt elleve JU 52 landet på Hartvigvannet, og flesteparten sank der. Flere av flyene ble reddet under krigen og på 80-tallet, men fortsatt skal det ligge ytterligere to eller tre fly på bunnen. Vraket av denne JU 52 hviler på en dybde av fire til åtte meter rett til høyre for hvor elven renner ned fra fjellene, rett under fjellveggen...

You could probably use quite a lot of words to tell the story about Luftwaffe's workhorse Junker 52 which served on all fronts during second world war. Among the most known operations JU 52 took part in are probably General Students attack on Crete 1941 and Herman Gøring`s help to Stalingrad in use of transporting supplies to the surrounded 6. Army at Stalingrad in 1942-1943. Also during the invasion of Norway,  quite many JU 52`s took part in the operation, among some of the more known missions in Norway, were the assaults on Fornebu and Sola airport, and in the battles for Narvik. There are still many planes of this type remaining around the world today, and at the bottom of Hartvigvannet approx. 35 kilometers outside Narvik city, lies the wreck of a JU 52 who landed there during the battle of Narvik in 1940. A total of eleven JU 52 landed on Hartvigvannet, and most of them sank there. Several of the airplanes were salvaged during the war and in the 80`s, but still two or three planes are supposed to be at the sea bottom. The wreck of this JU 52 rest on a depth of four to ten meters exactly to the right for the river which runs down from the mountains, right under the cliff wall...

 

Name:
Former names:
 Material:
Dimensions:
Junker JU 52 \ 3M
  
       
Tons: Built: Homeport: Cargo:
       

Underwaterpicture of engine donated by © Jonas Vanner
Underwaterpicture of JU 52 donated by © Kyrre Ingebrethsen

 

Type: Medium Transport
Origin: Junkers Flugzeug und Motorenwerke AG
Models: V1 to V8, A, B, and R series
First Flight:
Ju 52: October 13, 1930
Ju 52/3m: May 1932
Ju 52/3m g3e bomber: October 1934
Service Delivery: N/A
Final Delivery:
French AAC.1: August 1947
Spainish CASA 352-L: 1952
Production: Nearly 5,000
NOTE: 400 built by France as the AAC.1 Toucan for Air France and
the airforce after WWII. 170 built by CASA of Spain as the CASA
352 for the Spanish Air Force.

Engine:
Model: BMW 132A-3
Type: 9-Cylinder air-cooled radial
Number: 3 Horsepower: 830 hp

Dimensions:
Wing span: 29.25m (95 ft. 11½ in.)
Wing Surface Area: 1,189.45 sq. ft. (110.50m²)
Length: 18.9m (62 ft.)
Height: 4.5m (14 ft. 9 in.)

Weights:
Empty: 5600kg (12,346 lb.)
Loaded: 11,030kg (24,317 lb.)

Performance:
Maximum Speed: 190 mph (305km/h)
Range (Fully Loaded): 1300km (808 miles)
Initial Climb: 210m/min (689 ft./min.)
Endurance: N/A
Service Ceiling: 5500m (18,045 ft.)

Armament:
Usually none but in combat zones it was usual to mount one
13mm MG 131 manually aimed from open dorsal cockpit.
Two 7.92mm MG 15's manually aimed from beam windows.

The Ju 52 trimotor was first built in the 1930s yet remained in service for more than a quarter century. This transport made its maiden flight in April 1931 and three years later a heavy bomber version appeared. The latter aircraft formed the nucleus of the Luftwaffe's infant bomber force in the mid-1930s and it was used during the Spanish Civil War. The Ju 52 was obselete as a bomber by 1939, but because of its durability, simplicity of design, and handling characteristics it continued to serve throughout WW II as a versatile workhorse of the German transport fleet. For a period, Adolph Hitler used a Ju 52 as his private transport. Ju 52s delivered the attacking forces and their supplies during the German invasion of Norway, Denmark, France and the Low Countries in 1940. Almost 500 Ju 52s participated in the historic airborne assualt on the island of Crete in May 1941 and Junkers later supplied Rommel's armored forces in North Africa.
Approximately 30 different countries have flown Ju 52.

Edited 29.06.2007