The Mega Bomber that had Windows Built into Its Wings

[@gryph01]

The 20's and 30's was the the heyday for coming up with weird and wonderful designs.

[@jonosmith4919]

Like the Hurricane and Spitfire me 109 etc👍🏻

[@DavidRLentz]

Why hadn't you told them to straighten up and fly right?

[@lordphullautosear]

Futuristic meets steampunk?

[@minimanadam]

Because the lack of knowledge and manufacturing standards

[@DavidRLentz]

@@lordphullautosear , this period was well after steam, and we'll prior to what we would consider "futuristic".

[@sportpiiix640]

Saw this in studio ghiblis The Wind Rises, surprised to see it’s real!

[@pedroleal7118]

Your mini-docs are the best! So many models and incredible stories around planes! Thank you for your efforts.

[@johnmortison5763]

It appears that many innovative airplanes of this period never reached their potential due to powerplant technology not being able to produce adequate horsepower at reasonable costs and weights.

[@michaelcottle6270]

Less than 2 minutes in & he's saying that the Treaty of Versailles put limits on the amount of power the Germans were allowed to use in aircraft engines. That might have been a factor...

[@anon_y_mousse]

@@michaelcottle6270 True, but john mortison never said why they were limited, just that they were. Although, I think it'd be a far more interesting discussion to talk about how the treaty ensured we would have WWII and how much decisions made over 100 years ago have royally screwed us to this day.

[@Raguleader]

@@michaelcottle6270 Germany wasn't the only country to have such problems with their larger aircraft designs. The Boeing XB-15 and later the B-29 Superfortress would both face challenges due to their engines not being quite up to the task (the B-29's engine problems were eventually solved with the B-50A Superfortress). Of course, as soon as they solved that problem, bombers got even bigger, leading to the Consolidated B-36 Peacemaker... which also ended up needing engine upgrades.

[@geoh7777]

"powerplant technology not being able to produce adequate horsepower" As far as the G.38 was concerned, the 6-foot thick wings ate up a lot of the available horsepower due to the excessive frontal area. Not that other designs didn't have "horsepower gobblers" of their own.

[@stevenhoman2253]

The Germans designed and built a host of remarkable engines, both petrol and diesel, for bombers. In the instance of this aircraft design, the bulk of it lacked any coherent aerodynamic congruity, which would have disallowed or invalidated the need to fit larger engines. The Germans, notably, had no access to high octane fuels, yet the power to weight of their engines was significant (even without the turbos which needed high grade alloys) They additionally were the first to develop the axial flow turbine jet engine; the same design in use currently. The Whittle design of the British was built to suit the available metallurgy, so used a centrifugal turbine. Which, though not as powerful, did not need to be replaced after 2~3 flights. In fact, the Gloster Meteor's of WWII are, I believe, still using their original engines?

[@jamesroets800]

Fascinating video! I had thought that we would have a blended-wing body aircraft by now because Boeing and Northrup were going whole hog on the concept. With new, lighter, carbon composite and honeycomb materials, they are possible, and can carry up to 1000 passengers. But, there's just not a market for them now. Look at the trouble the A380 has had. It's almost too big, and requires a lot of space both in flight and on the ground to maneuver. A BWB aircraft would be nearly twice that size, requiring a separate area just for them. And most of our big airports now are land-locked. There's just no room. Keep up the good work! Love these videos.

[@keithammleter3824]

Blended wing designs are more suited for slower speed aircraft, not jets. You can use a blended design in a higher speed (jet) aircraft if it is also a delta wing, but that brings significant disadvantages in take-off and landing - witness the extreme takeoff & landing angle of the Concorde, requiring the "droop snoot". The advantage of a blended wing design over typical 1930's designs is lower drag. But there are other effective ways of reducing the drag - e,g., the wing/body fairing used in the WW2 Spitfire fighter. Lastly, a blended wing aircraft is not necessarily a large one. The above is why you don't see blended wing designs in civilian service - it was a technology dead end.

[@joaoalbertodosanjosgomes1536]

Amen.

[@glennkrieger]

Hard to believe the GI 38 was built only 20 years after the Wright Brothers flight in 1903.

[@PauloPereira-jj4jv]

If they did it. There are controversies...

