Germany's Forgotten WW2 Bombers, and Why They Failed | Junkers Ju 90, 290 & 390

[@RexsHangar]

Check out Ikarus Art here → ikarusart.net/ and use the code REX to get 10% off your order. F.A.Q Section Q: Do you take aircraft requests? A: I have a list of aircraft I plan to cover, but feel free to add to it with suggestions:) Q: Why do you use imperial measurements for some videos, and metric for others? A: I do this based on country of manufacture. Imperial measurements for Britain and the U.S, metric for the rest of the world, but I include text in my videos that convert it for both. Q: Will you include video footage in your videos, or just photos? A: Video footage is very expensive to licence, if I can find footage in the public domain I will try to use it, but a lot of it is hoarded by licencing studies (British Pathe, Periscope films etc). In the future I may be able to afford clips :) Q: Why do you sometimes feature images/screenshots from flight simulators? A: Sometimes there are not a lot of photos available for certain aircraft, so I substitute this with digital images that are as accurate as possible.

[@shainemaine1268]

Audio is great, couldn't even tell there was any issues

[@terrycrooke1]

F xactly

[@johanmetreus1268]

If you take an interest in less known airforces, perhaps the Swedish line-up of J-22, B-17 and B-18 could fill your spare time?

[@michalandrejmolnar3715]

Could you cover the Soviet Cold War fighters and bombers like the Tu-95, Mig-15, Mig-17, Mig-21, Mig-23, Mig-29?

[@katianaangelica2935]

I am not sure if you already covered the Shinden?

[@stoneman8387]

Additional information: All photos of the Ju 390 V2 (registration RC+DA) that show it in flight are photomontages created after the war. Quasi a joke of German students, which very quickly became a self-runner. The Ju 390 V2 never left the ground

[@scootergeorge7089]

So, this is the 390 V1 at 16:35 and then clearly states the V2 was never flown.

[@stoneman8387]

​@@scootergeorge7089 I know he mentioned that. My main point was that two of the most famous photos of the Ju 390 (V2 in flight) are fake.

[@scootergeorge7089]

@@stoneman8387 - Excellent point!

[@Dilley_G45]

Wish I had a computer program that could make a 10 12 or 16 engine stretched version. Maybe in Lufthansa colors

[@scootergeorge7089]

@@Dilley_G45 🤣

[@rudolfabelin383]

I'll watch all of it later. A late friend of mine was the chief test pilot, Versuchflieger, of the 390. That was Flugkapitän Hans Pancherz. He also made the worlds second ejection in a real scenario with the 290 I think. Later he was supposed to break the sound barrier with the Ju 248, but that never happened as we all know. Best Greetings from Sweden.

[@stephenkayser3147]

Thank you for your info. Something to research for me.

[@rudolfabelin383]

@@stephenkayser3147 There is a lot unknown about "onkel" Hans. Like when the Russians tried 2 times to kidnap him and his family in the American sector in Berlin. That's how he ended up in Sweden, eventually working for my father to Hans retirement.

[@brendonbewersdorf986]

Thank you so much for covering this plane it's been a long time favorite of mine and critically underrated

[@brokeandtired]

Problem is these planes were time expensive on the German Heavy Presses. For every one of these they built, they could build 10 FW190A8 fighter bombers or 10 BF109's. These bombers had no clear and useful use case and Germany needed fighter bombers more.

[@HaVoC117X]

​​@@brokeandtired how do you built 10 fw 190 with 4 bmw 801s? As you can see, they were ordered in limited numbers. But they were good at their intended role. But mostly overlooked, unlike the He 177, which was much more troublesome. You can also built multiple spitfires for every lancaster or multiple p47 for every B29.

[@brokeandtired]

@@HaVoC117X You do realize that MULTIPLE smaller parts can be pressed at the same time and the Bombers were bigger, harder to make a mass production line for and had far more and larger parts. The sheer process of even moving a wing spar took longer and was harder to do than a fighter one. The Germans had mass production of engines down to an artform, they were churning out at a massive rate. The bigger the plane the harder it gets to even put them together. They could press out the fighter parts quicker, do them in bulk, assemble them faster than any mega bomber. On rare raw materials alone the mega bombers were a waste. Overkill for a tactical bomber and by 1943 they had zero chance of successfully surviving and conducting a bombing raid in the day against even British factories. The FW190's or BF109 could be assembly line made, these mega bombers were so big would have to be hand crafted piece by piece and slowly using what few hand craftsmen Germany had left

[@scootergeorge7089]

@@HaVoC117X You can also built multiple spitfires for every Lancaster, P-47, or B-29. Huh? You realize the P-47, though rather large, the Jug was a single engine fighter.

