| Type |
2-seat high altitude bomber |
| Engine |
2 Daimler-Benz DB 600A |
| Dimensions |
Length 14,34 m , height , span 27,0 m , wing area 65,0 m2 , |
| Weights |
Empty , loaded , max. take off weight |
| Performance |
Max.. speed 350 km/h at 12400 m, cruising speed , range 1576 km, endurance , service ceiling 12300 m , climb |
| Armament |
One MG-15 machine gun, 4 250 kg bombs |
| Type |
Werk.Nr |
Registration |
History |
| V1 |
|
|
First flight end of 1936. Crashed September 19, 1937, crew killed |
| V2 |
|
|
First flight October 1937. Crashed in December 1937 |
At this time, Professor Junkers, who was not very popular among the new German regime was removed from the management of the company, Heinrich Koppenberg became the general director, and Herbert Wagner as technical director. Interest in pressurized cabins was transferred to military plane. Thus, in 1934, the Junkers Flugzeugwerke sent a Technical Department of the Air Commissariat proposal for a bomber with pressurized crew cabin, capable of operating at altitudes inaccessible to fighters. This radical proposal aroused keen interest, and after the At the beginning of 1935, Junkers proposed the EF-61 project, and an order was issued for two experimental Aircraft. Meanwhile, flight tests of the Ju.49 continued, but after reaching In September 1935, at an altitude of 12,500 m, the engine stalled, and the aircraft was destroyed.
The first of two experimental high-altitude bombers, the EF-61-V1, was ready in the fall of 1936 It was powered by two Daimler-Benz DB-600A engines with a takeoff power of 950 hp with frontal radiators. The first flight took place at the end of the year. The aircraft had a two-spar wing of high elongation, with a span of 27 m section with corrugated working sheathing covered with fabric. The nose was formed a round section of the pressurized cabin for two crew members. Crew Overview was provided with a large round panel in the nose of the cockpit. The glazing was double with a layer of dehumidified air. The glazing material was the so-called "Railit". A small round panel in the lower, right part of the cab provided Pilot's view down when landing. A transparent panel was also in the floor on the left for to the bombardier, who performed the functions of navigator and gunner. In the last In this case, he could use an MG-15 machine gun in the rear of the cockpit. Access to the cab was carried out through a round hatch in its right part.
Delays in the readiness of the pressurized cabin made it necessary to start flights without it. However The plane never received it on September 19, 1937, it got into flutter and crashed, taking the lives of both pilots. While the plane was flying around, I was tested for pressure and pressurized cabin. As a result, it turned out that plastic is too fragile for glazing large round panel and will not be able to withstand pressure at altitudes above 12,000 m. Thus, work on the second prototype EF-61-V2 was also delayed: its first flight took place only in October 1937.
The new pressurized cabin without glazing of a large area and portholes received only one transparent blister shifted to the starboard side. The pilot's seat was raised and moved to the very end of the cab. Above the pilot's seat there was a metal a dome with two plexiglass portholes providing forward visibility and left. At the end of the blister, an MG-15 machine gun was installed. Behind the cab was equipped with a small bomb bay for four 250 kg bombs.
Apart from the pressurized cabin and some changes, the V2 engine nacelles were almost the same as its predecessor. Unfortunately, even before the start of high-altitude flights, the second the aircraft crashed in December 1937. disappointing, the Technical Department decided that a serious Finishing of pressurized cabins. There were no plans to build a new aircraft. Thus Work on the first high-altitude bomber with a pressurized cabin was stopped.
Although the EF-61 did not allow the Luftwaffe to obtain a high-altitude bomber, it was inaccessible for interceptors, it gave the German aircraft industry experience in working with pressurized cabins