[@tjmcguire9417]

Great work on this and all of your Dark channels. I see your effort. Archive footage rarely seen and well woven in to the story. Thank you. Carry on MacDuff.

[@TheHylianBatman]

What a cool, interesting plane! A shame that we're not gonna see anything like it any time soon.

[@johncunningham4820]

Oh My . That great Bird is the very Soul of Diesel Punk . Junkers was a Huge innovator in Aircraft design .

[@christopherlum4736]

“How big do you want your bomber?” “Yes”

[@nos9784]

Calling this a bomber is mostly clickbait. It was only ever used in this role because the nazis were severely impaired economically and in their decision making. They had the Ju 90, a later junkers design, but they wanted their heavy bomber to be a 4-engined dive bomber. It never really worked. The heinkel 177 is the product of that line of thinking.

[@seriousmaran9414]

BIGGER!!!

[@EdwardPCampbell]

I think it's beautiful in a quirky way. With modern aeronautical design NASA is already refloating this flying blended wing. What's wrong with life in the slow lane? Airliners these days are like cigar-shaped sardine tins with not enough room to breathe or stretch out.

[@nos9784]

Long distance travel is only cheap because its fast and cramped. You can go slow, but food and accomodation get expensive. I still want a blue- water sailing boat, though. It is a choice.

[@EdwardPCampbell]

@@nos9784 It may not be universal but I believe in a couple of decades such optional ways to travel may start to come on stream. How many people ’enjoy’ the cramped, claustrophobic conditions of budget airlines, with your knees knocking against the back of the seat in front because that passenger decided to recline their seat? Not many, I’m sure.

[@buddygallagher1193]

Love those videos keep it coming thank you

[@1freedlander]

I love this airplane. Junkers was very innovative in his design. Rudolph

[@paulstewart6293]

Even furniture designers of that epoch went through all the possibilities with the materials available.

[@Вера-ь6ъ1ъ]

Art-Deco

[@lucaswallace7476]

Gaijin: "Write that down WRITE THAT DOWN!"

[@dhm7815]

I question whether those passengers in the wing were riding "in comfort". I, once -- count it -- ONCE -- rode in a DC3 still in commercial service in the 1960s. (I had Mickey Spillane's first novel, _My Gun is Quick_ , to read on the flight so I had a nostalgic setting for a nostalgic book.) I had a wing seat. The noise and vibration levels were quite unexpected compared to jet planes. I occasionally looked out at the wing in the dark wondering if I would see vibration make the rivets come loose. Those passengers would be extra close to the noise and vibration of those engines.

[@ronwaters2922]

I agree. We’re used to the ride of smooth jet airliners. The C-47 and B-17 I rode in were quite rough in comparison.

[@JanetandGavin2024]

The blended wing concept was incorporated by AVRO in the UK in the 1947 design of the highly successful Avro Vulcan bomber, which predated Boeings failed XB48 and later NASA designs.

[@keithammleter3824]

Dark Skies repeatedly says the G-38 is a blended wing design, but it clearly isn't. An under view is shown at 0.25, and an upper view is shown at 2:02. In both views a very clear delineation between the fuselage and the wings is seen. Just because the thing is so big you can go inside the wings does not make it a blended wing design.

[@Mr.Unacceptable]

These planes would have made hell of a motor home.

[@nullterm]

This should have been a guest star in a Indiana Jones movie.

[@ronaldpalma8469]

Always enjoy your videos! I noticed that some of the footage shows the outboard engines with only 2 propeller blades instead of 4. Anyone know the reason for this?

[@nos9784]

They used different engines inboard and outboard, afaik. Edit: yip. Listen carefully from 4:35. More edit: as to why they'd use engines of different powers, idk. Cruise economy? Maybe the wing couldn't take four bigger engines during the rebuild. Less blades are also more efficient, in theory. We only use more than one extremely nong thin blade for real-world reasons like balance and the ground and people getting in the way. Real reasons? I don't care enough to do the research :D

[@bustabusts]

drag

[@seriousmaran9414]

@@nos9784 over a certain size and engine power 2 blades have more problems and less efficiency gains. It is then easier to add more blades

[@robgraham5697]

I would have loved to flown in one of the wing cabins,

[@sonofeyeabovealleffoff5462]

I wish there was footage of it.