[@HaVoC117X]

@@brokeandtired you do realize that the ju 290 is a little smaller than a b29 and little larger than a lancaster. This is not a gigantic nazi super weopon. Ever heard of the fighter emergency program, reserving bmw 801 strictly for fighter production?

[@TEbersberger]

My grandfather was a test pilot for the Ju 90 series - one of the very few who survived. One of my favorite stories of his (apart from the crash with one of those giants) was the wind speed testing at 3000 m at the tip of the opened rear cargo/parachute bay door. Secured by a washing line (sic!).

[@TEbersberger]

the plane at 2.37 - the D-AALU. That was "my grandfather's" plane. The one that went down, killing two, leaving my grandfather and two colleagues as survivors. "Der Große Dessauer" (as from the Junkers testing facility in the town of Dessau) - seeing the picture at 2:39 brings back memories. The picture hung on the wall in his house, next to him sitting in the cockpit and next to that the "Kesselring Plakette" for his supply flights in the mediterranean campaign. And the outfit leftover from his crash, kept for good luck in the cellar still with some drops of ancient blood on the leather... Yep. That was quite a long time ago.

[@TEbersberger]

9:47 the wind speed testing was done at the tip of that very ramp. Remember: washing line only. Parachutes were scoffed at. I still cannot say wether this was bravery or sheer folly. Both, I guess.

[@davids82605]

Excellent work as always, on an indeed quite forgotten but interesting giant. I would have liked though that you would drop a word about the JU290Z, the projected zwilling version reminiscent of the very real He-111Z

[@jehoiakimelidoronila5450]

Also, speaking of gigantic German planes, why not cover the BV-222 and bv-238 flying boats?

[@RexsHangar]

Definitely planning to! :D

[@TimPerfetto]

These were not boats they were planes not planes and roads

[@jehoiakimelidoronila5450]

@@TimPerfetto teehee!... 🤣

[@TimPerfetto]

@@jehoiakimelidoronila5450 Tee hee pee poo piss pot butt

[@konstantinriumin2657]

And BV-9000, designed to airlift Bismark-class battleships

[@raymondyee2008]

15:56 ah yes the JU-390. Anyone who remembers "Secret Weapons Over Normandy" would remember the JU-390 being used by Nemesis; be glad James Chase and the Battlehawks destroyed them using the then ultra secret XF5U.

[@jayfelsberg1931]

It's a relief to know there would be a solution. In reality, it was the failure of novice pilot Weaver (a former army officer learning to fly) to unlock the ailerons of his He.70 (an awfully hot aircraft for a newbie) before taking off solo. That was just as effective at ending the Ural Bomber program.

[@tylerappell6219]

My literal childhood

[@franciszeklatinik889]

Whenever I think of Ju-390, I think of that game.

[@loveofmangos001]

And if all the T-34s you're escorting get destroyed except the leader he yells "I can't do it alone. I must have air support!" My 13 year old self heard that alot trying to beat that level (edit, I'm 31 now)

[@SHADOWFRENZY92]

@@loveofmangos001 That guy sounded like he was shitting himself down there so I always felt bad for him.

[@Hybris51129]

If there one thing that I love about military history from small arms to ships and planes is how underrated the importance of industrial capacity is. Could Germany have gotten to the point of building actual fleets of these planes is a question that could go in a dozen directions as one figures out resources, transportation, factories, etc...

[@jean-francoislemieux5509]

a dozen directions? how could they have done it? really, even with all of europe citizens as slave labor, they would'nt have enough diggers for their underground plants, let alone the material to built them... and with what fuel to fly them?

[@owen368]

In a nut shell it all comes down to money.

[@thethirdman225]

@@owen368 Not so much when you’re using slave labour.

[@kiwitrainguy]

Amateurs discuss tactics, professionals discuss logistics.

[@heirofaniu]

The answer is "no".

[@Cavethug]

Walther Wever that's a name everyone should remember. That's the name of the Luftwaffe's heavy bomber proponent. He was the driving force behind their heavy bomber development. So why didn't they pursue a similar path to that of the US and Britain? Because he was the chief advocate for heavy, long range bombers, while the majority of the Luftwaffe was more in favor of medium long range bombers and CAS. So when he died on June 3rd 1936, Germany's chief heavy bomber advocate died as well. The rest is history.

[@jameslawrie3807]

No, I wasn't sitting here refreshing the screen. Why do you ask?

[@kristianhartlevjohansen3541]

😊

[@zainmudassir2964]

😊👍

[@slaterscarborough197]

I wasn't expecting to chuckle during this video, but you made that happen!

[@Shadow_Fingered]

*sees a video is uploaded an hour ago* ooh something new and fresh, wonder what the first impressions were *Too comment two hours ago* Wait what?

