The amazing Junkers Ju-390

The ju-390 was evolved from the four engined Junkers Ju-90 airliner, which itself became the Ju-290. The Ju-290 was given a very modern feature. A tail ramp door so that small vehicles and cargo could be driven or rolled up a ramp into the plane. The Ju-290 had exceptional long range and load carrying ability so in 1943 when germany wanted an aircraft able to reach America and back without refuelling they chose to improve the Ju-290.

The Ju390got a longer body and wider wings so that it could house six engines. It could stay airborne for 32 hours. It is disputed heavily how many were built, but three prototypes were intended before an order was issued for 25 production models. Two protypes were flown and a third was scrapped in the factory when the production order was cancelled.

At least one Ju-390 is claimed to have flown to new York and back early in 1944 and also about that time a Ju-390 using air to air refuelling from a sister ju-290 aircraft is said by it's pilot Hans Pancherz to have flown to Cape Town South Africa from France.

The most astonishing claim by German armaments minister Albert Speer in his memoirs is that some stage either in February or March 1945 this aircraft flew from Norway to Tokyo non stop and back, flown by civilian test pilots.

There is little evidence of a 390 flight to Tokyo, Speer later changed his story and claimed that the flight was to Manchuria. There is quite a lot of evidence that this flight did take place, especially on the ground in China. Several Chinese men (now in their late 80's)worked as forced labour for the Japs and can recall the arrival of a large German aircraft with six-engines. One of them has a few artefacts he scrounged from the German crew icluding a vitamullin outer box ( a vitamin enriched bar issued to German armed service personnel. However none of this explains WHY the flight took place.