[@drmarkintexas-400]

Thank you for sharing ✌️🇺🇲🛐

[@mygoditsfullofstars9148]

Excellent presentation.Your video reminds me of Mark Feltons channel. Clear concise information well presented.

[@nos9784]

"blended wing" "no clear dividing line" ...uhm, I guess we are all hallucinating. Junkers engineered the innovation of all-metal aircraft with a really thick wing. Made this idea come true, and did research around the concept. I don't agree with calling that a blended wing body. Unless someone has a source for the evolution of that term...

[@LuGer212]

always nice to have wikipedia being read out aloud

[@ezrabrooks12]

Good Video/Info.

[@andywhite40]

Really interesting video, I would definitely have paid good money to sit in one of those wing seats!!

[@bogusmogus9551]

I'll bet the passengers then probably did. A bit like first/business class today

[@GAPphp]

Früher, als das Fliegen noch ein Abenteuer war

[@theochan2911]

Interesting plane!!!

[@iankeenan7522]

"The massive bomber with windows in its wings" Er, the Junkers G.38 was an Airliner, built for use by Deutshe Lufthansa!

[@misterpotato427]

Most art deco airplane I've seen

[@tobiasfreitag2182]

I find the title quite misleading, the plane was designed as passenger plane, used as a passenger plane and then after getting requisitioned by the luftwaffe used as a transport.... Why call it a bomber then? Just for clickbait?

[@carlynewlondon]

First flew 93 years ago today

[@HunterTag]

Crazy aircraft. Awesome stuff. But anyone else caught off guard by the "Unus Annus" theme?

[@robertbeirne9813]

Sitting in the wing looking forward must have been awesome.

[@flyingfortressrc1794]

That thing was a beast

[@andysaunders3708]

Damn fine idea.

[@ViewThis.]

Look at the size of the front of that Airfoil nearest the fuselage 2:32 6 foot thick wings. it seems more like an obstacle to air flow

[@jodypitt3629]

Hi Dark Skies, I've made drawings of the Junkers G.38, and the Mitsubishi Ki-20

[@kirkmorrison6131]

An interesting and novel aircraft.

[@smoketinytom]

I must say, I'm amazed the Germans went to war with such an inefficient force makeup.

[@williamzk9083]

I think its just click bait. You know 'nazi bomber' the reality is the G38 was a pure airliner.

[@ChrisPsneakers]

Your idea is absolutely insane, sniff snort gasp… I’ll take 3 of them. Snort, with windows… snort. Oh and make it out of fuel and fireworks.

[@waterfoxy5690]

Windows built into its wings huh? Well I got windows built into my computer

[@mike79patton]

What a thrill it must have been to sit IN THE WING! With floor windows!? Are you kidding? What an experience.

[@earthsteward9]

I find the narrator has a perfect voice for these videos. Could you imagine them with game show host narrator?

[@JohnSmith-yv6eq]

It's an AI (robot) voice...

[@earthsteward9]

@@JohnSmith-yv6eq Oh. Good thing they didn't use Spongebob SquarePants' voice

[@--_DJ_--]

@@JohnSmith-yv6eq I don't think that is true, if it is, it is the best damn robovoice I have heard yet. You don't usually get inflection in robovoice.

[@leslienelson3984]

@@--_DJ_-- Um Yes I totally agree on this 💯00% That it's an actual real voice & not those bots.

[@davidbarnsley8486]

I bet it was a bit noisy sat next to one of those engines But what a view If only they had decent engines with more power 👍👍👍

[@arthurschipper8906]

You wouldn't think a wing that thick would work. Part art, part machine.

[@thearmchairspacemanOG]

no.. maybe YOU wouldn't.. but most people aren't that dim.

[@major_kukri2430]

@@thearmchairspacemanOG you really came out swinging.

[@thearmchairspacemanOG]

@@major_kukri2430 lol. never conflate education with violence son.

[@major_kukri2430]

@@thearmchairspacemanOG I was speaking figuratively.... "son".

[@thearmchairspacemanOG]

@@major_kukri2430 yes, that's what I said :- you were conflating sarcastic education with acts of physical violence. you ''figured'' there was some valid correlation without using any data.. wee man.