[@JGCR59]

The designation "der große Dessauer" was a word play on "der alte Dessauer", Leopold von Anhalt-Dessau, who was the oldest but one of the best generals of the early reign of Frederick the Great. Junkers' production plant was in Dessau

[@davidcollins2648]

The old Dessauer was his English nickname among the Prussian troops.

[@RichNotWealthy]

Good job Rex. As a kid in the sixties I got into model building and became aware of many Luftwaffe aircraft. And I collected a decent reference library but apparently missed out on these aircraft. Sad to see that the one flown to Wright Field was destroyed. What were they thinking?

[@tholmes2169]

That’s one of the planes that I wish was preserved. Of course there are a lot of others but this was a significant aircraft.

[@highjumpstudios2384]

The thought process was probably "ugh this thing is so big. Where are we gonna keep it? I know, we'll just scrap it, not like anyone's gonna miss it."

[@thomaslawrence2210]

Americans were not fond of the Germans and had no interest in preserving their history.

[@David-g1p-v8k]

The best book, "Warplanes of the Third Reich" William Green.

[@Axterix13]

@@highjumpstudios2384 Even if it wasn't big, it would still have been scrapped, most likely. There were a crap ton of planes and other gear from a variety of nations, in a huge quantity of types, and, well, they were just tools which had served their purpose.

[@maxhill7065]

Jesus I wasn't expecting the captain to have as little information about how the plane rapidly disassembled itself lol

[@scootergeorge7089]

Something similar happened with the second flight of the Curtiss Wright XC-76 Caravan but in that case, there were no survivors.

[@kittehgo]

Just goes to show how quickly things went to heck, imagen sitting in your pilot seat and the next you are floating to the ground 😮

[@C76Caravan]

@@scootergeorge7089 YAY, my favorite worse aircraft ever. Though you mean C-76 Caravan. See my username 😉

[@scootergeorge7089]

@@C76Caravan Oops. My bad. I knew it was the C-76 but brain farted. First flight was one circle of the field and set her down. Was shaking itself to pieces. After the war, CW tried to interest the Air Force in a failed four engine jet attack aircraft as a four engine jet night fighter. The F-89 won out and CW was out of designing and building aircraft. A dismal turn of events for a company with roots going back the the Wright brothers and Glenn Curtiss.

[@tamahagane1700]

Early concept of an ejection seat. Instead of launching the pilot in the air by rockets, the airplane disintegrates around him.

[@CHEGTO]

I would like to say thank you so much for this upload I am at work watching this and have searched far and wide for a video of the ju290 and ju90 airplanes and the 390 I really appreciate the time you took to creat this great work

[@ianhudson2193]

Another 290 survived and ended up in Farnborough, England. What test purpose it forefilled there (if any) I don't know but it ended up dumped in Happy Valley, where it appeared in photos of a public "Captured Enemy Aircraft Types" exhibition around 1948 before, presumably, being disposed of as scrap.

[@stephenremington8448]

I was thinking of a subject, German aircraft company owners vs the nazis. I know Hugo Junkers hated them and they took over his company, Focke said to have been driven out of Focke-Wulf and joined up with Achgelis. And the one I joked about recently, Claude Dornier being half French and making planes as bad as he could get away with for the nazis, was there anything in that in real life?

[@HarborLockRoad]

Nah, the french just cant make anything good, except cheese and wine... 😆

[@sivalon1]

@@HarborLockRoadThe Mirage IIIC would like a word…

[@jamesbugbee9026]

@@HarborLockRoad & bread, & coldcuts, & ....

[@Adam-zq2mw]

@@sivalon1 Wasn't it based on an English jet fighter?

[@SDchargers1112]

I think history has shown that the French are more than capable of engineering a good guillotine.

[@tsechejak7598]

Ju-89 is a whale but still very cool, its like Noahs ark made into a wwii bomber!

[@gordonclark7632]

Interesting video. The most talked about German four engine plane seems to be the 'Condor' FW200 as it is always spoken about in convoy search and observation reporting. Other than the Gigantic I wasn't aware that Germany produced such aircraft that you spoke about in this video.

[@tonydrake462]

started the revell amazing model of the ju290... it looks excellent... I've got lots of info on these - you nailed it.. (as usual).. great addition to your canon.

[@henkormel5610]

A few remarks. To my knollige the Gigant was the Me 323. The glider drived transport with 6 Gnome-Rône engines. The picture of the DB600 sits upside down, it is an iverted V12. I love your knollige about planes and i am anticipatng the realease of a new video.

