Just wondering if anyone can identify this wartime image of a damage Luftwaffe aircraft?

[Mysticpuma]

Found it in a collection of images. The man standing in the images is from the 325th FG but I cannot confirm he was involved in the damage to the aircraft. Thanks for any help, cheers, MP (it has a Hakenkreuz visible, hence the Spoiler)

Spoiler

 

[Robli]

Junkers Ju 290.

[Schmehl]

I agree, it does appear to match the Ju 290 image I found.

 

Edited February 8, 2023 by Schmehl

[Schmehl]

Oh wow, it might be the V3 prototype.

[Mysticpuma]

Thanks chaps.

Any idea what happened to this aircraft? It appears to be the same one as shown in the 'destroyed' picture?

 

2 hours ago, Schmehl said:

Oh wow, it might be the V3 prototype.

This would tie in with the 325th as they were based around North Africa before moving to Italy

Edited February 8, 2023 by Mysticpuma

[Schmehl]

I am getting a kick out of trying to figure out the history of this plane and I think I have pieced it together.  Here are the main bits of info I found that seem to connect the dots.

 

1.       The Ju 290 was developed from the Ju 90 airliner and made its first flight on July 16, 1942.

 

2.       The two last Ju 90 prototypes – the V7 and V8 – fed directly into the Ju 290 development program.  The former had a fuselage extension of 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) and the addition of dihedral to the tailplane to solve a yaw instability.  

 

3.       Some of the Ju 90s were converted into prototypes of the bigger Ju 290 transport and reconnaissance aircraft.  The more powerful engines and other modifications to the Ju 90 V5 and V7 were steps in this direction and the latter was converted into the Ju 290 V3.

 

 

I also located a list of what happened to the Ju 290s and found:  

 

J900152, Ju290 V3 / A1

LUFTWAFFE, SB+QB (also J4+AF, GF+GH), Okt. 42 to Apr.43, crashed in Megrine, Tunisia

 

 

Looking at the history of the 325^th Fighter group I found:

 

325^th Fighter Group - Activated on 3 August 1942, the 325th Fighter Group moved to North Africa during January-February 1943 and were assigned to the Twelfth Air Force.  Their first combat was on 17 April 1943.  Their mission was to escort medium bombers, fly strafing missions, and make sea sweeps from their bases in Algeria and Tunisia.

 

 

In summary, it appears that the Ju 90 V7 prototype was marked as J4+AF and later GF+GH.  It was converted into the Ju 290 V3 prototype marked as SB+QB by giving it a fuselage extension, addition of dihedral to the tailplane (visible in the crash photo), and more powerful engines.  Interesting that the 1^st flight of July 16, 1942 mentioned in point 1 above is the exact date mentioned in the photo above.

 

I can’t find anything about why the Ju 290 crashed in Tunisia in April 1943, but it does align with the 325^th being there.

 

If you look between the SB and QB right in the center of the balkenkreuz of the crash photo, there is a “152“.  The Ju 290 that crashed in Tunisia is listed as J900152.  And the photo of testing above lists it as Wk-Nr 290110152.  It seems likely that the crashed photo was taken in Tunisia and it is the Ju 290 V3.

Edited February 10, 2023 by Schmehl

[Schmehl]

On 2/8/2023 at 4:08 PM, Mysticpuma said:

Thanks chaps.

Any idea what happened to this aircraft? It appears to be the same one as shown in the 'destroyed' picture?

 

This would tie in with the 325th as they were based around North Africa before moving to Italy

One last discovery; In the book “Shadow over the Atlantic” by Robert Forsyth it states:

 

On 7 April 1943, the Ju 290 Wk-Nr 0152, piloted once more by Major Hugo Wiskandt, suffered 50 per cent damage when it crash-landed at Megrine, just outside of Tunis, and the aircraft was subsequently abandoned.

[kestrel79]

Wow never heard of this type of German plane. Pretty cool.

[Lusekofte]

Many of these  new transports endes its life om wheels up landing in fields in Danmark and Norway. The flew to their fuel ran out in order to get away from the Russians. I think in last month of the war Norway housed a very big airforce.