[@DuneRunnerEnterprises]

Whoa!!! And i thought, it's gonna be about the "Maxim Gorky" airplane...

[@auro1986]

if they transported civilian passengers in it then they could sell wing seats inside wings

[@nullterm]

Missing link to the flying wing. Wonder if Jack Northrop ever saw it.

[@Edward-pw6zz]

goddamn why do you upload such good videos when i have to learn for the exams >:(

[@sumdumguy6449]

its the plane from Wind Rises

[@doltsbane]

I'm not sure "comfortable" is the word I would use for a cabin seat that's right on top of a massive aircraft engine.

[@jhowe5571]

The first thing I noticed was the square windows! At lower flight ceiling it wouldn't be much of a problem. But, square windows were soon changed to have rounded corners to prevent them from shattering due to unequal air pressures, leading to plane crashes.

[@paulqueripel3493]

Weren't they changed because square windows had trouble with metal fatigue (de Havilland Comet)?

[@jhowe5571]

@@paulqueripel3493 If I remember correctly, a video on the Ford tri-engine planes? I think they had pressure difference issues and they discovered that the windows were failing. Square windows are weak in the corners and will fail under unequal air pressure pushing on the glass. Maybe it was failures in the first planes to have pressurized cabins. I don't remember the details offhand. Also, you can see later in this video that the windows were changed to having rounded corners. So, the solution of this problem's discovery was within this era. Early 1920's.

[@williamzk9083]

The G38 was a 1929 aircraft. It wasn’t pressurised so there is no serious issue with square windows. I think the only pressurised airliner before 1940s was the 1938 Boeing 307 Stratoliner.

[@Вера-ь6ъ1ъ]

@@jhowe5571 Астролюк.

[@richsmith7200]

Well, we had the B-36......talk about 'stop gap',, probably as noisy as a Bear......actually, I don't think anything could possibly be louder than a Bear....

[@lancerevell5979]

Republic F-84H Thunderscreech! 😎

[@risksrewardsrelics51]

The B-36 came 20 years later than the Junkers.

[@richsmith7200]

@@risksrewardsrelics51 I'm well aware of that, just illustrating that not so mainstream designs weren't limited to the 20 & 30s, but boy did they have some doozies back then.

[@richsmith7200]

@@lancerevell5979 would have been a great nickname for my ex wife, but she never would have gotten it....

[@richsmith7200]

@@lancerevell5979 we have a Ryan Fireball not far from my abode. But you're right, the thunderscreech was loud by all definitions. But submarines could supposedly hear Bears overhead while submerged. Crew wears ear protection to preserve their hearing and their health.

[@Lesthehandyman]

incredible

[@gjmob]

I asked for sharks with freakin laser beams attached to their head, not a plane with windows in the wings.

[@vonbuzz9009]

Its already been done with dolphins

[@HiNickCares]

The Graf Zeppelin was the world's largest aircraft at the time.

[@mattlad2004]

The graf zeppelin was a airship not a plane as he meant biggest plane not airship

[@HiNickCares]

@@mattlad2004 He said aircraft, not plane.

[@Вера-ь6ъ1ъ]

D-X

[@uggiebear1]

Certainly a very informative beneficial and well researched and delivered video.

[@karoltakisobie6638]

I would hazard a guess that few other Junkers aircraft were far more influential to aviation than G38. W33/34 and especially G24/K30 were forerunners of things to come in many ways.

[@Вера-ь6ъ1ъ]

Ю-13!!!

[@Gary-Seven-and-Isis-in-1968]

Presumably there are no surviving examples of this innovative aircraft. What a pity. Short term requirements for recycling, or reusing metals post war, has denied us so much access to aviation and military technical history.

[@cedricliggins7528]

This gives the Spruce Goose a run for it's money

[@williamzk9083]

The Hughes H-4 Hercules so called "Spruce Goose" had no spruce in it. It was made of Duramold and used Birch wood, the process latter adopted with minor modification by DeHaviland to make the Mosquito.Nothing wrong with the aircraft. Hughes didn't have a certificate for test flight so cheekily lifted it off the ground. There was no need for the aircraft so it was never completed.

[@bogusmogus9551]

@@williamzk9083 Mosqitoes were made before the H-4 even flew for the first and last time.