[@henkormel5610]

@Mr Pug Verder nog wat toe te voegen? Of kun je alleen taalkundig wat bijdragen? Ik gebruik Engels ontzettend weinig dus dan slipt er nog wel eens een foutje tussendoor. Ik zal maar zeggen, dank voor de heads-up.

[@R.Lennartz]

One of my favorite subjects, awesome that you covered it!

[@elgato9445]

Voice sounded fine, Rex. Thank you for covering this aircraft.

[@SuperchargedSupercharged]

I love that the videos are getting longer. Thank you!

[@ronhudson3730]

The Luftwaffe was conceived as a tactical support arm of the army. Their perceived role involved comparatively short range coupled with after the initial successes, defensive armament. Indeed, after 1943 they were almost always in the defensive, so no real need for these types of aircraft.

[@RichSmithify]

Exactly right. German war tactics called for quick, mobile, decisive strikes of overwhelming force. They had no need of heavy long range bombers. Not until Stalin moved Soviet industry beyond the Ural mountains did the need for them become apparent. According to plan Stalin should have never gotten the chance to do so. But as we know, the plan didn't go quite as planned.

[@trooperdgb9722]

@@RichSmithify If the need to bomb at long distance only became apparent after 1941/2... .what of the RLM specification of 1935, mentioned in this very video, for an aircraft capable of reaching the Urals? (Hence the nickname "Ural Bomber"? )

[@RichSmithify]

@@trooperdgb9722 General Walther Wever anticipated the need for long range strategic bombing before the war, but pretty much everyone else in high places of the Luftwaffe disagreed. Prototypes were built but they never went into production. You have to remember that in 1935 strategic bombing was a theory that had never been tried. It's effectiveness was an unknown. Not until the allies launched their massive strategic bombing campaign against Germany had it ever been done. Some might argue that the London Blitz was the first attempt at strategic bombing, but I'd have to disagree. There was nothing strategic about it; it was revenge for the RAF bombing of Berlin in August of 1940.

[@miketwomey4923]

As a huge fan of WWII planes since I was a kid this was very informative and I learned something new...

[@wbertie2604]

It's nice to see I'm not the only person who likes the Anson. Now, do they do a Dragon Rapide...

[@ikarusart]

The Rapide is definitely something we’d like to do down the road 😊

[@rodneypayne4827]

​@@ikarusart did you guys do the 290 here which was also used for the box art 1/72 Revell model kit? Nice kit and artwork.

[@MrNaKillshots]

Wow! Smashing designs. Classic, refined looks.

[@enscroggs]

According to some sources the Ju 290 designed as Hitler's "Luftwaffe Ein" (sorry for the obvious joke) had an escape system for the Führer consisting of what looked like a very comfortable armchair that concealed a parachute, survival gear, a radio transceiver, batteries, etc. In the event of an emergency, Hitler's seat would drop free from the doomed aircraft through a special hatch built into the floor. Though logical and technically feasible, this "parachute chair" has always struck me as fanciful. I've never seen a photograph of Hitler's 290, only artist's drawings, nor have I read an account of its service history -- where did it fly, how often, etc. -- which makes me suspicious of its reality. Was it real, or was it just a story Hans Bauer told the Russians to plant the seeds of various "Hitler in South America" myths? The "parachute chair" doesn't jibe with Hitler's personality. Whatever else he was -- psychopath, sexual deviant, genocidal mass murderer -- Hitler did have more than his share of physical courage (Iron Cross First Class). Large dangerous things that go fast didn't frighten him. Though he never learned to drive, he owned several large and powerful Mercedes-Benz cars and he regularly flew to meetings and political rallies at a time when most people his age were terrified of flying. Since the prospect of dying in a plane crash didn't deter Hitler from making a grand entrance by air, why would he want a parachute chair? One thing he truly feared was the possibility of being captured. Imagine Adolf Hitler alone in an East Prussian forest infested with partisan fighters. I think Hitler would rather have gone down in flames with the Ju 290 rather than face being taken prisoner.

[@michaelwest4325]

President Harker survived using it but landed inside the maximum security prison at New York.

[@deltavee2]

Captain Kinderman must have been one very surprised puppy. Having an aircraft complete a RUD* is simply not on the books during proving flights especially with an aircraft of that size. I'll bet he didn't have to spend any money on beer that night. Every pilot in the place would buy him a beer and they'd all want to hear everything about it. He'd probably need a few after that day! *Rapid Unplanned Disassembly

[@JonNogo]

I just discovered your channel and now I'm obsessed and will be watching all of the videos. Great Job dude!

[@stephenwarhurst6615]

21:12 Every time I see that photo to the left. I think of the movie scenes from Star Wars Return of the Jedi with Darth Vader or the Emperor walking down the ramp of the imperial shuttle

[@167curly]

Those big Junkers had definite aesthetic appeal.

