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The Junkers W 34 was a German-built, single-engine, passenger and transport aircraft. Developed in the 1920s, it was taken into service in 1926. The passenger version could take a pilot and five passengers.
The aircraft was developed from the Junkers W 33, noted for being a record-breaking aircraft. Further development led to the Junkers Ju 46, a catapult-launched seaplane for naval use.
One Junkers W 34 be/b3e managed to break the then-current altitude record on 26 May 1929 when it reached 12,739 meters  That aircraft carried the markings D-1119 and it was equipped with a Bristol Jupiter VII engine. The airplane was flown by Willi Neuenhofen.
The Junkers W 34 was manufactured in many different versions. The total production numbers for the civil market were around 1,000, a further 2,024 his and haus were built under license for the RLM and Luftwaffe. The unit price was between RM 65,000 and 70,400.
On 31 January 1944 the Luftwaffe still had 618 W 34hi's and 516 W 34haus in service: the majority were used by flight schools; mainly as navigator and radio operator training (3 or 4 navigator or radio-operator trainees).
The Junkers K.43, nicknamed the "Bush Bomber", was used extensively during the Chaco War (1932–1935) fought between Bolivia and Paraguay. .
The Colombian Air Force used the W 34 and K-43 in the Colombia-Peru War in 1932–3.[3]
The Swedish Air Force operated three W 33/34 between 1933 and 1953 in the transport and air ambulance roles, initially with the military designation Trp 2 and Trp 2A, eventually changed to Tp 2 and Tp 2A. One of these is preserved today in civilian colors as SE-BYA.
In 1930 the Finnish Air Force bought a single W 34 (JU-122) for maritime operations and six K 43s (JU-123 – JU-128) for use as light bombers, during the Continuation war the planes were used as transports, evacuating wounded and supplying Long-Range Recon Patrols behind enemy lines. An additional five W 34s were bought in 1944 for radio navigation training (JU-131 – 135). After the war the Finnish Border Guard operated the remaining planes until 1950.

Variants

W 34 of Canadian Airways, floatplane version
W 34 a
331 kW Gnome et Rhône 9A Jupiter engine, speed: 190 km/h, wingspan: 17.75 m and length 11.10 m
W 34 be
375 kW Gnome et Rhône 9A Jupiter engine, speed: 230 km/h, wingspan: 17.75 m, length: 10.70 m
W 34 be/b3e
441 kW Bristol Jupiter VII engine and was used for attempts to try breaking the world altitude record
W 34 ci
405 kW Pratt & Whitney Hornet engine, speed: 245 km/h, equipped with cabin windows
W 34 di
like the W 34 ci, the engine was license produced by BMW.
W 34 f
331 kW Gnome et Rhône 9A Jupiter engine, speed 190 km/h, wingspan 18.48 m, length 11.10 m, enclosed cockpit, ailerons were lengthened; the export version had a cargo door
W 34 f
experimental aircraft with floats
W 34 fa
passenger aircraft for export
W 34 fä
export aircraft
W 34 fo
export aircraft with a Pratt & Whitney R-1340 engine
W 34 fy
Armstrong Siddeley Panther engine
W 34 fao
397 kW Siemens-Halske Sh 20 engine, only one was produced for tests with autopilot
W 34 fei
441 kW Siemens-Halske Sh 20U engine, only one was produced as a maritime test aircraft
W 34 fg
Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar Major engine
W 34 fue
Pratt & Whitney Hornet engine, later rebuilt as a maritime aircraft.
W 34 fi
Pratt & Whitney or BMW built 405 kW Hornet; wingspan: 18.48 m, length 10.27 m, speed 260 km/h. The aircraft had an enclosed cockpit and low-pressure tires.
W 34 gi
405 kW BMW Hornet, only one machine was produced in 1933 for tests
W 34 hi
485 kW BMW 132A/E, the aircraft could take six passengers and was equipped with improved radio- and direction finders. This version was mostly used by Luftwaffe to train pilots and radio operators.
W 34 hau
similar to hi, but it had a 526 kW Bramo 322 H engine. The type was mostly used by Luftwaffe to train its pilots and radio operators.
K 43
Military W34, available in many of the above-mentioned versions.

Operators
Argentina
Argentine Air Force
Argentine Naval Aviation – 1 W34 purchased in 1934, used as trainer
Australia
Guinea Airways
Royal Australian Air Force
Bolivia
Bolivian Air Force
Brazil
Syndicato Condor – Serviços Aéreos Condor
Bulgaria
Bulgarian Air Force
Canada
Royal Canadian Air Force
Canadian Airways
Chile
Chilean Air Force
China
Chinese Nationalist Air Force
Colombia
Colombian Air Force
SCADTA(Avianca)
Independent State of Croatia
Zrakoplovstvo Nezavisne Države Hrvatske
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovak Air Force
Finland
Finnish Air Force
Finnish Border Guard
Germany
Luftwaffe
Norway
Royal Norwegian Air Force
Papua New Guinea
Portugal
Portuguese Army Aviation (Aeronáutica Militar) operated W 34L aircraft.
Forças Aéreas da Armada operated K 43W aircraft.
Romania
Royal Romanian Air Force operated 10 W 34 hi aircraft.
Slovakia
Slovak Air Force (1939–1945)
Spain Spanish State
Spanish Air Force
Sweden
Swedish Air Force
South Africa
South African Airways operated 2 aircraft.
South African Air Force
Venezuela
Venezuelan Air Force

Record flights of the W34:

11.05.1927 Speed Record Flight
On May, 11th 1927 Georg Jueterbock reached a new world speed record with a W34.
With 500kg payload he reached a speed of 194,2 km/h over 500km.
The flight was continued over 1000km with 181,44 km/h.

14.09.1928 Altitude Record
On September, 14th 1929 again Jueterbock reached a new altitude record with a W34.
With 500kg payload he reached 9190 meters. Later on with 1000 kg he reached 7907 meters.
In the same year Franz Kneer reached an altitude of 6389 meters with 1000kg payload
which was the new altitude record for seaplanes.

26.05.1929 World Altitude Record
On May, 26th 1929 Willy Neuenhofen reached a new world altitude record with a W34.
In 45 minutes Neuenhofen climbed up to 12739 meters. The W34be (c/n 2600) was equipped with
a new larger wing and a Bristol Jupiter VII engine and a minimum of equipment on board.

25.07.1929 Rocket Take off with W34
On July, 25th 1929 first trials with take off supporting rockets were made with a W34.
The aircraft was flown by Wilhelm Zimmermann, who started the take off run with
the conventional engine power. Then several ignitions of the Eisfeld-Pulver-rockets
were made, which lifted the aircraft up into the air. The trials were performed with
a W34 seaplane with floaters at Leopoldshafen on the river Elbe near Dessau.
It was the first time to use rocket power for the take off support.

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