[@lowtus7]

What a beast, which model had the crazy wheel pants?

[@MrJmd116]

There’s an anime movie about a Japanese aeronautical engineer and this plane, wife just made me watch it

[@ryanu6424]

This is almost the same design of the Flying wing but with a long fusalage on it.

[@mohammedsaysrashid3587]

Allot thanks ( Dark skies) channel for sharing this interesting video about precious Germany attempts for designing largest airplane ✈️..before Nazism state ruling Germany 🇩🇪 after WW1...

[@michaelpielorz9283]

I am not shure if i had to laugh or cry seeing the vid.

[@lotuselansteve]

I enjoy your videos, but could you please reduce the repetition of clips. The one showing a plane taking up and being chased by a car was used at least 3 times!

[@DavidRLentz]

Junkers G-38.

[@Randomdude340]

I remember this plane in ghibli movie the wind rises

[@ConkerKing]

Wingdows !

[@grahamrankin4725]

This is the 75th anniversary of the only flight of Howard Hughes ' Spruce Goose'. How about a video about it?

[@gearheadgregwi]

Looking at those giant spats around landing gear. At what point did they say "why don't we work on making these retract?".

[@bogusmogus9551]

They do help the aerodymmics someewhat over exposed wheels, but ones that big that would paid for in weight

[@dennismason3740]

giant wing with snap-on fuselage.

[@dillkommen]

wait so The Wind Rises was real kinda?

[@MrJoeltrain]

2m Reich marks is 800,000 in usd according to a table I found claiming 2.5dm = 1usd in 1940

[@dennismason3740]

What is this? An episode of the Untouchables? Why the dramatic voice? Drop down an octave and you get a fair approximation of Rod Serling. Beautiful airplane.

[@rich-lf1bm]

It looks like the planes from warriors of the wind

[@Sir_Leung]

The Kalanin k7 was similar

[@bogusmogus9551]

What I was thinking, I think it was bigger

[@crazytrain7114]

Have a 144 scale kit on the shelf, looking for 144scale crew to fill it with

[@hectormonclova7563]

It was virtually a flying wing...

[@scottcates]

Chunk moth be thicc.

[@maytagmark2171]

You tube advertisers need to know that forcing us to watch through an entire advertisement that we do not care for the product being flogged just peeves us. Makes me NOT want to buy the product. Actually drives me to not want the product. You are better off to let us click out of adds we have absolutely no interest in.

[@rgortega1285]

Oddly, today the air manufacturing of different organizations same with the introduction of 6th generations. Creating a flying machine with capabilities that others can not match or surpass is just the greed of ownership and will eventually be the demiss of society.

[@nealsausen4651]

The Hindenburg zeppelin would dwarf this aircraft!

[@EddieHalFast]

At 1:50 you refer to the Reich Air Ministry in 1930. Doesn't that pre-date the use of Reich even informally?

[@forbiddenera]

there's a Studio Ghibli anime about this

[@weirdshibainu]

The Germans needed hundreds of these with fighter cover for strategic bombing in Russia and England.

[@michaelpielorz9283]

please do not take those pills anymore !

[@KnotBott]

Vote Tuesday November 8th!!!

[@genebohannon8820]

Tres manific! You always seem to come up with something I knew nothing about. This was bloody fantastic content on an over saturated platform of the same old shit rehashed by a hundred different channels.

[@marcostovar7968]

German engineerings in the front line

[@Iowa599]

That looks kinda like an F-117

[@blurglide]

How do you find this obscure video?

[@chkoha6462]

The YT channel Rex Hangar did a video about the G38 a while ago,check it out

[@ianmacfarlane1241]

(07:10) *British crews.

[@Hallands.]

Windows in the wings… later came Windows(R) everywhere and now Bill Gates is in your body, sigh…

[@troythompson6939]

at the 4 min mark i can only think of unus annus

[@davidpeters6536]

"November 6th 1929 the Reich Air Ministry registered"? Don't mix that up with the Third Reich which didn't come about until 1933 and 1929 saw the financial crash and the beginning of the depression era. Interesting story though.

[@thetechlibrarian]

All this with a slide ruler no cad

[@vanpenguin22]

It was too early for there to be much "conventionality" for which to adhere.