[@janlindtner305]

It's so funny, every time I see a development of "German war toys" it's almost impossible to find two alike, a total of 5-10 variants and no series production, they must have experimented with themselves to death. Fortunately, they never reached the production capacities of the United States. Nice work Rex👍

[@williambrasky3891]

Reminds me a lot of a modern wanna be empire

[@bennoakes2477]

luckily, the US was not surrounded on all sides by the enemy, attacking factories day and night. The US isn't a wannabe empire, they already believe they are.

[@uingaeoc3905]

B-17 s at Ford Detroit, one an hour, 24 hours.

[@janlindtner305]

@@williambrasky3891 Witch?

[@janlindtner305]

@@uingaeoc3905 Not sure you mean B-24 Liberator and what is your point?

[@johnmcmickle5685]

Four dorsal turrets seems like a bad idea the middle two would have their arc of fire impacted by the front and rear turret.

[@Ensign_Cthulhu]

A guy I worked with had an airfix (?) model of a Ju290 in 1:72 scale. When he resigned and moved away, the secretary trashed it before I could claim it. :(

[@hawnyfox3411]

- Yeah , it'll be the "Revell" kit (most likely A.5 "See-adler" or "Sea Eagle"), as AIRFIX have never made one I've still got BOTH versions (A.5 & A.7) and as yet, unmade Lovely kit BTW & hard to find, today

[@mikeforester3963]

You have to take into account the *purpose* of a 4 engine long range strategic bomber. Unlike the RAF and later USAF German military never intended to refer to strategic bombing of large areas but rather use a short and mid range bomber fleet for tactical support of ground forces, mainly the new motorised and armoured units. Even politically there was no desire to obtain such a fleet since Hitler at post-Versailles disarmament conferences spoke for an international condemnation of what was known since 1925 as "obliteration bombing" (conduced by RAF against insurgencies in India). The goal was to be able to rely on air support that could take out tactical targets instead of levelling entire areas. From this perspective there's no failure here because there never was demand for it.

[@Hcb37]

I’m leaving a comment for the KZbin Algo because this video is very well made, but I’m still confused about German flights to Manchuria during the war. I thought the Italians were the only ones to pull off a mission to the Japanese? No worries, lots of interesting design and operational history, particularly on the Ju 290.

[@johnholt890]

That was my understanding as well.

[@johnholt890]

The RAF had a captured A-2 WK No 110157 which as Air Ministry 57 was displayed at Farnborough after the war and I think Winkle Brown tested it.

[@Captain_Harper1]

I remember seeing these in the first video game I played, secret weapons over Normandy, man that’s a call back

[@maryclarafjare]

This was excellent, hubby & I really enjoyed it. What a shame none of them made it into a museum or two. 😢

[@TiberiusMaximus]

Thanks! love the artwork I just picked up the Corsairs print

[@ikarusart]

So glad to hear it!

[@TiberiusMaximus]

@@ikarusart will you be releasing new prints soon?

[@ikarusart]

@@TiberiusMaximus Yes absolutely, we're growing as fast as we can in terms of artwork variation. We've got a Spitfire, 109, P-47 and P-51 artwork in the works!

[@johncashwell1024]

No worries! Sounds great...and it's the information that I'm here for and, sadly, not the sweet, lullaby sound of your voice😊

[@jeremycox571]

1 of my favorite aircraft from WW 2 , Thanks !

[@jeremycox571]

My other favorites are the P-61 Black Widow night fighter , TBM Avenger Torpedo Bomber , B-17 , A-26 invader

[@GerardMenvussa]

The A8 and B2 have so many dorsal turrets, they start looking like shitposts fake blueprints ^^

[@Zeppflyer]

"Vertical stabilizer was enlarged to improve controlability!" Checking that off of my interwar bingo card.

[@gerardlabelle9626]

Has there ever been a new aircraft design that didn’t need a bigger vertical stabilizer? Where does that unwarranted optimism come from?

[@vermas4654]

It really is a shame none of these beautiful huge aircraft have survived in a museum

[@werre2]

Outstanding video

[@dereksmith6126]

I've always been a fan of aviation art. Also seaborne art.

[@comentedonakeyboard]

OK! That covers the need for the "Uralbomber". Next we need a "Antarktistransporter".

[@irishpsalteri]

Thanks for this one, I love the rumors around the 390.

[@keithtarrier4558]

5 people before me.... and I was a few minutes after upload! Rex... if that is your real name... you know you're loved!

[@johnholt890]

Well done for cutting through the Ju 390 myths.

