High-altitude Versions
In 1943, it was planned to upgrade the entire lineup with even more wing area and a pressurized cockpit for high-altitude work. A single basic airframe would be offered in three versions, the Ju 188J heavy fighter, Ju 188K bomber, and the Ju 188L reconnaissance version. As with the streamlined Ju 88S, all three late model Ju 188 designs did away with the Bola gondola, leading to a cleaner nose profile, and the bomber and recce versions mounted their loads in a long pannier under the central fuselage instead of the deeper fuselage of the G and H models.
Simpler versions of these with no defensive armament and even longer wings became the Ju 188S fighter and Ju 188T intruder. With Jumo 213E-1 engines 2,050 PS (1,510 kW, 2,020 hp) at take-off and 1,690 PS (1,240 kW, 1,670 hp) at 9,500 m (31,400 ft), the Ju 188T could reach 700 km/h (440 mph). Operating at this altitude, the Ju 188S could carry only 800 kg (1,760 lb) of bombs.
Before any of these could start production, the entire lineup was renamed the Ju 388, the vastly improved performance warranting this change in name.
Read more about this topic: Junkers Ju 188
Famous quotes containing the word versions:
“The assumption must be that those who can see value only in tradition, or versions of it, deny man’s ability to adapt to changing circumstances.”
—Stephen Bayley (b. 1951)