[@kfeltenberger]

Fascinating aircraft! Thanks for the profile! One "what if?" scenario that has always intrigued me is if Germany would have focused on North Africa rather than going into the Soviet Union. If they could have kicked the British out of Egypt then I think the war would have either taken a decidedly different turn or been prolonged somewhat to the point where Berlin might have been Hiroshima.

[@marcomontanarini1836]

Kicking Britain out of Egypt would have far reaching consequences. Probably to the point to cause a change in the british government with a new one willing to negotiate peace. I personally doubt that, without Egypt, the British would be able to defend the middle East, despite their contingency plans, so deferring Barbarossa till, let'say 1944 until winning in Africa was the beat chance for Germany. Probably at this stage Barbarossa would not even be considered necessary with all middle East resources open to german control.

[@datman5518]

​@@marcomontanarini1836 I have also pondered this before, and I wonder whether it would have been better to focus the Luftwaffe on achieving North African superiority instead of "wasting" pilots and resources on the battle of Britain. That being said even if they somehow managed to secure Africa / the middle east and gained all the necessary resources and fuel to motorize their army and fuel their planes, by that point the Red Army would probably be a lot stronger and better prepared, and less likely to be shocked by an invasion. Although on the other hand if Germany theoretically signed peace with Britain - and therefore made it practically impossible for American troops to invade the mainland - it would have probably been vastly more successful than real life. Apologies for the long comment but Barbarossa was necessary to the National Socialists as going on an ideological crusade and destroying communism was pretty much one of their aspirations.

[@caribman10]

You really think the USAAF would have dropped a nuclear weapon on a European country? Funny, I don't. A really large part of why the two weapons were activated on Japan had to do with them being dropped on "others". Take a moment to recall that Japanese who were American citizens (sometimes second and third-generation) spent years in concentration camps in America and had their equity (financial and real estate) taken from them by the US government during WW2. What , again, was the equivalent treatment of Americans of German (or Italian) descent?

[@kfeltenberger]

@@caribman10 You love your revisionist history, don't you? My father was in the war and several of my professors were senior staff officers, one of which was on MacArthur's staff. Yes, they would have dropped the bomb on Germany, especially after what they found in the camps, assuming the war was dragging on in Europe and didn't come to the surrender when it did.

[@callsigndd9ls897]

After the collapse of the USSR, the archives were opened and plans were found according to which the Soviet Union (Stalin) intended an attack on Germany. Even if Hitler had not launched Operation Barbarossa, a war with the Soviet Union would still have taken place. Maybe half a year to a year later.

[@mikepette4422]

Smiling Albert Kesselring might have been an utter genius at defensive land warfare but his actual job was not supposed to be handicapping the German offensive aerial capabilities for ever and ever and all time. Bad Albert

[@stanislavczebinski994]

5:42 The DB600 is an A- - not a V-engine. The photo is upside down.

[@rulebretgne5244]

It is quite sad, really. I have known of most of Germany's other bombers, and was convinced that Germany just didn't do heavy bombers with the FW200 being haphazardly thrown into service. This is a really cool plane, tbh.

[@rscott2247]

There were blueprints for the FW-300 as long range reconnaissance. I don't believe a prototype was ever built ?

[@thhseeking]

The Ju290 was also more successful than the FW 200 in that it didn't come apart on landing or in the air. I've never seen the internals of a Ju290, but I know that the Condor had its main fuel tanks arranged in what was the passenger cabin, so maybe that was too much stress there on the poor airframe.

[@merafirewing6591]

Could you strengthen the Fw-200 Condor's airframe?

[@thhseeking]

@@merafirewing6591 Apparently they did in making a military version of the airliner, but not enough. The 290 was designed to also be a heavy transport with a loading ramp under the fuselage, so the strengthening that resulted seemed to stop the problems that the 200 had.

[@onetrueevan6992]

Very interesting video. I was thoroughly surprised to find out that Greece flew such an aircraft for a while. The drawing of Archimedes S.1 with greek insignia looks so strange to me...

[@keithmoore5306]

i don't know Rex about all being destroyed there's always been stories about 2 that made flights to south america at the end of the war! who knows they may be one sitting in a hanger in rural paraguay or chile for all we know!!

[@whtalt92]

Why stop there? What about that secret base on Antarctica?

[@keithmoore5306]

@@whtalt92 because that supposed base was then and still now impossible to do with the available technology of today! not to mention resupplying it unnoticed would be impossible!! and there are 3 unaccounted for 290's assigned to high ranking officials (who were never accounted for as being alive captured or confirmed dead by the allies!!) where there are records the plane took off but no destination was given (the Luftwaffe was still keeping impeccable records all the way to the very last day of the war!!) and no record they landed anywhere! so there is a possibility that those 3 made it out of Europe with the most likely destination of a friendly south american country via either a spanish or a african refueling stop! now if they made it there or went over the south atlantic can't say but there is a possibility none the less!

[@whtalt92]

@@keithmoore5306 Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof.

[@keithmoore5306]

@@whtalt92 i didn't claim anything there so no proof is needed! i merely posed a possibility! and you have to admit with those 3 unaccounted for planes having been reported as taking off with no records of them landing or crashing anywhere the possibility does exist that they at least tried to get to south america. personally i hope at least one did make it there and is sitting in a hanger somewhere waiting to be found. it'd be great to have it show up some day and be put on display although i'm not holding my breath on that!

[@whtalt92]

@@keithmoore5306 Yet you insist there are 3 unaccounted-for aircraft.

[@UKMike2009]

Thoroughly researched! Fascinating history

[@johnforsyth7987]

Thank you for another very informative video. Well done!

[@justjonazjameson5559]

Great video as always! I would love to see a video from you about the B25 Mitchell!

[@aussiviking604]

Imagine if these beasts had been equipped with Fritz X glider 26:07 bombs earlier for those convoy missions😮 😢.

[@laurencemoore2105]

"Suddenly found himself in the open air on his parachute...." Love it!🤣🤣🤣

[@maxhill7065]

I always forget about the word glasier and it's children, solid word

[@scoutandy9805]

Honey wake up Rex posted

[@jaws666]

Another Fantastic aircraft history lesson.

[@beyondrecall9446]

What's funny is that "Ikarus" (your sponsor's name) was an aaircraft design and manufacturing company here, in Yugoslavia, which made the first experimental Yugoslav mini-jets .. also did a lot of other stuff for our aviation

[@Killadey]

I like how the german planes had an 'exit fullscreen' button on them.

[@hughmarloweverest1684]

Ty. Great photos!

[@duneydan7993]

Hi Rex, great video as always! Now a friendly reminder to make a video about the Handley Page HP42.

[@SHADOWFRENZY92]

A bit disappointed there is not much else to find out about the 390. When I saw it in Secret Weapons Over Normandy I thought that there was no way they were ever built, like the Daimler Benz C. Cool to find out one was built and even flew as early as '43. Bit surprised Japan wanted one too.

[@kiwitrainguy]

Japan was working on a six-engined bomber during WW2 that would have been capable of reaching San Francisco.

[@SHADOWFRENZY92]

@@kiwitrainguy You are right, I had completely forgot they were trying to hit the Yanks. Even if I did remember I am not sure I would have put two and two together, regardless thanks for the reminder. Do you have any info on this project of theirs or places to find it?

[@kiwitrainguy]

@@SHADOWFRENZY92 Sorry I can't help you with that Japanese bomber. I only know about it because there was a passing reference to it in a documentary I saw on the History channel during the '90s. Germany, Japan, Great Britain and the USA are all working on six-engined bombers during WW2 but the US one was the only one that went in to production (the B-36). The Germans ones were the Ju-390 and the Blohm & Voss flying boat powered by Diesel engines ( I forget its designation but it is mentioned elsewhere in the comments). The British one was to be called the Victory, I think Barnes-Wallis had a hand in its design.

[@SHADOWFRENZY92]

@@kiwitrainguy No problem, cheers anyway. Off the top of my head the flying Blohm & Voss seaplane's designation was BV 238. I am only familiar with it because of War Thunder, I do not think I had ever seen mention of it before.

[@adriangabrieljones881]

Thank you for the video and hard work!

[@davidcollins2648]

In the 1970's I was lucky enough to have the entire Above and Beyond book series which tried to list every production aircraft type. Perhaps this is why I don't remember these models from the books as they were never listed.

[@philippedefechereux8740]

Extraordinary! I thought I kew every active-duty German WW II airplanes ever produced and used. I stand happily corrected. Now, when will Airfix make at least one Ju-390 model at least in 1/72 scale model available? Of course, 1/48 would be spectacular!

[@marcomontanarini1836]

It would be spectacular, but a headache to display it. I remember Monogram made a 1/48 B 36 (perhaps they still make it ?). Price excepted, I was always thinking how it would be nice to display it in a small apartment😁. Perhaps flying, suspended with invisible rope to the ceiling.

[@nicolasroirand8011]

Bonjour , merci . Bonne vidéo .

[@mattw785]

Great research!

[@PBAR_B1B]

Great video!

[@SuperDarkSamurai1]

Had never heard of this aircraft until I watched this video, very interesting.

[@neaconnaj8829]

Really wish warthunder had these planes, even if they were premiums I really would like to see these fly

[@jebise1126]

7:42 interesting that very new passenger aircraft do go with more like this type of nose than one that was found on dc3 and kind of dominated ever since

[@SirWilliamKidney]

Oh weird, Rex is my doppleganger. Huh, they say everyone has one. Well hello from Kansas! Loving the channel, Drach brought me here!

[@troygroomes104]

Ju-390 was in Secret Weapons over Normandy

[@brucebaxter6923]

21:55 I swear the tail is sewn in with a crayon.

[@EnterpriseXI]

The Junkers 390 was featured as a secret super bomber in the video game Secret Weapons Over Normandy

[@nativoobstinado3525]

Best video research to date. Congratulations.

[@Schuubi1896]

I find the resemblance of the front to the A380 astonishing (aeroplane n00b here)

[@uktenatsila9168]

Thank you for the great video!

[@theblackbear211]

I keep having problems with this one video stalling - starting at 8:26. Just this one, none of the others. Does anyone have any suggestions? Is it this video - or just my set-up?

[@untruelie2640]

It's a shame that the Ju 90 and its successors are so often overlooked. I think they would've been great civilian passenger and transport aircraft, but they never got the chance to shine in that role (just like the Ju 252). I sometimes think about how german civilian aircraft development would've looked like without WW2 or if the old manufacturers had been allowed to continue developing and producing big aircraft. Junkers and Focke-Wulf could've become big players on the international aircraft market. PS: The other company name is pronounced "Messer-shmitt", not "Mesher-Smitt". 😅 It literally means "Knife-Smith", one of those old work trait surnames.

[@scootergeorge7089]

Material shortages, including the Jumo 211 engines, along with more pressing needs probably doomed the project. In any case, the still serviceable Ju 52 was already in production.

[@esmenhamaire6398]

Thank goodness there was only the one advocate of strategic bombers in the upper echelons of the Luftwaffe! If the Luftwaffe had had a few hundred four-engined bombers when the war broke out, the devastation caused by German raids at night might've been much worse. It's always struck me as ironic that the same people that caused the JU89 to not enter production were also responsible for the He177's failure due to the insistence upon (a) insisting it have only two engines, forcing Heinkel to have to use pairs of engines couple in each nacelle for powerplants which were hideously unreliable and prone to starting fires and (b) insisting that the thing be stressed for "dive-bombing"! 8-} Germany had some truly brilliant aero-engineers, but were hobbled by having to produce planes to meet requirements that were so often adversely affected by politics rather than practicality - thank goodness!

[@jurgmeister3831]

Excellent documentary.

[@shauny2285]

It would have been nice to see these compared to the HE-177.

[@RonJohn63]

Your audio sounded fine to these old ears.

[@Knot_Sean]

Amazing video on some obscure planes. P2V-1 through 7 series?

[@hawnyfox3411]

Sadly the '290 "A.4" you mention @ 12:47 is in fact an "A.7" not an "A.4" - (it's the captured "Alles Kaput" USA example) How I wish (after all that hassle transporting it across the Atlantic Ocean) that someone had the foresight to save it I remember seeing several razor-sharp images of "Alles Kaput" flying over America & appearing at an airshow too. Luckily I bought both versions of the Revell kit ("A.5" and "A.7") the latter I blagged for £25.00 at a local kit-fair The latter kit is also the one ('A.7') shown at 12:47 in the video - (clearly with it's postwar "star & bar" insignia)

[@papalegba6796]

Ok I really need to repeat this: my uncle was a wing commander in the pathfinders at the end of ww2, with a DFC. He considered all 4 engine types deathtraps & the entire bomber offensive a murderous waste. When they finally unveiled a memorial to bomber command he refused to attend the ceremony even though he was one of the senior flying officers still alive, as he said "I do not wish to be considered a hero by anyone". It was a war crime & he knew it.

[@monza1002000]

Cough Cough Cough

[@papalegba6796]

@@monza1002000 why do you justify war crimes?

[@papalegba6796]

@@monza1002000 so war crimes were the only way? Ok troll 😂😂😂😂😂

[@caa4118]

1:37 you cant fool me, i know the background of that picture is from Just Cause 4. 1:38 from Just Cause 3.

[@375GTB]

Those well documented Lufthansa Odessa - Manchuria Ju. 290 flights should be given MUCH more attention.... ALSO those few Japanese Manchuria - Odessa flights of their 4 engine Nakajima Shinzan G5N-1/2 bomber/transports based on the unwanted by our airlines Douglas DC-4E sold to them in peacetime. See: Bunrin-DO No.90 and all Japanese publication on the Marque. J.C. Age 73....

[@375GTB]

These flights roughly match our 3500+ mile Ceylon-Perth CANSO PBY Catalina flights for range and endurance. Our longest of WWII.

[@SPLfish88]

I am from Dessau and i have never heard of the Ju 90, 290 or 390. So yes, they are forgotten.